Theatre Report Essays - Creative Works, Musicals,

Edward Griggs Music 24B 5/10/19 Concert Report 1: Cabaret This past Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a local PCC musical production titled "Cabaret," from the book written by Joe Masteroff and Christopher Isherwood. Musical selections were composed by John Kandar and brilliantly conducted by our very own Dr. Shin. The performance took me by surprise as I was not prepared for what was to come. If I could use one word to describe the entire production, it would be "daring." Daring, due to the fact that it was bold and brave to take us through a love story taking place during the preliminary stages of the fascist Nazi Germany in 1931. This production set in Berlin in 1931 depicts the life of a newly arrived American named Clifford Bradshaw and his struggles with the rise of Nazism. The performance included many lengthy musical numbers which were excellently performed by a "pit" and actors including the finest from Pasadena City College. As for performing forces, these included a whole cast of singers whom were also acting, a small orchestra, often times referred as the "pit." This is a much smaller pit consisting of: 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, a drum set, 2 altos, 1 soprano saxophone, 2 tenor saxophones, 1 double bass, 1 F horn, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 1 pianist, and a conductor. The venue was beautifully decorated in a big New York Broadway style complete with flashing lights, fog machines, and big beautiful platforms for performers to sing on. Theme wise, and set wise the background illustrated a bed room, a cabaret club, train, and train. There were other sets, but most of the dialogue took place inside the apartment or the halls of the apartment of Clifford Bradshaw, the shows protagonist. Upon taking my seat, I noticed there was a very ethnically diverse a udience in attendance, ranging from all ages, mainly college students and adults. The principal performers included that of; Emcee played by Adam Older, Sally Bowels played by Lexie Laundy, and Clifford Bradshaw played by Jack de Lorimier. The first three performed selections included; "Wilkommen," as performed by the M.C and cabaret girls, "So What," performed by Fraulien Schnieder, and lastly "Don't Tell Mamma," performed by Sally and cabaret girls. The first number, titled "Wilkommen," was your typical loud Broadway-style musical number. Very loud fast exciting music giving the audience a preview of what was to come. The vocals as performed by the cabaret girls was exciting watch, their electrifying performances really brought the vivid world of 1931 Germany to life. Wilkommen included the reoccurring theme of the musical in which the pit utilized various fast tempos and major key signatures to illustrate a vivid world to the audience. I couldn't really make of it what the exact time signature was. Tempos felt like they shifted from a standard 4/4 feel to a faster cut time 2/2 time. The performers managed to keep the energy going by flawlessly shifting from your standard, more common time signatures, to duple meters such as 6/8, and even a cool 3/4 jazz swing. Moreover, there was not many changes in musical dynamics. This piece "Wilkommen" was performed in a forte/fortissimo dynamic to give you the sense of the typical musical Broadway sound. Topping off this introduction scene, there was a hilarious, well-choreographed dance routine like something out of an early 1930's film. Apart from everything, I really appreciated the attention to detail from the musicians in the pit. I constantly caught myself carefully staring at how they would seamlessly execute instrument changes and create different musical effects with the use of horn mutes, changes of basses (stand-up double bass to electric bass), a different array of auxiliary percussion instruments, and use of different cymbals and percussion techniques to get the right timbre of thin a nd heavy crashes when required. The second piece, titled "Fraulien Schnieder," introduced us to one of the key characters of the play. Sweet, calm-mannered, and your typical mother figure, Fraulien Schnieder, performs a very melodic and groovy paced aria. The actor portraying Ms. Schnieder did a wonderful job in utilizing melisma during musical phrases, often carefully manipulating phrases between her and the pit playing behind her. Both the

