The Pallette

T H E PA L E T T E IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL I 2901 MELROSE AVE. I IOWA CITY, IA 52246 I PERSONAL PUBLICATION I MAY 28, 2019

into the arts

Picture credit: me

CONTENTS

04 Music culture in our city Country vs Rap Music

08 Boys dance too Story about guys who dance in our community

Hi, My name is Cameron Reimers and I am a freshman at West. I am really into art so I hope you enjoy this colorful publication that I made. I had a lot fo fun working on it, and all the stories were so fun to write.

06 Avengers Endgame Review (For dummies) with small spoilers

12 Back page How to have a fun chalk photoshoot in your driveway

04

M U S I C AT W E S T

COUNTRY VS RAP

MUSIC CULTURE IN OUR CITY

BY CAMERON REIEMRS

Are you one of those people that jams out to Lil Uzi Vert or Juice Wrld, or would you rather chill out with Ariana Grande and Shawn Mendes?

Whether you are on one side or the other, in the middle somewhere, or not even close to any of those, music probably has a big role in your life.

Alex Curtu ‘22 prefers hip hop or rap music. “They talk about real issues that face our community today and I think it is really interesting when you listen to the lyrics,” Curtu said. Rap music originated in the northeast parts of the United States in places like New York City. It typically consists of repetitive background beats that accompany rhythmic poetry.

On the other side of the spectrum, country music is a big debate. You either love country music or hate it, and there isn’t really much room in the middle. In fact, Country music is primarily made in the American Southwest using instruments like acoustic guitars or fiddles. Ava Walker ‘22 at Liberty High School goes to country music concerts all the time with her mom. “It just makes me so happy listening to country and I almost like forget my stress when I’m at a country concert.”

There is a big variety in the types of music that people enjoy at west high. Talk to anyone and you would get a different playlist.

43%

170 students were surveyed

people say they do not like country music

12/17 12/17

people prefer pop music over rap music

9/16 people dislike rap music

05

M U S I C AT W E S T

06

REVIEW

AVENGERS ENDGAME

FOR DUMMIES

A REVIEW WITH SPOILERS

I’m looking at all you non-Marvel fans

BY CAMERON REIMERS

W g The world was taken by storm when the first Avengers movie came out in 2012. I mean, how would it not? Everyone’s favorite superheroes all fighting together to save the world! The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has many movies that include solo films for a certain superhero, and movies where many of them work together, all of which I have seen. (Not bragging) “Avengers: Endgame” was the last Avengers movie where all of the superheroes would be working together, which most people would upset about and at first, so was I, but OH MY GOODNESS this movie did not leave me disappointed.

Ok I know I said spoiler warning earlier, but you should stop reading for real now if you haven’t seen it.

In the previous movie, Thanos, the big purple evil dude, tries and succeeds in finding the Infinity Stones. There are 6 of them and they are very powerful, controlling time, power, reality, soul, space, and the mind. With the magic stones, Thanos puts them on to a gauntlet, snaps his fingers, and half the living things in the universe go bye bye. The superheroes start talking about how to get people back five years after that catastrophe. All the remaining people are all sad and they are like OMG what if we found out a way to undo it?

Everyone agrees and Iron Man, the red metal guy, finds out a way to time travel.

Now that they can time travel, the whole gang decides to split up and go to different times and places in the past to get the stones, that way they can make their own glove and snap all the missing people back into existence.

Whatever you do, do not watch Avengers: Endgame without watching the other movies.

07

REVIEW

Some people left the movie feeling depressed that this was the last movie where all the original heroes would be working together, and I was sad too, but I was satisfied. This movie exceeded my expectations as far as cinematics and plot. It was super thought out and I loved how it had so many references to older movies.

That being the case, someone who maybe hasn’t seen all the Marvel movies would most likely be very confused, and wouldn’t get to experience the full effect of all the little throwbacks. That, in my opinion, is what made the movie the best I have ever seen. The directors catered towards all the fans who have been super invested in the saga which was cool since normally movie makers try to cater to everyone.

The only bad side to the movie is that people who don’t normally watch Marvel movies would be very confused. This is mostly because of the time travel and all the characters that you have to know from past movies. The cast is huge, and not knowing one character can be a huge plot hole.

That being said, I personally would give the movie 5 stars. It really exceeded my expectations of what a movie should be and it was cool that literally none of it I would have predicted. I spent hours coming up with theories before I saw the movie, and none of them were nearly as good as the end result. I did have tears constantly running down my face throughout the movie, but for every tear there was a little happy smile to go with it. I would totally recommend watching this movie, especially if you love Marvel, but only if you have taken the time to watch every other MCU movie. And if you haven’t, you should start now, because there is something for everyone in each marvel film, and every person can find someone to relate to.

