Fall 2013
Dance It Out Keys to Life: MenloŠ s Carnegie Star Songs From Ireland to tennessee
Issue theme: Spooky
Fall 2013
Editor-in-Chief: Maya Singhal Photo Editor: Katelyn Weingart Content Editor: Pooja Kathail Blog Editor-in-Chief: Hunter Brown Chief Reporter: Helena Ong Staff Reporters: Maya Varma, Elana Shen, Tara
Contents Letter from the Editor--5 Keys to Life--6 Songs from Ireland--8 Dance it Out--10 Painting the World--16 Meet the New Drama Teacher--17 Where are the Bands?--18
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Keys to Life: Menlo's Carnegie Star By Helena Ong and Elana Shen
Beginning at the age of four, piano player freshman Anna Boonyanit has competed internationally, performed at Carnegie Hall, and continues to practice two to three hours during the weekday and four to five hours on the weekend. Boonyanit took interest in piano as she grew up listening to music and friends began taking up instruments. Now, after years of piano her favorite piece of music is “Stravinsky—and it’s called ‘Chez Patrushka.’ But I like Beethoven [...] sonatas and stuff [...] a lot of variety.” In fact, “Chez Patrushka” was one of three pieces performed by Boonyanit when she won the International Russian Music Piano Competition, competing for special prizes alongside of experienced 20 and 30 year olds. Practicing piano at this level does have it’s shortcomings. “A lot of times my friends go to sleepovers or dances and stuff and I can’t go because I have this commitment to piano,” Boonyanit said, “I kind of wanted to have a commitment and be pretty good at one thing rather than doing so many extracurriculars.” “If you work hard you can accomplish things [...] you have to make such a strong commitment and make so many sacrifices.” Outside of the piano, Boonyanit enjoys tennis and photography. “I like science a lot,” Boonyanit said. “It’s my favorite subject definitely, and for a career I’d rather become a scientist—or some sort of science major—rather than [a musician].” Even still, music continues to be significant in her life. “It’s always kind of on my mind [...] and I [practice] every day so it has become a part of me,” Boonyanit said.
Songs from Ireland to Tennessee by Hunter Brown
Sponsored by the HAND foundation, a new Menlo-sponsored program that allows students to travel abroad, senior Caroline Wheeler spent her summer traveling to Nashville, Tennessee to study bluegrass music and Dublin, Ireland to study traditional Irish music. Wheeler became interested in investigating the links between the two genres after learning that a bluegrass piece that she had learned to sing with her chorus, Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley. She found that the piece, “West Virginia” by Hazel Dickens, had a similar sound to tradition Irish music. During her travels, Wheeler had the opportunity to meet many American and Irish musicians and ask them about their respective genres. When asked to describe the differences between the American and Irish musicians, Wheeler noted that she “didn’t find them to be very different at all.” She elaborated, saying that “they all had the same sense of excitement and passion for their music. They all went above and beyond to share their knowledge.” She did, however, note that the Irish musicians “displayed a greater sense of cultural identity through the music than the Bluegrass musicians did,” as they talked about how the genre permeates everyday culture rather than focusing on the history of their genre. Wheeler feels that this project has made her more curious about learning the meaning and context behind the music she listens to. “It is important to not just listen to music, but to understand it,” she said. When people know the development and meaning behind the music, the songs become “more interesting and fun to experience,” she added. In addition, Wheeler has fostered a love of traditional Irish music. She says that not only does she continue to listen to the genre, but that she “can definitely see [her]self continuing [her] research on Irish traditional music in college.” In addition to Irish music, Wheeler has also said that she would be interested in looking at connections between traditional and folk music for other cultures around the world. According to Wheeler, her trip has helped her not only delve deeper into one of her interests, but also prepare her for college as she learned how to adapt to new situations and cultures.
Dance It Out By Maya Singhal
For senior Raina Wuthmann, dance has always been there, ever since she was a little girl dreaming of being Clara in the Nutcracker. But as she has grown up, Wuthmann has found another side to dance, a side that allows her to escape from the cutthroat world outside of the studio. “Especially when you’re stressed, it feels really good to have [dance] classes to take your mind […] off [everything], and mentally challenge yourself to do things outside of academics,” Wuthmann said. Specifically, she loves modern dance for its lack of focus on technique. In a world where students are constantly corrected in nearly everything they do, Wuthmann finds it refreshing to be allowed to do what she wants without criticism. “In modern [dance], if you’re doing something really weird with your body that people can’t do, people are like, ‘That’s awesome and it’s totally a metaphor,’ ” Wuthmann said. Currently, Wuthmann is taking about one class a day in ballet, jazz, modern and even a flexing core class, which, she said, is “kind of killer.” But the road to this point has not been easy. “There were times in middle school, when it started getting tougher and taking up more time, when I kind of fell out of love with it and actually quit for a couple of years,” Wuthmann said. (Instead, she tried sports even though she proclaims she is “not athletic.”) In addition, Wuthmann seems to have discovered the dark side of dance. “It is tough and it challenges your body as all sports do,” she said. “[But] it can be […] very unhealthy at times, and for a lot of people it can challenge your perception of your body and make you do things that you wouldn’t normally do.” Although her comment is, she admits, vague, Wuthmann is referring to the ever-present trend of negative body image and body dysmorphic disorder in the dance world. In a 1996 study by the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, adolescent ballet students were asked
about their weights and those of their peers. They all overestimated them. When academic teachers were asked to estimate the weights of their students, they consistently underestimated them, while dance teachers significantly overestimated them. In an interview on Already Pretty, dancer from the troupe Pilobolus, Jeffrey Huang said that, “criticizing our bodies is second nature to dancers.” While this can be good for achieving at a high level and staying in shape, it’s easy, especially for young dancers, to go too far. It can get dark, but “I think that if you treat it in the right way, it’s an incredible creative outlet and it’s very beautiful,” Wuthmann said. Perhaps by approaching dance her way, she has found more balance than if she were standing perfectly en pointe.
