End of the Year/Semester Wrap Up

This semester has been such a whirlwind! So much occurred these past few months! I have to say I feel extremely accomplished. I was taking 6 classes, over 14 units, student teaching, choreographing for the concert and was in a relationship with my computer. Besides all that, I was creating a curriculum which just so happened to be on Dance and Technology. My tech resources class was actually extremely helpful for me because by just playing around on iMovie I was able to edit my entire reel myself! Its actually really exciting because as an artist that is such a crucial component to have to represent yourself. Normally people hire editors to do their reel and it can be a real process to compile all the footage and give it to someone else. Now I have the power to update or modify my reel however I want which is fantastic! I was able to cut my own music for the MA concert which turned out really nicely as well.

The MA concert this year was a huge success! Everyone had really unique, creative and thoughtful pieces. They were all so individual, and you could see people's voices on stage which was really beautiful. I was able to get a videographer to make a DVD which was a whole separate digital excursion. Besides awesome pieces this year my colleagues creative some phenomenal curriculums. Our last day our Professor who is also the Director of our department said herself that in the past 5 years she had been teaching our class this was the first time where every single student was outstanding. Her exact words were..."There was always at least one dud..." I thought that was actual super encouraging. Overall I think my class has some outstanding individuals. As a whole we're even stronger. There is a new generation of arts educators breeding who will in time affect other future artists and educators.

Blog Admiration

Looking at people's blogs has been interesting. You really do get an insight and learn more about people through these web pages. I've really enjoyed looking at Jason's, Julia's and Kristina's. Jason's pictures are beautiful and I love how he talks about his kinesthetic yoga practices. Julia's pages are very bright and colorful, yet very clean and easy on the eyes. I appreciate Kristina's page because going through this class I can see how complex coding can be and have a deeper understanding of what goes into the HTML process. The fancier the pages, the more codes I know will surely be in that source page!!!

Just for "Kicks"!!!

Crunch Time

It's that time of year!!! Finals...AHHH! I don't know how I'm going to get everything done, but I have faith I will. I'm really excited about the Master's Concert, I've been working really hard but I know its going to pay off. Next step in this class is to figure out how to make my Movie work and upload, and how I'm going to find time to meet with my group in order to edit and finish everything. I think our project is going to be funny. I just hope we our schedules coincide and we are able to work it out!

Group Project

My group decided we would ask the ultimate tech resource question... "Do you prefer MAC's? Or PC's?" Since we're all in different arts areas we thought it would be a great idea to ask actors, musicians and dancers which they prefer, especially since we're all educators as well. I've started doing some interviews with some dancers and choreographers I've been working with and I've got some great interviews thus far. I'm planning on asking my dancers tonight in rehearsal as well.

I'm actually looking forward to the editing process because in the end that will be the most beneficial for me. I really want to put my reel together myself and develop a curriculum on dance and technology so I want to make this practical and fun!  I think the project is gonna be awesome!

My Master's Concert Piece

Here is a rehearsal video of a piece I'm choreographing for NYU's Master's Concert:


Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHJiX8MDXeE

Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNT6P_AlU5k

Let me know what you think!

My Bio

Kristina Martinez has been dancing since the tender age of 5 years old.  She has trained extensively in many areas of dance including Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Salsa, West African and House. She attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where she was Musical Theater Assistant Choreographer and Dance Department Representative. She is a graduate of UCLA where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in World Arts and Cultures and focused in Arts Education. Kristina has assisted many choreographers commercially and classically on stage, in film, music videos, fashion shows and many other performance areas. She has trained in programs such Dance Theater of Harlem, Alonzo King Contemporary Ballet in San Francisco and Alvin Ailey. She has worked with major artists such as Jaime Foxx, T-Pain, Common and the Black Eyed Peas. Besides dance, Kristina has also worked on the production side of dance and worked with the highly acclaimed up and coming contemporary dance company Gallim Dance under the direction of Andrea Miller. Currently, she is in her final year at NYU in the Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development where she will receive her Master’s in Dance Education.