Traditional Montagnard Dance

Dance is one of the most common things one would recognize as “traditional.” I remember watching old western movies or movies about Indians, and they always had dances. Most of what I remember would be around a campfire. Even in cartoons, a good example and one that completely sticks out in my head would be the cartoon version of Peter Pan. When the brothers joined the Indian tribe, there was a scene where they all danced around the fire and chanted some noises. I don’t know why I remember that.

           Either way, I am very interested in the Montagnards traditional dances, how they were started, and what they represent. I think it would be really awesome to speak to someone who knows or remembers the traditional dances and can give me some background information on them.

           As a dancer, I am exposed to many different styles of dances. Most are known all over the world, which is why they are taught. I just never get learn about cultural dances. I think it would be really beneficial for dancers to be knowledgeable on as many different styles of dancing and as many different cultures of dancing as we possibly can. It broadens our horizon and shows that there are more dances out there than just ballet and modern.

Framing; Around What's Real

"Framing is the most ordinary thing to do."- George Lakoff.

                                                                                          Everybody frames their life and their surroundings. Most do not know it, but they do. You can't escape it, it's a natural thing to do and if it didn't exist, everyone would be the same and the world would never grow or change. Framing to me is almost like brainwashing how we think. It’s interesting to look back on how we felt about certain situations when we were younger and compare them to how we feel now. I do believe that framing has a lot to do with ones surroundings. When I was younger, my parents raised me to believe that men were meant to be with women. That’s the way they were raised, and this topic is still a major social issue in society. So when I was younger, I believed what my parents told me. As I got older, I realized that I am entitled to my own opinions and society is changing, slowly but surely, and the idea of homosexuality is not as big of a deal as it once was. That was me framing the rights and wrongs of sexuality because that’s all I knew. Now I frame it in a whole different way.

 “Framing is done in the basement of the mind.” This means that framing is done subconsciously. It’s hard to notice how much and when we frame things and how they affect our lives. You never know when you are framing things. I believe that fully. People frame things in their everyday lives and don’t think twice about it. Most people actually live their whole lives without knowing what framing is or why they do it.