Kosovo Conflict Essays - AlbaniaSerbia Relations, Kosovo War

Kosovo Conflict Essays - AlbaniaSerbia Relations, Kosovo War Kosovo Conflict Kosovo Background of Kosovo: -The Balkans have been a very unstable region for hundreds of years. The reason for contention is because of ethnic origin and disputes of which race owns which land.. That is the reason for the dispute over Kosovo is because of the same thing. This is a very complicated situation, that I don't really know everything about. I just kind of know the basics. Back in the 1500 hundreds, the Serbs conquered the Kosovo area, slowly and gradually over the years the Ethnic Albanians started occupying the territory, until before the bombing began, Kosovo consisted of 90% Ethnic Albanians. Well, the Serbs didn't like this, especially Milosevic who is the ruler over Serbia. Since Kosovo has many historical ties to the Serbs, and the Serbs conquered that territory back in the 1500 hundreds, Milosevic wanted to reclaim their rightful territory. And his method to do this was through ethnic cleansing Kosovo. Stats: -Milosevic has been doing this subtlety for years, and as of last fall has increased his killing of ethnic Albainians. To date, there are now 200,00 people dead as a result of Milosevic's ethnic cleansing. That is probably a very low figure. 100,000 Kosovar men are now missing, which might be the reason for the mass graves that have been pictured. Nearly one half a million people have been expelled from their homes, many forced out at gunpoint, while the Serbian troops destroyed their identity papers, making them unable to return to their homes. This flood of refugees have overwhelmed neighboring countries, who are economically weak, and are unable to take in all the refugees. 600,000 Kosovars are surviving off the land in mountains nearby. Controversy: -You might wonder what business the U.S. has in a country on the other side of the world, where it seems to be no political interest whatsoever. That is a big controversery of whether or not NATO should be involved. At first I was against NATO involvement for just those reasons, why should NATO get involved where there would be no benefit to us, because this was more of a humanitarian issue. But as I researched this and read more about it, I am in favor of NATO involvement. I believe that we should do everything possible to help stop Tyrants from killing innocent people. Which is what was and is occuring in Kosovo. -But I am against NATO in who, why and how NATO is handling this conflict. Who: -NATO is very hypocritical by saying they got involved in this situation purely because of humanitarian reasons. There have been many occasions where the U.S. looked the other way on bigger humanitarian disasters. In West Africa, there was a similar ethnic cleansing situation where the U.S. did not get involved. Why: -In the begging, where NATO was on the verge of bombing Kosovo, Clinton spoke in a public meeting about why we were getting involved. He said, trying to get public approval, that the reason the U.S. is getting involved is largely an economical reason. He said that this war would help the U.S. financially. By getting involved, we would become partners with Europe, thus increasing a trade relationship. That is what I am against. I am against the U.S./Clinton thinking more about how much money we can get, rather than saving innocent lives from being brutally murdered. -After the bombing had dragged on for longer than expected, which was only about a week in some people's opinion, the objectives were stated as follows: To stop ethnic cleansing, stop flood of refugees into nieghboring countries, stop NATO from splitting, prevent Milosevic from strengthening his grip on the Balkan region. And, after over 2 months of involvement, NATO has not been able to meet those objectives. -Bob Bennet said that the current bombing has been no help to the Albanians and Macedonians, who have seen hundreds of thousands of refugees flood across the borders into their ill-equipped countries. It has been of no help to NATO, an alliance that has seen its military stocks drawn down to dangerously low levels, with no effects on the atrocities going on in the killing fields. -One speculated reason to get involved was because of the military stategic point in the

Managing International Business Enterprises Essay

Managing International Business Enterprises - Essay Example According to Wooten (2011) marketing managers need to effectively communicate the unique linguistic preferences up front to the translation companies so that the translation does not dilute the brand. The important thing in translation is to retain the original key brand message and tone as closely as is possible. The article proposes that companies need to work with professional linguistic translators whose native language is the target language. This article’s key message is concise and well-illustrated. Maintaining a brand’s image and meaning once a company decides to go global is both a product management and promotional strategy issue. Central to this move into the international market is the role of marketing managers. Marketing managers need to closely work with language service providers so as to effectively convey their brand messages. This will also call for flexibility and foresight since the translated names should also cater for brand growth. An example o f this is Coca-Cola’s translation â€Å"K’o K’ou K’o Le† was coined several decades ago yet its literal meaning â€Å"happiness in the mouth† is very much applicable to its present day â€Å"Open Happiness† campaign.

