Taylor Craver writes about cultural differences encountered, her pleasure in these differences, the collectivist nature of Costa Rican culture compared to North American individualism, and different familly rhythms. More from her here on her ePortfolio: http://taylorcraver.wordpress.com/ The Happiest Country in the World >> For the beginning two weeks of May, prior to the trip, we were preparing as…
Check out the photos on Brooke’s blog which gives a great snapshot of life in San Jose as well as the excursions. Her photo of the alligators encountered on the bridge on the way to Manuel Antonio is one of my favorites. I’ve been there many times and still find it astounding!
Lilliana Kane writes about music and choreographic process. Read more from Lilliana here. In the process of creating “dramaturgy studies” with Jimmy and the other Costa Rican dancers in San Jose, we came across some interesting musical choices and effects. Instead of talking about what vibe, or feel of music we were going for, and…
Read Kylee’s post on race and identity in Costa Rica and her own experiences connecting to the Tico Caribbean culture: As I and my classmates prepared for this trip to Costa Rica, I found myself wondering what it would be like to be a Black person/woman/American in a Latin American culture. I was interested to see what, if anything,…
Matt Bowman a senior in dance who just graduated and is now moving on to life in New York writes about his first days in Costa Rica and the process of getting oriented and feeling “at home” abroad. We worked hard to create a home stay experience for the students and as many of their…
Our group has arrived in Costa Rica and is diving into their experience with the mix of feelings that all of us who have traveled in this way understand very well: fear of making a mistake, pleasure in the personal exchanges and special windows into life in Costa Rica provided by home stays, good humor,…
The Costa Rica Study Tour students are preparing to depart for San Jose shortly and have an assignment to add a pre-departure reflection post to their ePortfolios. They show a mixture of excitement and trepidation but also evidence of the preparation they have received with Professors Hadley and Bruce and the many guests who have spent…
In the class discussions this week with Professors Hadley and Bruce and guest lecturers, students are exploring Latin America and Latinidad as concepts that were and are constructed by specific socio-political forces and discourses (the list of readings and guest lecturers can be found here: Syllabus). They are already developing what I think is a wonderful set of…
The large group of students attending this second iteration of the OSU DANCE Costa Rica Study Tour began meeting with Professors Hadley and Bruce this week and dancing together. Today I join them to share informally about my experiences living and dancing in Costa Rica, some background on Jimmy Ortiz and his importance not only as…
When I dreamed up this program for OSU dancers to experience intercultural collaboration and contemporary dance in Latin America, my hope was that it could build on my personal experiences living and working in Costa Rica but also extend beyond me to incorporate other faculty and become a sustainable part of our curriculum. This year…
OSU DANCE IN COSTA RICA 