To be, or not to be

"To be, or not to be"
This is a very remarkable soliloquy said by Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. I was very impressed by this phrase as Dr Edwin introduced this famous soliloquy to us today.
The argument in this soliloquy is about making decision between life or death, whether to go on living or to die. For some people, they might think that death is the end. After death, everything is going to be nothing. All the sufferings, burdens (as the word fardels in the play suggested) will come to an end as one die. I think this is most probably why so many people nowadays have the tendency in committing suicide. However, who has the assurance to say that death is the end of everything? Who has ever experienced death, then resurrected and come back to tell us what is happening after death? Perhaps death is not the ending of everything but instead it is actually the beginning of everything! As many religious has suggested, there is life after death and death is never the ending but rather, it is the time for people to actually face the consequences of our doings during this age, whether good or bad.
"Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all," This is true. When we think of what is going to happen after death, we may not have the courage to really end our life as we all do not know what is the "true colour" of death.
This soliloquy has indeed given me impact about life. No matter how suffer life is going to be, I'd choose not to give up. To end own's life certainly needs a lot of courage but to keep going on with life actually needs much more courage. Instead of having so much strength to make a decision to commit suicide, why not just transfer this strength to face all the challenges in life?

Ballet

Out of so many dance forms in the world, Ballet is the one that I like the most. I am greatly impressed by the beauty of the body movements of the performers. I like to watch the performance of Ballet on stage. It usually combines dance, mime, acting and music(usually orchestra, which I enjoy very much). This combination makes the show perfect in terms of its visual and audio effect.

Ballet is best known for its unique features and techniques, such as pointe work, turn-out, and high extensions. I think most of the audiences are deeply attracted by its graceful, flowing, and precise movements. Their movements are so light. The ethereal qualities of their movements make the dance full of imagination as if the dancers are flying in the sky and go against the gravity.

It has been originated since late 14oos and is still famous until nowadays.

What is Makyong

After reading the dramatic monologue of Mak Su in the drama of Ramli Ibrahim, In the Name of Love, I was reminded that there are many precious traditional practices have been neglected by the younger generations and Makyong is one of them. When I was reading this monologue, I myself also did not know what Makyong is. As I surfed internet to search for further information about Makyong, I found out that it is actually a very artistic dance form that worths to be inherited generations to generations.

Makyong is an ancient dance-theater form that combines the elements of ritual, stylized dance and acting, vocal and instrumental music, story, song, formal as well as improvised spoken text. It is believed to have originated in Kelantan, Malaysia, several centuries ago, long before the Islamization of the country. It is performed mainly for the purposes of court entertainment and for ritual practices such as healing practices. The most important dance in Makyong is Mengadap Rebab which is divided into five sections: sitting, kneeling, squatting, standing and walking.

Makyong has been preserved until the present day thanks largely to the oral transmissions, which requires long years of training. However, this important tradition is undergoing steady decline, due to reduced dramatic and musical collections and a shortage of performers. In addition, in today's society, few young people are willing to commit to this tradition. Makyong was so popular and greatly welcome by many people in the past as what Mak Su said in the drama. She feels so regret that this tradition is banned due to the new law in Kelantan and the Makyong performers are forced to move to other state. It is so unfortunate that this tradition is being neglected and gradually become unknown to many people especially the younger generation.

A good start

Last week, Dr Edwin asked us to create our own journal to reflect on what is taught in the EDU3217 "Teaching the Language of Drama" class. This idea is a totally new experience for me as I have never created my own blog. I think this is a good start for me to actually keep a journal and to improve my writing.
To teach the language of drama is certainly another new thing for me to learn in this semester. As I have never watched any drama or play, I felt that this must be a very hard time for me to go through this course. But anyway, I hope that after this semester, I would at least have some background knowledge about drama. What I need to do is just to try my best in understanding what is being taught during the lectures.