Ruby & Millie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ruby & Millie - Essay Example Although neither of the entrepreneurs has any managerial background, they are extensively experienced in their respective fields. Firstly, Ruby has immense practice as a make-up artist having worked with celebrated supermodels, for instance, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford. On the other hand, Millie Kendall has a lot of experience as a high-powered beauty specialist. Both entrepreneurs gifted in the performance of their duties within their distinct professionals. Part of the skills that enable the two professionals to become formidable entrepreneurs is creativity and effective decision making based on good ideas (Begoun 2003, p. 16). The professionals are high achievers who think of good ideas and establish viable goals to achieve their objectives. Through their confidence, the entrepreneurs have the capacity to counter challenges, which come their way. Creativity and enthusiasm are perhaps the most pertinent skills held by both professionals. Millie and Ruby have substa ntial enthusiasm and creative energy, which supplements their experience within the beauty industry. Having worked in the industry for a while, both entrepreneurs are knowledgeable of market’s needs and the gap that necessitates the development of appropriate products. Competition in the Cosmetics Industry The cosmetics industry in Britain is quite competitive consisting of nearly 250 manufacturers and 695 retailers who either manufacture or sell cosmetic products at retail stores. However, most premium cosmetics in the UK are selectively distributed and are confined to a few renowned retailers and manufacturers. Ruby & Millie’s strongest competitors include Selective Beauty SAS, which manufactures and distributes cosmetics through a global network. Selective Beauty SAS entered an exclusive 10-year licensing agreement with Jimmy Choo, the famous accessories and shoes brand (Hillgren & Cheatham 2000, p. 139). Other key competitors include high street stores such as Supe r drugs and Body shop, which sell cosmetics on a large scale. Departmental stores such as Harrods, Debenhams and Nichols, are also some of Ruby & Millie’s primary competitors. Other competitors include supermarkets such as ASDA and Waitrose and specialist websites such as Mac.com, which specialize in direct selling (Roese 2005, p. 154). In order to differentiate their products and brand, Ruby & Millie embarked on a personality-driven make-up strategy (Daniels 1999, p. 78). Ruby & Millie’s brand’s uniqueness stems from the entrepreneurs’ gifted personal profiles. The association of Ruby & Millie with Boots continues to impact the brand’s positioning within the competitive cosmetics market. Cooperation with Boots When small businesses cooperate with greater manufacturers, the former benefit from both the large organization’s exposure and market experience (Hammer & Kendall, p. 108). Ruby & Millie’s cooperation with Boots, which is a mas sive and globally renowned company, allows the former to benefit from Boot’s immense knowledge of the cosmetics market. Since Boots is a massive company, it enjoys economies of trade such as effective and easy research and development, particularly with regard to product positioning and assessment of market needs (Schippmann 1999, p. 97). Consequently, Ruby & Millie’s small business gains pertinent information regarding the cosmetics market enabling the organization position its products and

Biosocial Development Child Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biosocial Development Child Psychology - Essay Example (Kathleen). In the natural process of developing self-esteem, the child's primary motivation is intrinsic which derives from within the self. Therefore, children take pleasure in learning, playing, performing tasks etc when they set the goal for themselves rather than somebody else sets expected behavior for. Children enjoy a game for the sake of its fun and not for the rewards or scores they achieve for completing it. Thus, it is unwise on the part of adults to praise the child or offer some expected awards while the activity or the performance is on the process. The desirable behavior for the adults is to praise the child on the performance or complement it with some unexpected awards which will boost up their emotional feeling and self-esteem. There have been research evidences to prove that the extrinsic rewards and praises emasculate the child's intrinsic motivation. (Kathleen). The natural emotional regulation of the child is decisive in the development of its future emotional control.

