Cirque du Soleil: Totem

Months ago, I had the opportunity to attend Cirque du Soleil's Totem in Portland. This post has been a long time coming - for some reason I could not stop myself from raving about how much I loved Totem and how much I wanted to run away with the circus. I think by now I have finally formed a semi-coherent message.

Just looking at this photo makes my heart race. The entrance to the grand chateau.

As soon as I saw the tents from the highway, I squealed. There is something about the swirl of blue and yellow that excites my inner child. The circus is here! The circus is here! I look forward to seeing the strange costumes, listening to the beautiful music, and watching the amazing acrobats perform. Every show is unique, but each re-ignites my imagination. Entering the tent is similar to walking through the wardrobe into Narnia; a magnificent world lies within.

The inside of the tent. The umbrellas changed colors sporadically.

It is pronounced To-tem, not To-tem. That is one of the first things I noticed about the show. The next thing I noticed was the staging and lights. There was a mountainous rock placed at the base of a hill-like structure. A life-like stream of water was projected over the structure leading down to the rock. It seemed as though the audience was amidst a rainforest with reeds swaying at the top of the hill.

My brother and I stare in awe as we walk through the tent's entrance.

One of the things I will always appreciate about le Cirque is its theatricality. It always has the perfect mix of flair and humor balanced with a message. For several shows now, I have taken in the performance then reflected on its meaning. Sometimes I will purchase the program to gain insight into the story flowing through the performance, but oftentimes a deeper message is presented. Either that or I truly do find meaning in nothing...

I do love a good bucket of popcorn.

Staging and lighting - beautiful as ever.

Apart from a wonderful message and beautiful audio and visual effects, I enjoy spending time with others who appreciate the performances. Each have their own thrilling feats and incredible designs that are only possible in Cirque du Soleil. Take a moment to consider that circuses, in essence, celebrate the spectacular. It seems that no organization does it best than le Cirque.

My family and I posing after the performance. Or at least trying to.

The Aftermath of an Awesome Weekend.

This weekend was fantastic. There was so much I had planned to do and not only did I accomplish most of it, I had a fun time doing so!

First up on my list was my first ever 5K - The Mustache Dash! It was in support of prostate cancer research and survivors. I just thought it would be a fun run to start with - a sort of trial before the big thing in June. With this in mind, I figured I would aim for a time between 35 and 40 minutes. The course was much hillier than I anticipated, but I took the hills slow in order to spare my knees the pain and after a while I got in the zone. I brought my iPod along to keep me motivated, but honestly I could have done it without the music. The people around me were enough to keep me going! I found myself keeping track of certain people and pacing myself with them.

Anyway, I finished with a time of 36:33 - not bad for my first 5K, I think. Feeling that last burst of energy and sprinting the remainder of the course was exhilarating and something I will never forget!



Next on the docket was Ajax in Iraq. I believe I have already blogged about the play itself, so I will not go into further detail. I just want to comment on the fact that although I was only ushering this time instead of simply being a part of the audience, I felt like I was back home. It seemed that people were genuinely happy to see me and I, them. I even met some of the freshmen interested in theatre!

Immediately after closing was strike. Strike consists of deconstructing the set, rearranging the theatre, packing up the seating, putting away most of the lights, and cleaning. It can be a long process depending on how much help there is. I specifically came to closing night to help with strike, knowing that the reward of eating at Shari's was worthy of a late night. Sure enough, we arrived at Shari's around midnight and left about two hours later completely satiated and exhausted. Good times were had by all.

I crashed (literally - I was exhausted after such a long day!) on the couch at my friend Rhianna's apartment for the night. Several hours later, I awoke to a complete arrangement of breakfast items prepared by Rhianna before she left for rehearsal. The darling! I am not ashamed to say I started bawling. The thoughtfulness, generosity, and overall kindness I had experienced (especially from Rhianna) in the last twelve hours was overwhelming.



It may be needless to say, but I will say it anyway - friendship is a powerful thing.

Now I am left to my studies, but with the anticipation of seeing my family next week, I am willing to do whatever it takes to succeed this week.

Ajax in Iraq

The show Ajax in Iraq goes along with the college's theme, "Legacies of War." Not only does Ajax provide a modern adaptation of the Greek story of Ajax, it also presents testimonials from real-life veterans of the Iraqi war. Although I was interested in the subject matter, I mainly went to see it in support of several friends who are in it. I loved the show - the cast members were well chosen, the sound and lighting designs were fantastic, and the costumes and staging were great. It was definitely thought-provoking. Slightly depressing, but thought-provoking.

In Greek mythology, Ajax and Odysseus were two warriors among many other Grecian soldiers who fought in the Trojan War. Odysseus was given the armor of Achilles as a reward for his efforts, despite Ajax having more substantial contributions to the war. The goddess Athena drove Ajax mad, leading him to slaughter an entire flock of sheep. Teclemessa, a Trojan offered to Ajax for a wife, was distraught and prayed for protection for her son while Ajax was on the war path. Ajax eventually kills himself, though Teclemessa pleads him not to.