08

B OY S D A N C E TO O

BOYS DANCE TOO FACING THE SOCIAL NORMS HEAD ON Evan Zukin ‘22, experiences difficulty in the dance world. Zukin has been taking dance for the past five years at Nolte Academy in Iowa City.

He participates in tap classes several times per week. In addition to that, Zukin has been part of the competitive team that travels for two years.

“You can tell there’s a difference when a guy is doing dance like, at competitions, us guys don’t get an actual dressing room, we get a broom closet,” Zukin said. Usually, at competitions, girls are given access to a huge dressing room complete with mirrors and lights while boys don’t get nearly that. This may be the result of purely numbers of guys on the team, but also just because the big conventions and competitions just assume that teams don’t have very many boys.

Evan Zukin ‘22 performs his peice called “Jack and Dianne” at a competition (pc Angela Thompson)

Sean Kaminski ‘09 has been tap dancing since his early teen years and is an instructor at Nolte Academy. Kaminski said, “I’ve only known maybe one team in my entire life who had, you know, more than 10 guys on it. We are lucky that I think we have 8 or 7 total which is great.” Nolte Academy has many boys taking classes, most of which only do tap dance.

Kaminski also teaches tap dance all around the country as a guest teacher alongside some other well-known dancers.

Sean Kaminski ‘09 tap dances at a local festival (pc Angela Thompson)

09

B OY S D A N C E TO O

BY CAMERON REIMERS

Kaminski also mentions how he was judged growing up for being in dance.

“I mean, it’s not as often anymore because I’m older and more established in it, but especially when I was younger, just a dancer instead of a teacher and stuff, people always assumed I was gay.” He talks about how in his childhood, it was uneasy growing up in a neighborhood where every little boy would play basketball and baseball, while Kaminski was a dancer. This wasn’t just a problem for Kaminski, but also Andreas Warren ‘24. He does tap dance, along with other styles like modern, contemporary, and ballet.

“One time when I walked through my classroom and this boy was making slurs about me and stuff. So that’s fun,” says Warren. “At my school, people tend to make the slurs about me being “gay” and “feminine” when they don’t even know me.”

As for why there are fewer male dancers, it would be due to them getting teased or because boys wouldn’t feel comfortable or confident doing it. It can also be explained primarily because dance used to be primarily a female activity. Kaminski says he doesn’t see gender inequality in tap dance as much as other styles.

“I’ve experienced way more male teachers on the tap side than any other genre of dance,” Kaminski said, “but maybe just because it doesn’t have as much of a stigma as being girly, like the super rudimentary or common tap steps don’t have a feminine element to it.” Most of the male dancers that do, either take tap dance or hip hop, he mentions, which is clearly visible when you are sitting in the audience watching dance after dance go onstage, and the boys that come on are either busting a move on the front and center of a hip hop piece, or are being the dapper guy in a suit in a tap dance.

Andreas Warren ‘24 is caught mid jump in a leap at a competition (pc Angela Thompson)

10

B OY S D A N C E TO O

Even for the minority that does participate in recitals and competitions, the boys typically get assigned roles that align with their gender, or they are completely expected to adapt to the way girls do things. Although Kaminski only does tap dance now, when he was younger he was interested in other styles.

“My first jazz dance I wore a pink sparkly shirt, and the song was ‘Come On Over Baby’ by Christina Aguilera. I started off with my hand on my chin and I watched a girl walk by that I was supposed to swoon for. That video exists somewhere, but I don’t want it to be found,” Kaminski said. He also talked about his first encounter with being in a classroom full of girls.

Sean Kaminski ‘09 poses with his younger sister for a photo before he goes onstage. (pc TJ Kaminski)

11

B OY S D A N C E TO O

Sean Kaminski ‘09 talks to his students backstage before a performance (pc Angela Thompson)

“The teachers expected me to be super sassy and shake my hips and I did not want to do that, but they got after me if I didn’t.” It does seem cruel, but Kaminski as a teacher today, also feels the struggle of finding the middle ground for the boys that take his class.

“It used to be harder to find a good in-between-spot for the boys, so that they didn’t have to completely adapt to female roles, but also so they didn’t totally stand out. Now it is easier, and I am lucky because tap dance is more technique and rudiment based so it is easier for me than teachers of other styles.”

Boys do have a little extra weight to carry when doing dance, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more male dancers in the future, or that it won’t change.

Sean Kaminski ‘09 poses with his performers before they go onstage. (pc Erica Reimers)

HOW TO HAVE A

FUN

CHALK PHOTOSHOOT IN YOUR DRIVEWAY Grab a friend, get outside, and grab your chalk because this is a quick and cool way to have fun in this nice weather! All you have to do is copy these photos of the props on your driveway with chalk and have your friend take a picture of you posing just like our friend Samantha in these pictures!

Lunar Love

Fairy Creative You’ll Float too