Week 34: The Paper and the Stick

Tuesday: We discussed the IPP again, and Mr. Fearnehough gave us the Theatre subject report from last year. This will be helpful because it tells us what the examiners thought was good and what they wanted to be improved. 
Friday: Today we really started doing Bunraku. We did two exercises to learn about Bunraku. 
Paper Moving: This exercise was a team exercise. I was with Lydia and Axel and Bekki were a team. This exercise involved moving a piece of paper from between the teamates heads to between their feet and back. 

• This exercise was harder than I thought it would be when it was first introduced
• It took physical experimentation, not just mental reasoning 
• When we started we were stiff and uncomfortable with each other, but as the exercise went on we got more comfortable with each other-although we were not completely relaxed
• It took perseverance and innovation to complete the task
• It was strange how we were still reserved after a year of working together and our commedia piece-it shows  how much we hide behind our socialized selves

Stick Balancing: This exercise is simple balance a pencil, then the broom stick in yours hand or on your finger for as long as possible. 

• This exercise was harder than I had originally thought, as well
• I found it particularly difficult to focus on the activity and concentrate, my mind kept wandering and there were lots of distractions in the room 
• In this exercise control, balance, concentration, and focus were vital
• When I first attempted this exercise with the broomstick I was focused on the bottom of the stick, this was the wrong part of the stick, which shows how I need to focus on what is important, when I focused on the top I did better
• When I first began the exercise I instinctively expected to fail- I need to be confident and expect myself to succeed
• When we all focused on one person doing the activity, they did better-this could have been because of a lack of distractions or because of a common focus on a goal that helped the person working on the task feel supported and confident
• In this activity I really did not like being watched while I was trying to do something, especially when I was really bad at it, but just like in the previous activity I had to put myself in an uncomfortable position to allow success