Throughout the show, the audience also follows the story of A.J., an American female lieutenant in the Iraqi War. The fact that A.J. is being raped by her superior officer does not manifest itself immediately, though when it is indicated, members of her troop do not confront the situation. Once the despair and hopelessness of the situation sink in, it is too late - A.J. has already gone mad and killed an Iraqi shepherd's flock. Before she is arrested, she gives a picture of her son to a friend and tells her friend to tell her son that his picture was the only thing she valued. Eventually A.J. escapes and commits suicide. 

At her funeral, her comrades comment on various aspects of her death and it is revealed that A.J. only had a couple weeks left on her tour. The gravity of the undisclosed events leading up to her suicide weighs heavily on the audience as the troop exits offstage and Athena reappears, surrounding the gravesite. 

I am grateful I was able to see it before Veterans' day, because it gave me a better perspective on veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a popular topic associated with veterans, but what about joblessness or homelessness? There are things that we as fellow citizens and compassionate people can do for the veterans that have put themselves in harm's way for us whether or not they "needed" to. Society can discuss war in the realm of politics all it wants, but the fact of the matter is, soldiers are people that are placed in a range of dangerous situations for one reason or another. Without them, others could/would be drafted and placed there against their will. The least I can do is thank them for their service, whether or not it is their designated day.

Corrido Calavera

Tonight I went to a show put on by Teatro Milagro of Portland called Corrido Calavera. It is about a young married couple, Amanda and Manuel, who die in a car accident and are sent to the world of the dead. There, they meet a cast of characters who try to help them reconcile their deteriorating marriage (pun intended).

It was a great show. It even had musical numbers! The lighting, the costumes, and the characters were all fantastic. I just wish I could have taken more pictures!


It was a black box theater, meaning the entire room was painted black and the audience was seated in the same place as the staging area. I was lucky enough to be seated in the front row, toward the center of the theater, so I had pretty great view of everything.

The main characters hid in coffins on display when the house opened and emerged when called upon by the rest of the cast members to rise again. The cast members all wore black jumpsuits with hoods, gloves, and shoes with bones painted on with various distinguishing costume pieces. Although there were only eight or so cast members, each person played more than one character. It was so amusing to see how their costume changed with their character's voice and mannerisms!

Anyway, I laughed, I cried, I mourned... It was a great night.

The altar in the foyer with pictures of honored deceased.

November Updates

First of all, there are several exciting opportunities that I have taken advantage of that I thought I would share:

1. I will be participating in the 5K Mustache Dash in Portland in a couple weeks. If you have any ideas for how to make the best mustache or the best costume, please comment below!
2. I will be officially volunteering for the American Red Cross as a blood drive ambassador.
3. I will be attending the show Ajax in Iraq which my dear friends are performing in.

Those are the only events I have allowed myself, despite my efforts, with the next few busy weeks of the term. In the meantime, I will be performing several momentous lab evaluations and completing four critical papers and two crucial exams. Oh, and writing a novel. No big deal.

Introductions in Nursing

One of my favorite classes of this semester is definitely Clinical/IEL. It is similar to a lab session in other science classes where knowledge is put to practice. In fact, IEL stands for Integrated Experiential Learning. It is also considered Clinical, because after learning the "nursing basics" we are sent out to clinical sites to practice what we know in a safer, less controlled setting.

This week in IEL we have started practicing patient admission assessments which includes taking vital signs and auscultating lung, heart, and bowel sounds. The reason I enjoy IEL is that as we are role-playing and practicing, we can question and constructively instruct each other while maintaining the educational atmosphere characteristic of a normal class lab. Occasionally, the role-playing goes awry and students are detracted from the purpose of the exercise. I will be honest - tonight I was in a giggly mood. My poor partners were making the most of it, but I still feel horrible about my behavior. When it was my turn to assess my "patient," I could not remember several steps on my own and had to check and be prompted. Needless to say, the experience was discouraging.

The process reminded me of rehearsals for a show I assistant stage managed for, Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson. New to the process of collegiate theatre, I was unprepared for the abruptness of line-calling during rehearsals. The stage manager interrupted frequently with the right lines and right phrases immediately if not before the actor finished calling for the line. As one of the people who constantly counts her mistakes, I reminded myself of the reason I was not an actor. During the remainder of the IEL process, however, I became more determined to remember the steps not simply as I was taught them, but as their overall significance in the admission process.

As my clinical advisor told me, every patient interaction will be unique in some way. Thus, the order of the assessment process will deviate slightly, but the process will always be the same. There is no script for this act, but the act always has the same events: introductions, recording vital signs, auscultating body sounds, and so on.