megantcpsarts-blog

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Yesterday, I went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for the first time in a REALLY long time. I was immediately drawn to the exhibit with award-winning wildlife photography as I love photography and this was what I thought I wanted to do for a long time (I even shadowed a National Geographic photographer for a semester!).

First off, being a photography nerd, I was blown away at how nice these prints were (in terms of quality) and I loved how the blurbs next to the photos shared how the photographer set up the picture, as well as the settings they had their camera at. For those who understand these numbers and the real science that goes behind taking a photo--especially in difficult environments--it is fascinating and makes you really think deeper.

There were photos from all over the world and separated by continent which was also really useful for organizing and contrasting all the landscapes and animals. There was not one photo that I didn’t think deserved the award they got.

10/10 would recommend.  

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First, I’d like to apologize for always being so terrible at taking photos of things as they happen. I actually do have a picture of inside Warner Theatre but also unfortunately it has a comment written on it from snapchat, so I had to go with my ticket follow up instead.

Anyways, I saw Snap Judgement live with my boyfriend at Warner Theatre in February and it was AMAZING. They had live musicians playing/singing the background music and the speakers were incredible to listen to.

If you don’t know what Snap Judgement is, it’s a storytelling podcast that changes storytellers and themes every week. I definitely recommend everyone give it a listen. The storytellers are vibrant and touching and funny and just all-around enthralling to listen to. Tickets were slightly expensive for two college students, but we have no regrets. I did literally laugh and cry from the stories. It takes a lot to tell a story with no props or visuals, and these people did it beautifully.

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Last week I went to the Newseum with my communications class and walked by the NGA’s Sculpture Garden on the way. In all my years, I had never been into this area and actually never knew that it existed until now. It was fun walking around and seeing everything, as well as enjoying watching the ice skating and generally open/happy atmosphere that this place had on such a warm day. It was interesting looking at art in an outdoor environment and would love to come back and see how it changes in different seasons such as when the flowers are blooming or snow is on the ground.

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I have gone to the Philip Merrill College of Journalism’s “View Finder” presentations since the beginning of last year and most likely will continue to do so until I graduate (even though I am no longer a journalism major). I love documentaries and would love to create one in my career after I graduate. These stories range from serious stories touching on homelessness, drug use, and loss, to lighter things like county fairs and rehabilitation efforts. The coolest part about these projects? They’re all created by students not much older than me which keeps be motivated to learn more about filming, editing, and storytelling.

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Last weekend I had the opportunity to stay at an Art Gallery and Museum that also is an Airbnb (the top levels were converted).

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13462110?guests=13&adults=13&children=0&infants=0&s=m5zOCmwX

It was amazing to see all the art in every room of the house. I also loved it because most of the art was African art or inspired by Africa, which is the art that I enjoy seeing the most. A lot of the art found in my house is also African so staying here actually felt a little bit like my home. Before we got all settled in, the gallery host took us around the house and told us a little bit about the art, so it felt like a private tour! Overall a very cool experience.

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So I completely forgot to get a picture when I went dancing...but I promise I did!

I went to the Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore for their weekly swing dance lesson and free dance time on Tuesday and it was SO much fun. I actually had some experience with Swing before the Scholars class, but it was entertaining to go with friends who had very little dance experience at all.

For $5 you could attend an hour long beginner drop-in lesson. They put everyone in a circle and split us up between leaders and non-leaders and we rotated partners each time we learned a new move so things were constantly getting switched up. It was different from our scholars class because instead of having pre-determined choreography to follow, we simply learned moves and how to signal them (for the leaders)/how to read the physical dance signals (non-leaders). When we finally got to dancing, it was all about combining the dance moves and making it up as you went along.

For $5 more, you could stay and dance with a band, as pictured above. I usually just danced with my friends then, but people were going around asking others to dance (but I was a little intimidated by the actual dancers). There were a wide range of skills from people who danced for the first time in the lesson before to people who showed up in dancing clothing and were even doing cool stunts as well. The age range was also very diverse which made me happy and more comfortable dancing because there were people my age (although not as many).

I would 100% recommend this to anyone looking to learn a little bit more about swing!

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Last week I saw Pandemonium’s fall show in the chapel (my phone died right before they went on so this is the only picture I have as I was walking in). I really love listening to a capella because of how challenging it is, and I was interested to see this group again in a setting different from the competition that I saw them in last year. Their songs were awesome and very well executed, but I especially enjoyed the songs where they were really having fun on stage and dancing and getting the audience energized as well such as when they performed “Cake by the Ocean.” Otherwise, sometimes singing and moving in the same way over and over again can get slightly boring in my opinion.

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Last week I saw Finish Ticket with my sister at U-Street Music Hall in DC. It was a unique experience because my sister had never gone to a small-venue concert before and it was fun to show her all the differences between this and seeing a show in a large arena like the Verizon Center. For example, here the bands can really interact with the audience and everything feels much more intimate. You feel like you are a part of the music and show rather than just watching a production from the outside.

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I attended the “Collection of Solo Performances” by the THET329O class after seeing both the email and Facebook event created for it. (Facebook has actually been keeping me very well informed about events going on at the University this semester).