Therapeutic Relationships In Mental Health

Therapeutic Relationships In Mental Health The remit of this essay is to explore and discuss the concept of therapeutic relationships in mental health and what is involved in building these relationships. The question is in two parts, so in the first part of the essay, the author wishes to explore the meaning of a therapeutic relationship and discuss what is needed from the nurse and service user to maintain this. In the second part, the author will choose two key elements that contribute to a therapeutic relationship in mental health nursing and discuss the importance they have. The two key elements that have been chosen is communication, both verbal and non verbal, and the importance of these elements in a relationship between a nurse and a service user. To achieve this goal the author will use various resources available, for example the internet, literature from class and appropriate reading materials. Main Body Building relationships is central to nursing work, (Nursing Times) and extremely important in mental health nursing. A therapeutic relationship involves respect, empathy and genuineness (Callaghan and Waldock 2006). Both the nurse and service user should show respect for each other and the nurse should respect the beliefs of the service user, even if they do not agree with these. The relationship should be person centred, allowing the service user to be at the core of their care plans etc, their beliefs and wishes must be respected at all times. Service users must be at the centre of their care and recovery. Choices and decisions should be made by them. If there are any changes to be made to a care package, the service user must be informed and have their say. In a therapeutic relationship the nurse will support the service user in all aspects of their care and recovery. With reference to the quote in question, did it at my level and pace all the time, (Brown and Kandirkirira 2007) t his is vital in recovery and for a therapeutic relationship. The nurse must work alongside the service user and support them in aiming for the goals that the service user has made and not what the nurse expects them to be able to do. The service user should always remain at the centre of their recovery and to develop such a relationship, the nurse should share their knowledge of the illness, which gives the service user an understanding of what they are experiencing and some control on the situation and both will be able to take an active role in the management of the illness, (Owen 2004).The nurse should be able to show empathy, being able to put themselves in the service users position and imagine how they would feel and how they would wish to be treated, accurate empathy is always empowering, since it represents an understanding and acceptance of the speakers feelings (Millenson 1995). This skill shows the service user that the nurse has taken on board what has been said and that they can put themselves in the individuals situation. Those involved in the therapeutic relationship should always show genuineness and hold non judgmental attitudes towards each other. Genuineness is based on the ability of the practitioner to be open with his patientIt will help to reassert the patient as the centre of the treatment and promote the patients trust in the practitioner and his treatments, (Owen 2004). The nurse should want to work alongside the service user and offer support when needed to achieve and maintain this relationship. The people have the right and the duty to participate individually and collectively in the planning and implementation of their health care, (World Health Organisation 1978). A therapeutic relationship does not occur overnight, it takes time and a great deal of trust is essential between the nurse and the service user. Trust is very important for the relationship to develop and if this is achieved the service user will accept the nurses support and advice on treatments available and also work alongside each other instead of the nurse suggesting that they know best as they are the professional. patients themselves value therapeutic relationships which offer respect, trust and care and it seems that such relationships may in themselves prove to be healing in the broadest sense. (Mitchell and Cormack 1998). If trust is maintained throughout the development of the relationship the service user will begin to realise that the nurse does in fact care about their situation and does wish to support them on their road to recovery offering support and advice when necessary. The trust gained from both people should help each other to begin feel at ease the more they meet with each other and the service user may slowly begin to open up to the nurse and enable them to talk about how they are really feeling, what may scare them and accept their advice and support. It will also show the service user that they are at the centre of their care and that they will work at their own pace and when they are ready to take that one step further down their path to recovery, they will. A key element that contributes to a therapeutic relationship in mental health nursing is the use of verbal communication. One very important aspect of this is asking open questions, which the service user is unable to reply with a simple yes or no answer. This will allow the nurse to gain a deeper understanding of how the service user really feels (Burnard 1992). This also shows the service user is at the centre of their care and maybe they will begin to talk openly and freely about their true feelings as this type of questions show the nurse does care for them and wants to support them in the best possible way, it allows the nurse to empathise, if they can get a true account of the feelings the service user has. The empathy shown may encourage the service user to talk openly more often as they know that they will not be judged for having some of these feelings and thoughts. Another important aspect of verbal communication is reflecting and clarifying what has been said by the service user. Reflection requires the nurse to say back to the service user what they have said to ensure they understand fully. Clarifying is required by both the nurse and service user. The nurse may ask a closed question, which allows the service user to answer simply yes or no, or a single answer to be definite, to ensure they get the true meaning of what the service user is saying and in turn the nurse can explain their understanding of the illness or situation that the individual finds themselves in and what support and services are available and how they can go about setting these up, together, enabling the service user to make decisions after being given the choice to do so. When the nurse gives their views to the service user, any specialist language, for example jargon, should be avoided as this may act as a barrier within the therapeutic relationship as the nurse is not taking into account if the service user understands what is being said to them. This binds in with the core elements of a therapeutic relationship as the nurse will show empathy, genuineness and trust will increase working at the level and pace of the service user. The nurse must be aware of their tone of voice, (Stickley and Freshwater 2006) when speaking to the service user, to make sure they dont come across as patronising or uncaring. This may create a challenge in maintaining the relationship as the service user may feel belittled by the nurse and in turn may close up and not speak about how they are truly feeling therefore the relationship will not develop and there wont be any trust. Another element of verbal communication is the nurse should not be quick to problem solve, (Stickley and Freshwater 2006). Allowing the service user to think of approaches of overcoming the problems that may occur during their recovery process highlights that they are at the centre of their care and shows that they have the final decision in their care and or treatment. If the nurse moves in quickly to try and help the service user, it may come across as patronising and that they are trying to take control of the situation as they have not took the time to a sk what the service user wants and may cause a barrier between the nurse and the service user. The second key element that contributes to therapeutic relationships in mental health is the use of non verbal communication. This element is extremely important in maintaining a therapeutic relationship and being aware of the skill involved is vital. The most important skill is sitting in a mirrored position, not sitting face on in front of the patient but to the side and leaning slightly in showing they are ready and willing to listen (Stickley and Freshwater 2006), sitting behind a desk can act as a barrier and come across as authoritative (Burnard 1992) and may cause the service user to feel uneasy, deterring them from opening up and feeling unable to trust the nurse. The nurse should be sitting comfortably and in a way that does not make the service user feel uncomfortable in any way. The use of eye contact is paramount in maintaining a therapeutic relationship but knowing when and how to use the skill is the key. Too much eye contact may cause the situation to intensify and bot h the nurse and service user may feel uncomfortable. Not enough eye contact may convey a lack of interest in what the service user is trying to tell them and may cause the therapeutic relationship to come to an end and the service user may not show what they are truly feeling or thinking at this time. Another important aspect of non verbal communication is listening, The role of the listener therefore is a privileged one and one that can promote healing, (Stickley and Freshwater 2006). Listening is probably one of the greatest skills a nurse can achieve. Listening is, the nurse hearing what the service user is saying and understanding what is being said, not what the nurse thinks they are saying. effectiveness largely depends on the nurses ability to listen and detect cues for therapeutic enquiry, (Stickley and Freshwater 2006). Thus again shows the nurse has picked up on the detail of the statement from the service user and can reflect back to the service user what has been said to clarify their understanding and to reassure the service user that they are being listened to. This will help the service user to build trust in the nurse as they will have a feeling of acceptance and that someone is listening to them. Conclusion It can now be seen that there are many key elements that contribute to a therapeutic relationship and the list is endless. A therapeutic relationship requires a lot of time and trust on both parts and the core skills required from a nurse is empathy, trust and genuineness. As the author stated she was only looking at two key elements that contribute to this relationship and feels further investigation may be required into other elements to fully understand the importance and why such skills are acquired to build a relationship with a service user and the difficulties they may come across in maintaining a therapeutic relationship. One thing the author has achieved is the importance of person centred care and how essential it is to involve and listen to the service user in all aspects of their care.

