Nitasha Borchert

The main thing about performance studies that I learned this past week is the impact that it leaves on the audience. I had an idea about the art of performance, but it did not hit me until watching the show Sea Sick. I was emotionally moved by Alanna Mitchell, so impacted that it pushes me to want more.

I want more growth, knowledge, and many more answers after having the honor of listening to such of an amazing human being. Alanna hated the idea of being in front of a crowd. Although she knew if she did not share her research with others, who would? That right there is the reason why performing your story to others can be so critical. Being bright enough to think critically, ask some of the deepest questions, and turn it into a story for many to watch amazes me.

The whole script to her performance consisted of an advocacy for climate change. She took what she was advocating and put it into an hour-long performance. With many personal stories about what got her to where she is today. There are even more facts about why she is promoting this whole new picture internationally.

Practically every second of her performance was filled with more information to where it was flooding into my head almost as if a dam just gave way. I think she accomplished everything she wanted to by the end of the show. She left behind a crowd with ambition, more knowledge, and pure satisfaction. All to think it started with a simple question that seemed to haunt her. To where she ended up today, in front of many people, advocating for the result of her question. She answered her own scientific questions not only for you, or me, but the whole world.

She used mostly verbal communication but also nonverbal. I could see that in her heart she truly cared about the story she was trying to share with us. Like I said earlier this was not something she took an interest in doing. Standing in front of a crowd with many eyes watching her, as she pours out most of her life research to us. Alanna was more than ready for questions and comments at the end of the performance and could fully articulate what anyone asked.

After watching Alanna, I am excited to learn more about her and the five books she has written. I can vouch that I have already investigated the first book of hers that I plan on buying as soon as I return to the states. She is a wealth of knowledge I will take advantage of, as so should you. It took years to get to where she is at today and she should take self-importance out of doing so.

I would like to step out of the boundaries of “the norm” that our society has made. Scratch that, I am going to step out of the boundaries of “the norm”. That is why I urge everyone to take time out of their hectic lives and learn about her and the movement she is pushing for. I do not think there could be an ounce of regret if you do. I give this performance a five start review without any doubt. Sea Sick is the first type of sick feeling that we could all nurture from.

Nitasha Borchert

The Outsider might have been a comedy and a quite funny one I must add it was also the dirty truth about Deepu Dileepans’ life. Here is a brief background for you to understand what I am going to write about a tad more. He is young Indian man born and raised in India. Who later chose to move all the way over to the Great Britain Luxenberg. Being the race that he is he often feels the vibe of an outsider. Hence the title The Outsider. Even though he came from a part of India that the British sort of took over, and he speaks very fluent English he still struggles with being racial profiled.

At first, I had thought he was just being funny but towards the end of the show the saddened truth came out and was very clear to me. All the racial profiling he continues to get as someone with brown skin. How sad, and unfair this is to him and many others. This is where our world is standing in the political society and it truly saddens me. Why should someone be pegged as a terrorist just for their ethnicity. For having a slightly different culture than many around him he would be spoken to differently in many circumstances. Not only that why is he the one always stuck doing random checks when getting on a bus or a plane? Or why is it so hard for him to get a visa when he wants to be able to have the endless opportunities as someone like me.

I’m sure many people around the world ask this question I know it cannot just be me. But if others are then why is this continuing? When will the world become a more peaceful place for all ethnicity, races, and cultures?

The Outsider was an hour-long solo performance. A very personable one, he took the time to get to know the crowd and of course give us a little “hell”. I must add Kristy apparently looks like my mother, but hey I’ll take it.

Once he got to know his crowd, where we were from, why we chose his show he began the real performance. A series of stories that show us what he and many others go through on a day to day basis.

It’s important for us to see what other humans go through on a daily whether it’s good or bad. The perspective helps change the mind of others, for the most part in a great way. I will hold this performance to be dearly and always keep him in the back of my mind. I will continue to ask myself how we can change someone’s feelings from being “an outsider” to feeling more like “an insider”.