Some were funny, like “Desert of Labia” while some were emotional and raw like “Not a Mourning Person.” My favorites however were “No Smoking” and “If Only Life Were a Dream.”  “No Smoking” touched on mental illness in a way that was both tragic and entertaining. It put the audience in the head of someone actually dealing with mental illness which can be hard to do without making people uncomfortable. It was very true and I appreciated it.

“If Only Life Were a Dream” was actually presented mostly as a dance with few words. This left many things up to interpretation for me and I ended up applying the experiences that I had just recently had in my life--the end of a relationship--to this performance. Whether or not it was originally about this I do not know, but the power of this piece was that it could be understood in a unique way for each person. It brought tears to my eyes and I was very surprised because it didn’t tell me how I was supposed to react. Bravo.

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On Mother’s Day I went to the Rockville Arts Festival with my family to look at the fantastic fine arts pieces (and eat some AMAZING food!). I unfortunately forgot to take any photos of the artwork, but these are two photos of me/my mom/my sister in front of a gorgeous glass “painting.” I love going to these community arts festivals like this but have not gone recently and this reminded me why I love it so much. I had a great time looking at the art but also just seeing the community come out and enjoy art together. People were sharing ideas, listening to music, dancing, and just having a really great time. My favorite exhibit was of course a photography exhibit (as I am a photographer myself). However, what he did was take photos of regular settings, such as a street, pull them into strips in Photoshop, and then edit them so that the lines didn’t exactly match up again. It created a “wonky” feeling, as my dad put it, and I loved it. It was so subtle that you couldn’t stop looking at it, but also allowed us to still see the whole picture.

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Once again I attended the Journalism School’s ViewFinder Presentations for this semester. (Full disclosure: this is not the architecture auditorium, this is a picture of my film classroom but the setup was a little like this. My phone had died before so I didn’t get a picture of the event). (But I am also in a film class so I go to film screenings every week as well...)

Anyways, I am always interested in these presentations because this is the class that I want to take in a couple of years as I work towards my broadcast journalism degree. What I also like about this event is the way that they show it. The groups come up and show their clips, usually packages around 10 minutes about the community, and then describe a little bit about what it was like to film and work with the people that they were filming. It can range anywhere from sports teams to just exceptional people doing work in the community. I especially love the projects that make me tear up a little bit (like community service or overcoming obstacles) but then again, I tend to do this a lot watching movies.

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woo hoo I love Coffee House! Seriously, this is one of my favorite events of the semester. This time I decided to play my guitar--something I had never done before. I was super nervous because I haven’t been playing for that long but I ended up having a great time.

I also was lucky enough to have a friend visiting from Virginia Tech who I used to be in show choir with so we made it a duet. It was definitely a lot easier having a friend up there with you to calm your nerves.

As usual, there was such a wide variety of performances, from music to comedy to poetry--it really has helped to expose me to so many new forms of expression.

Can’t wait to perform again next year!!

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I went to the Muse Drones World Tour at the Verizon Center on February 1st with one of my friends who is in another scholars group. This is the second time that I have been to a show at the Verizon Center, but it was extremely different than the first time that I went. There was less focus on the band (as opposed to when I saw P!nk and the entire show was about her of course) and more focus on the music and the special effects.

At one point in the show, there was actually a giant drone that flew around the entire arena shining lights on the audience members below. I have loved Muse for many many years and was crazy excited when my friend called me and told me that she had an extra ticket!

X Ambassadors opened the show and they were also just as amazing. I saw them at Firefly last year and have been a fan ever since. The main singer has the most amazing vocals and falsetto and the keyboard player is actually blind. It makes it that much cooler to listen to them and its also so much fun to watch because you can see that he really feels the music through his physical movements.

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This January I got to see the ICCA A Capella Regional Championship--an experience I never thought I would have! I was lucky to see the Facebook event mentioning that it would be hosted at the University of Maryland and I couldn’t pass that up.

I was able to hear/see some amazing performances, including the 1st and 2nd place teams, UMD’s own Pandemonium and Faux Paz. They were so amazing I was seriously speechless. I saw them at the beginning of the year, but they were SO much better than I imagined.

10/10 would recommend.

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Last week I went to the Arts Scholar’s Coffee House. I originally came just to see what it was all about and watch other people, but somehow my friends convinced me to perform! Afterwards, a bunch of us actually went to the Co-op’s open mic as well. I didn’t sing there, but I did have a friend who read poetry. Overall, it was a great night for open mics!

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This Wednesday, I went to the journalism school’s “Viewfinder” presentation. This was for a class that I want to take as a senior, and it showed me a little bit more what I will be studying as a broadcast journalism major. I watched four short documentary films about people and events in the community, such as a D.C. United game, and prisoners in Howard County. After each video, the people who made it came up to talk a little bit more about how they covered these stories.

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Recently I went to my dance 200 instructor’s “Second Season” dance performance. Hers was called “Snake Telegram.” In typical Sarah Oppenheim fashion, it was very unusual, but also entertaining because it got the audience involved. She actually gave us telegrams before the show that told each audience member to do something that corresponded with a piece of her show. After talking to her in class about how she put the show together, I have a better understanding of what it all meant. Nevertheless, I definitely enjoyed myself.