The Mechanics of War :: War Statistics Papers

The Mechanics of War Recently a new trend has taken up Wall Street. Savvy broker firms have realized that the market is probably controlled by some rules, and those rules have to be found to make more money with the least risk. They hired many mathematicians to look for any formulas that would seem to express the market. Those analyzed previous market trends and used laws of statistics to try to predict the â€Å"future† of the market. The funny thing is that at times this approach actually worked. It yielded a slightly more than fifty percent accuracy, and that was enough. (When dealing with tremendous amounts, even a small percentage is not meager.) Statistics work for everything when there is a lot of it. They work for money, molecules, atoms, star systems, and even people. People tend to adhere to statistics when there is a fair amount of people to stifle the occasional fluctuations in human behavior. Many things we do depend on statistics. Take war for example. War is a very good example, since the outcome depends more on the general strategy of the whole war, than on individual soldiers. It follows definite rules that can be expressed in formulas. The individual people in war tend to become statistics, in the eyes of the high command, the public, as well as in their own perception. Tim O’Brien wonderfully illustrates this in his essay â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story.† He relates that there is no point to any events or actions according to the perception of the soldier during a war. â€Å"You smile and think, ... what’s the point?† (469) he says. A person then becomes nothing more than a statis tic -- a part of a whole behaving in a random way. If there is no point to existence, then his actions are truly random. Something truly random can be easily studied, stimulated, expressed in some numbers, percentages, probabilities. This randomness of the soldier is what the whole military apparatus depends on. Consider: if the life of a soldier during war had a point, if he realized that there is some underlying meaning, wouldn’t he strive toward the goal assigned by that meaning? He would, for that is in human nature. Now, if there was no meaning in his perception, he could easily be persuaded that a particular thing must be done. He will obediently follow.