Content is a word used to represent a topic, concept or an idea that is represented through a

piece of art. The content of an artwork could be something from the real world or an abstract
idea or maybe a historical representation or simply something completely different. The word
content is usually in context to the artists expression through the art.

A viewer can discover the content of an artwork by recognizing various facets of how an artist
expresses his ideas through colors, patterns, lines, textures, or graphic details in addition to
form and the composition of art.

For example, one of the last paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows has a
dramatic cloudy sky with crows over a wheat field creating a sense of isolation and sadness that
Van Gogh must have felt before committing suicide.

"Icon" typically refers to a graphic symbol or a pictorial representation that is used to

represent an idea or a concept, often in a graphical user interface. It can also refer to a
religious work of art, particularly in Eastern Christianity, where icons are venerated as
sacred objects.

"Iconography" is the study of the subject matter or symbolic meaning of icons, as well as
the visual elements and artistic styles used to create them. Iconography can be applied
to various forms of art, including painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as to
cultural objects, such as religious artifacts and political symbols. It involves the
interpretation of the content and symbolism of images, and the historical and cultural
context in which they were created.

Icon is usually used in context to a graphic or pictorial representation of an idea or a concept.

While iconography is the study of various icons and their symbolic meanings as well as the
visual and artistic styles that are used to create art as well as deciphering and interpreting the
works of art often being political symbols or religious and cultural icons. it is very interesting to
see the historical and cultural interpretations of various icons through iconography.
Write a short post to address the following questions:
1. Where have you seen dance? What type of stage (performance space) from the unit
did your viewing experience most resemble?  How did the space impact your viewing?
2. Of the spaces discussed this week, in which would you like to see dance (types of
spaces can include proscenium stages, black box theaters, amphitheaters, arenas, site-
specific locations, and more!)?
3. Choose a dance from this week and consider how taking that form out of its
traditional context would change it. In other words, if you saw that dance in a different
context, how would your experience of viewing the dance change?

I have not been exposed to a lot of dance performances outside of the ones performed in my
school or in an occasional performance on a cruise or a Broadway show. Hence my experience
with dance performances is very limited to common proscenium stages and amphitheaters. While
amphitheaters for me personally are hard to focus in because looking down to see a performance
demands more attention on my part, I think proscenium stages are easier for me to focus and pay
attention to and look grander and aesthetic.

Of the spaces discussed this week, the one that interests me the most is an Arena Stage since it
requires special choreography skills and consideration so that the performance is not in any one
direction exclusively and I think it will be very interesting to see a performance like that
especially now after knowing that performance spaces like these exist.

The traditional Hawaiian dance hula praises deities, ancestors, fertility, and the land. when
missionaries came to Hawaii, they thought that this dance hula was immoral and hence they
banned it. However, a few families kept it alive. Even after the missionaries left the dance was
constantly endangered by people from different cultures settling into Hawaii and claiming that
their culture was superior. Now had these people not preserve their own culture dances like Hula
would be extinct in a traditional context.

Hey Hunter, it is great that you have been to so many dances in public settings and in a black
box theater. I've always wanted to visit a black box theater because it is interesting how the
performance would contrast and how lighting would come into play to spice up the
performance so that one can focus solely on the performance without getting distracted and
get more engaged with the content. I would recommend going to a Broadway show as they are
often performed on proscenium stages and the dance is very beautiful, grand, and pleasing to
look at.

Hey Giulia, I have also attended a concert in the Opera House in Vienna, Austria! It was very
interesting, and I loved to see the costumes and the music and everything about the concert! I
can only imagine how grand and enticing performance it would have been and would love to
see an opera in Italy one day. It is good to find that you have an interest in ballet and you
regularly watch performances in your city. I have never watched a black box performance
before, and I would be very interested to watch a ballet performance in a black box theater!

Hey Nelson, I think you were spot on, seeing how the aboriginal dance from Australia an
entirely different experience in an arena setting would be! It was a very unique perspective that
you put forward and there are very little aspects of the performance that you recognized, like
sand kicking off after every jump which makes this dance closer to the environment that it is
performed traditionally in and no matter how visually appealing and aesthetic a modern day
setting out of the traditional context would make it, there is something very unique about the
traditional element that its original setting provides which a modern day context would never
be able to fulfill!