Painting the World By Maya Varma Every artist has an inspiration. They have a constant impulse to create and bend reality; possibilities are endless. From the people in their lives to the world around them, a strong love for one thing or a pure hatred for another, an artist makes something out of nothing but emotion. Even a simple spark can inspire a masterpiece. For sophomore Ashley Pimlott, inspiration was found in an 8th grade assignment. Pimlott was presented with a project in which she was told to “pursue a passion.” Pimlott took this chance to paint three oil paintings representing an emotion that most Menlo students aren’t familiar with: hunger. “I have always been interested in art,” Pimlott said, “and my family has been close to the International Justice Mission for a while.” The International Justice Mission helps children in slavery and poverty, and Pimlott took this project as a chance to combine her two passions into one larger statement. She produced paintings that represented the emotions of hunger and pain, depicting children from poor countries and lifestyles. “I like stuff that means something,” Pimlott said. “Human emotions.” Profits from these paintings were given to the International Justice Mission, where Pimlott continues to help children in need. For her artistic talents, two of her paintings from the project are on display in the Academic Center. Her work can also be seen in the art room where she currently takes Advanced Art. As Pimlott continues to create art, she inspires others through her dedication to such an important cause. Pimlott proves it first hand: the possibilities are endless.
Meet Menlo's New Drama Teacher: Steven Minning By Tara Saha Bringing almost 30 years of professional and Broadway directing experience to the table, Menlo’s new drama director Steven Minning has more than enough qualifications for the job. Minning has had experience on Broadway as an actor, appearing in the dance chorus of two of the top 20 longest-running shows on Broadway, 42nd Street and Fiddler on the Roof. However, Minning chose to pursue directing because he “kept watching shows and having very strong opinions…[he] wanted to take control of [his ideas].” But then why did he decide to come to Menlo? “It was time to take the information I learned professionally and start sharing it,” Minning said. Constructing a fresh perspective at Menlo is important to Minning. “I wanted to…get to know Menlo and its talent pool with a small show that has a strong script.” According to Minning, Little Shop of Horrors was the hardest show for him to pick for Menlo’s lineup of plays. Minning “did a lot of research to find a show that was appropriate for Halloween and was very fun.” For winter and spring, Minning wanted to pick two contrasting shows; Our Town is a minimalist play with a dramatic plot, while Pirates of Penzance is an operatic comedy with a strong ensemble and largerthan-life characters. With his experience and selection of plays, Minning gives a lot to look forwards to.
WHERE ARE THE BANDS? By Pooja Kathail There have been countless movies and TV shows made about high school. Somehow, a giant group of adolescents packed together on one campus makes for cinematic gold. Freaks and Geeks, School of Rock, Glee even Gilmore Girls: what do all these depictions of the high school experience have in common? Superficial and unrealistic as these media depictions of high school may be, they all have a distinct group of students in their midst: the band. In every movie, music video, and afterschool special, there is always a group of kids that decide to mark themselves with the ultimate sign of independence: starting a rock band. Unlike the more fictitious elements of teenage life added to movies by the media to make them seem more appealing, the “rock band” effect is ubiquitous in both fiction and fact. Every high school has a band, a group of kids that have decided that they want to pursue music more freely than simply through their school marching band or orchestra. But where are the bands at Menlo? Sure, we have our fair share of arts and music; orchestra, jazz band, chorus, and an abundance of theatrical performances, but no rock band. Do Menlo students simply lack the independent spirit required to form a band? Has it always been this way? Before I try to tackle the answer to this first question, let’s start with the second: has it always been this way? Thankfully, the answer is no. Menlo has had its fair share of bands in the past. Alumnus Elliott (formerly Linh) Nguyen (Class of 2013) was perhaps the master of the high school band. During his time at Menlo, he was involved in multiple bands with fellow alumni Beau Baldwin, Kyle Vaidyanathan, and Caroline Glazer. Yet with their graduation last spring,
Menlo is once again bandless. Moving on to the more provocative question: do Menlo students simply lack the independent spirit required to form a band? As a Menlo student myself, I’d like the answer to that question to be no. I hope that this lack of bands can be explained away as simply a lull rather than some reflection on the character of Menlo students. After all, we start clubs, independent studies, even businesses, what stopping us from starting a band? Maybe it’s that we have become so enthralled with the idea of college and everything it takes to get in – grades, test scores, and extracurriculars – that we’ve lost sight of doing something simply because. In short, we shouldn’t have to start a band because School of Rock tells us we should, but we also shouldn’t be deterred from it because it might not have some omnipotent longterm effect. After all, high school should be more than looking forwards towards college. We should be able to enjoy this moment, as well.
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