NICOLE PANEBIANCO
Arts Scholar
As an experiential component of College Park Arts Scholars, I attended a selection of five art events during my first semester. These events ranged in art mediums and each sparked dialogue among my peers.
PENTATHALON SEMESTER 1
Legally Blonde the Musical (Pro-Shot MTV)
First and foremost, one of my favorite things about this production is that it is on YouTube, making it completely free! I really appreciate the accessibility of this musical, especially since its professionally recorded, meaning that all can watch and enjoy. Secondly, the musical's feel-good energy, upbeat songs, and empowering message make it very engaging to watch, and one of those shows you can watch over and over without getting bored. Some of my favorite parts of this musical were definitely the dance numbers; you can tell all the actors onstage are having fun and their joy and high energy becomes contagious. Watching this production was definitely a much-needed break from the stress of college and COVID, and the soundtrack has been stuck in my head all week! #music
Zentangling
For my second Penthalon, I decide to do a personal art therapy project. I really enjoy doodling, whether it be on my school notes, in my sketchbook, or on my own body. For this specific project, I decided to do a special kind of doodling called "zentangling", which is a kind of meditative doodling, where you draw patterns, or tangles, and combine them together to make one zentangle. My art teacher taught me about zentangling my freshman year of high school, but I haven't done it in a while so it was refreshing to do again. I enjoy using art as therapy and exploring different meditational and therapeutic art techniques can help inform my possible career path as an art therapist. #virtualart
#ScholarsVote
For my third Pentathlon, I attended the ScholarsVote Q&A session on Thursday, October 22nd from 7:00-8:00 pm. This upcoming election is going to be my first time voting and this session really helped answer my questions about logistical aspects, as well as how to do well-informed and unbiased research on the candidates beforehand. From this presentation, I gained several important resources and tips that make me more confident in my voting choices this election. I also appreciated the interactive aspects of the session, such as the polling about how, logistically, people were planning to vote, and how people were feeling, emotionally, about the election. It helped me feel more connected to the Scholars community and it was especially nice to know that many of my fellow students were feeling nervous and unsure about voting as well. All in all, I am excited to vote this year and hope that my choices will help make an impact on the future of our country. #presentation #ArtScholars
32 Bars Fall Cabaret
For my fourth Pentathlon, I attended 32 Bars Fall Cabaret on October 18th at 7 pm. During the 2019 fall semester, I attended this same event, so I was glad to see that it was still happening despite COVID. My old roommate and close friend, Elizabeth, was performing so I initially tuned in to see her performance, but decided to stick around to see the other singers as well. I loved how some of the performers incorporated aspects such as dance, instruments, and visuals to make their songs more engaging and unique. Since the cabaret was live-streamed, it was really nice to see the chat light up with encouraging messages after each performance, congratulating the singer and fostering community despite physical distance. #theater
PENTATHALON SEMESTER 2
Follow along this semester as I document my arts experiences this semester.
Sweeny Todd
"Sweeney Todd." , directed by Lonny Price. , produced by Jeff Thorsen, et al. , Image Entertainment, 2001. Alexander Street, https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/sweeney-todd-2.
For my first Pentathalon this semester, I watched a production of the musical Sweeny Todd (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra concert version) through the streaming service Alexander Street. This musical had been on my watchlist for a while now and I was excited to have the chance to watch a professionally recorded performance. Theatre is a very hands-on and collaborative medium, making it hard to produce during a global pandemic. However, now more than ever, I have come to hold a special appreciation in my heart for recorded theater and how these plays and musicals can be accessed from the comfort of one's home. This musical's soundtrack is well-known since the music was written by Stephen Sondheim and I really enjoyed how this production highlighted both the musical and the theatrical by having the musicians and the actors onstage at the same time. The story itself was quite intriguing, being a horror melodrama, and the play's message of warning against revenge was well told. These first few weeks of school have been rough but I appreciate how I can always count on the arts, especially the magic of musicals, to provide a much needed escape from reality. #theater
Machinal
I watched UMD's performance of Machinal on both Saturday, February 20th at 7:00 pm and Sunday, February 28th at 3:00 pm. The performance on the 20th was a live Zoom performance and focused a lot more on character dialogue rather than blocking to fit the aforementioned format. The performance on the 28th featured a lot more visual and auditory effects (as pictured to the right), and was edited, rather than live. First of all, I was surprised at the level of effort and detail that was put into the production, especially considering that this was all done remotely. Personally, I enjoyed how immersive the second performance was, especially since the added effects made the story a lot more visually interesting. A detail that stood out to me in both performances was the inclusion of a black and white filter, which really struck me as something unique to digital theater and would be much more difficult to replicate in real life. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed these performances and I can't wait to see how the UMD theater department continues to adapt to this new kind of performance. #theater
2-for-1 Pentathlon Event
I attended the Art Scholars 2-for-1 Pentathlon Event on February 28th at 5:30 pm, hosted by the Arts Advisory Board and Peer Mentors. This virtual Zoom event had several breakout rooms, each of which corresponded with a different category of pentathlon credit. The two rooms I joined were the presentation and the visual art rooms. For the presentation room, we all got to play a game of Scribbl.io together, which I've played previously with my friends on several occasions. I had a lot of fun playing this game with my Art Scholars peers and I even won the game, making me eligible to win a prize! For the visual art room, we used a virtual whiteboard to collaborate on a group drawing with a specific theme such as a marine animal pool party (pictured to the left). College Park Scholars is a living-learning program, but I've found it really hard to connect with my fellow peers since the "living" portion of the program has been taken away due to the pandemic. However, events such as this one allow me to feel that social connection I've been missing this school year and give me hope that I can still make meaningful memories even if things aren't as I originally planned.
#ArtsScholars #presentation #visualart
Howl's Moving Castle
For my final pentathlon credit for the semester, I read the book Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. The animated movie adaptation of this book by Studio Ghibli is one of my favorite movies of all time, so it felt like just a matter of time until I read the book the movie was based on. I found it very interesting to compare the book and movie and see what was changed, added, or removed. I love the way this book combines fantastical elements such as evil witches and charismatic fire demons with real-life problems such as Sophie's journey to find her place in the world and Howl's struggle to open his heart to those around him. Throughout the book, Sophie often comes into conflict with her inability to find self-love and self-worth, which is an issue I heavily relate to. For me, Howl's Moving Castle served as an escape from the high-stress end of the semester, as well as a source of inspiration for my own struggles with self-discovery and love.
#literature
