Paris: Connecting and Reflection
Over Spring Break 2017, I went on the study abroad trip, Paris on Foot, a combined 10 day trip taken by the dance and history departments. In addition to exploring Paris, I also took a class called Topics in Dance. In this class, we explored the long history dance has in Paris, as well as went in depth on details about Paris history, language, and culture. At the end of class and trip, I put together a portfolio. Included were my journals, which comprised of thoughts and observations on the differences and similarities I noted in French culture compared to the U.S. I recorded daily observations on the sites we visited. Another portion of my Paris portfolio was to write a final reflection paper. This paper reflected my overall thoughts of the trip, as well as the greater cultural understanding I was able to develop while I was there. Finally, traveling to Paris allowed me to learn and incorporate the use of a language through the body. While in Paris I learned the very basics of Baroque dance. Learning a 17th century dance connects my experience to creative/original research in embodying movement through a specific nonverbal language. The notation of baroque dance is a written language of how to perform, very distinct movement of the feet, legs, arms, and hands and spatially place dancers within an area through the use of symbols, graphs, and musical measures. The notation was a written language that was devised by Pierre Beauchamp and described by Raoul Auger Feuillet. Baroque as a non-verbal language communicates not only dance, but the history and culture of Paris, as well as the defined social status of those that teach and dance baroque choreography.
I believe that this trip widely broadened by global understanding of other cultures by immersing myself in a completely foreign land, thus becoming a more educated global citizen in the process. This reflection paper allowed me the opportunity to compare and contrast the French culture I experienced with the culture I live in everyday in the U.S. Venturing into a new culture is a scary experience in some ways when the language you are fluent in is not around you at all times. However, I knew that I must not let any frustration, projections or ideas let me shape how I viewed my surroundings. I needed to open my eyes and ears to become aware of the culture around me and to gain a further understanding. Understanding is difficult in this way because finding yourself in a completely unknown place allows you make snap judgements or to be harsh on yourself and on the ideas you do not comprehend around you. However, traveling and being a global citizen means inviting questions and seeking out answers. This trip made me realize that being in a different culture from your own makes you look at your own culture in a new way and that it is best to completely let go of judgment of another culture because the biases that are held are usually unknowingly inaccurate.
Paris Daily Journals
