Today we further explored what a dense fact really is and this video, I think, is so jam packed with implications about the value of interdisciplinary study in our society and the media, I could talk about it forever, but maybe that's just because I am a dancer. I been dancing ballet since I was five years old, but I have never been savvy about companies and their personal aesthetics or famous dancers of the times. I believe that if you don't exert the effort to go and study these kinds of trends, particularly for non-mainstreem art forms, the practice of the art itself can be far removed from its culture, history, etcetera... Upon researching dancers I came across this video which featuring a ballerina, Alessandra Ferri and the singer Sting. He plays Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major on acoustic guitar as she dances. I found the union of the classical arts with such an icon of popular culture ironic because it is often because of the pop-culture that the more classical art forms are hushed away. Using an element of pop-culture to expose non-mainstream art such as ballet and classical music transforms the way these art forms are viewed and encourages interdisciplinary understanding. Transposing Bach's Cello Suite from cello to guitar remains true to the original piece yet allows it to transcend the stigmas of classical music as boring or old-fashioned because it is performed by a current popular icon, Sting, and through a medium that more people can relate to and understand which is guitar. The same logic applies for the ballet which is the real visual component of the video. The dancing is mesmerizing, but attention is only originally attracted because there is something to relate to through Sting as a popular artist. As I was watching the video I began to think about the growing value of interdisciplinary understanding in our culture. It is no longer enough to be proficient or exemplary in one discipline. As we were writing our papers on St. Olaf that was a value that many of the students and professors mentioned. I believe it is even included in the St. Olaf mission statement as a goal. One professor used a metaphor of height and width explaining that the goal at St. Olaf is not to produce people who are experts in one subject, or "tall" in one area, but instead are wide, in that they have a good understanding of multiple subjects or aspects of life. He said that the wideness is what will make us effective contributors to the world. Being "tall" in one area is almost exclusive and therefore not always useful to society as a whole. I think this video exemplifies this concept and allows viewers to be a little bit wider in terms of their knowledge and appreciation for art and entertainment.
Lots more could be said as well about media the method of communication of this project. The project was accomplished through a video which makes it easily accessible by anyone with a computer. It is appropriate for the age of technology and really expedites that resource. Additionally directly from this video comes one of the most famous images of contemporary ballet photography shown below. I had seen this image many times before; it is famous, but I never knew it came directly from this project. Interestingly photography as media sometimes has an inverse effect compared to video because it is often circulated among a more specific demographic, in this case people involved with dance whereas videos are much more universal and can be 'happened upon' much more easily by anyone. Because of this, as media the photograph and video are complimentary in that they accomplish both, exposing non-mainstream art to the general public, and draw people out from within the dance world to experience this cross-disciplinary more contemporary exercise.
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7545/alessandra12preludepd0.jpg
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