At the end of the day each and one of us are human. It’s that simple. We all live off the fact that our heart is beating, and we are breathing. I hope for one day more people begin to realize this

Nitasha Borchert

Triple AAA batteries is a performance I will never forget. It is funny, rich, and all around wonderful. If you are looking for a show that you can laugh your bum off with not only other adults but children of eight years and older this is the one for you. Of course, walking in the show, I was hoping I would laugh at least a little, but WOW is one way to put my reaction. This hour-long show went by extremely fast.

There were three performances that stole the audience’s attention. Starting with a male that had very funny jokes about racial profiling, certainly it was about his own body. He brought in some personal taste which made the bit hilarious. Another thing I really enjoyed was the audience involvement. He then introduced another male performer.

This guy seemed to have made most of his material up right then and there. I was stunned by the fact that there seemed to only be a few lines that he had seemed to be fully prepared for. Everyone including me got a kick out of him, he was a delight. He really seemed to be including the younger portion of the audience which I thought was a wonderful idea. Sometimes kids can laugh at a joke but not being as experienced in life events as an adult they may not make sense to them.

The third performance I was very blown away by. They were the “Hotflix” was what the group was called. They had four ladies up on stage all doing a variety of things. What really got me during this show was the fact that they had absolutely none of it prepared. They used the crowd to decide what sort of bit they wanted. Do you like comedy or sci-fi? How about Horror or action? With extended questions like those they began their improve musical.

With one lady playing the piano to give a beat the others freestyles. Our show was basically based on the movie The Shinning. You see I can tell you this without spoiling what you would hear because I believe no two shows they do are the same. How CRAZY is this. With the help of the crowd, on a whim created a whole new performance. Now ladies and gents this is something that takes nothing but talent. They sang, rapped, and within that told the story of The Shinning.

This performance showed me a whole new aspect of the art of performance. What these performers were able to do up on stage in front of hundreds of people left me at aw. There were no “movements” one could say this show did other than make a crowd laugh. Although, each performance was unique in its very own way. Each of the performers were doing more solo shows later in the day and this almost seemed like it was just a sneak peak of what they were truly capable of. I would recommend them to everyone I know, even kids.

Nitasha Borchert

With child was an experience to say the least. I started the show with confidence I knew exactly what was happening, to find out by the middle of it I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Starting with the question of what was the exact story-line here? Of course, by the end of the performance I had figured out the point she was getting across. Or at least what I seem to think she was working towards.

Starting with the fact that I truly had to focus on what she was doing physically and not just listen to what she was saying to us verbally. There were four different stories throughout the show. All good, and decently short. Although the fact that I did not catch on to her being a different person with a dissimilar life experience roughly until the third story-line it was still very good. That could have been poor research about the show With Child on my part or maybe it was the way she set up the show herself.

I will have to admit this performance had some great comedy. She laughed, danced, and truly showed sides of women that we all know to be true but do not always point out, recognize, or simply talk about. Some sides are known to be the ugly truth about us women, other parts to me showed what women on a day to day basis unfortunately must put up with simply for being a lady.

Of course, without quite spoiling anything I can say she was “pregnant” for the bit she performed for us, although I am almost positive, she was not actually (which is just fine) it was sort of hard to follow where that bit came into play. Until it dawned on me. Us women must carry so much on our shoulders. A part of being a woman is someday possibly carrying a child just so you can be a mother. In the beginning it reminded us that not all woman is able to conceive the way we would all like to. Some must adopt, or do IVF, and some are lucky enough to carry their own (if that’s how they wish to start a family) I would like to mention everyone has different ideas of what they would like. Of course, we cannot forget about the ladies who are just fine without even being a mother.

Generations behind us women were treated much different than we are today. It is almost as if we did not have a voice even just thirty years ago, but now there is no way anyone could have the audacity to try and quiet us.

From being shown different relationships between her boyfriend (or husband), her friends, and even her Nanna she opened our eyes to the many perspectives people have on women. Even women who believed in different lifestyles than other woman the same age as her. Some might think it is not OK to wear those pretty red lace panties, yet other may not give two damns whether the whole world knew or saw that’s what them was underneath those perfectly fit jeans that made your butt pop out even more. I would watch With Child again but with the hopes of coming up with a better understanding.

Nitasha Borchert

Emotional is probably the first word that comes to mind when thinking about the performance Who Cares. Coming from a girl who grew up in a home I considered safe, or maybe some call “normal” this show brought to me a whole new perspective of what some children face in a day to day basis. I am not going to lie when I say I got a couple of tears in my eyes when listening to their stories. Now, I am not saying I was not aware or that I was completely oblivious to the fact that our society is nowhere near perfect, it is the fact that it has never been shown to me in a way with such passion or desire to make people aware.

During this show there were three students with three different stories about their struggles at home. What these kids go through on a day to day basis while just trying to go to this thing we call school. You know that thing everyone is opted into as a young lady or lad. Day in and day out we all can have a struggle with trying to keep going. With heavy eye contact, fog, and a perfect display of them at school I deeply felt the message they were sending. All the things these kids were doing to simply get through the day.

This is a tremendous reminder; one can never truly know what someone is going through and how they are handling the situation. Between social workers not being emotionally involved possibly because of the state’s financial burdens or teachers not opening their eyes to the fact that these students might not have the same childhood they were fortunate enough to have themselves. It hurts me knowing that one person could be saved a little just by being provided with the correct support whether its financially or emotionally. Some burdens were some no kid should ever have to face at such a young age.

This show was many things. Starting with vulnerable, intense, sad, and most importantly TRUE. This is the world we live in, and how can this happen. Coming from a girl who has struggled with anxiety and depression I felt this performance harder than any other I got to watch today. The causes for the issues I have may not be the same that those students in the show had but it screamed at me. How important it is for the world to be aware of some of the most fragile people in society. The kids.

There was one huge message I caught at the end that the cast of Who Cares made appoint to be known and I know this is true. “YOU ARE NOT ALONE”. This hit me hard because this goes for any situation no matter how important you think it may or may not be. Reach out. Ask for help. It’s okay. It does get better, it can, it will.

It was amazing. I would recommend this performance to everyone I know hoping that this will someday be a movement across the world and help people keep in mind that not one single person lives the same life. We all have our own struggles yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

(Nitasha Borchert)

First off where do I even start with this amazing performance called Jekyll and Hyde. From the acting, singing, choreography to the in-depth audience involvement. This crew of five truly knew how to put on a show. From the minute they shut the doors to the very last second of you walking out the door they knew how to keep a crowd entertained. In the very beginning they made it appoint to learn some of our names, I had the opportunity to have a great conversation with one of the performers Ginger. She was nothing but a sassy, beautiful, sweetheart. It was compliment after compliment to really make a girl feel special. Trust me I was not the only one they were hyping up, they did this throughout the whole audience. Not only did they learn some of our names they used them throughout the show. This was very personable to me.

Every single one of these performers completely aced their part and then some. They drew in people of all ages which looked to be around eighteen and over. I am not kidding you when I say my little sister could have been in the crowd laughing and so could my grandparents. The laughter of the crowd never quite stopped, no matter your taste in humor this show will keep you at the edge of your seat laughing. Yes, there were some swear words although, to me, that was half of the humor itself. There were some dirty jokes within the performance and that is just what I like. Definitely not a performance for someone who does not quite like profanity and that is just fine.

I do not think they went more than a few minutes without getting some of the audience involved. This was great, they had lines prepared for the audience members they had chosen. That was the part I was most impressed with. They got the audience really into the performance themselves to where we were apart of their show. This is where I feel the engagement level exceeds anyone’s expectations. I was absolutely blown away by how on key they were with every line they had themselves and given out to an audience member. Watching some of my classmates (Maddie especially) get pulled in was more than exciting.

There was rapping, solos, and group singing and most of the music was so hip and new that majority of its audience was able to chime in. The story within this show was quite real and relatable when it comes to society and its truths. They of course ended with a great chorus that I had the want to sing along with as well as the rest of the audience who knew the lyrics. I left this performance way more than happy. This to me opened my eyes to the possibilities of performance and its art. The perspective I gained is like no other, and I would be more than obliged to watch Jekyll and Hyde once more, or any of the performances this crew does for that matter. The show shared the importance of being aware of the evil within some. No matter the amounts of good one person can share to the world, there can still be the inner section of evil.