Blog #25: Beginning your reflection

American Icon Project

I grew up with ballet being a huge part of my life. My mom danced with the New York City Ballet and now owns her own studio. Since I was little I had always wanted to be Clara in the Nutcracker, its what every ballerina wants. When I got chosen to perform Clara, the most desired part, I couldn't’t believe it. I was so excited to hear that I was going to be Clara and I was also sharing the part with my best friend Arielle. Before the show started I was so nervous but also so excited to perform in front of so many people. When I first stepped out on stage the whole audience was dark, I couldn't’t see anything. Everyone was looking at me but I actually felt really comfortable on the stage. All I wanted was to do everything perfect. By the time the show was over I was so happy I did the best I could. My mom came and gave me a huge bouquet of flowers and was so proud of me. I was so excited to do the next show.

Born in 1952 in Pennsylvania, Gelsey Kirkland was always second best in her household. She grew up with a family of performers. Gelsey had an older sister Johnna, who was always the favorite child. Johnna started ballet classes at the School of American Ballet, and shortly after Gelsey started. Gelsey was so competitive she took extra ballet classes to improve her technique. She modeled to pay for her dance classes, even though she didn’t favor it because it just wasn’t what she wanted to spend her time doing. Kirkland also wasn’t the most flexible ballet student so she stretched an extra amount to overpower her classmates.

Gelsey was asked by the master of ballet George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet. Balanchine was regarded as the greatest contemporary choreographer in the world of ballet. Two years later Gelsey was asked to be a principal dancer. Many ballets were created for her. One of the most famous ballets would be “firebird” which Balanchine choreographed for her. When this ballet was first given to her it wasn’t the most popular but she got great reviews because of her talent.

Kirkland got so overwhelmed with her fame; she became anorexic because of the pressure to be thin. She also had an addiction to Cocaine. She got her self together and joined the Royal Ballet, one of the greatest ballet companies in the world. But again she got into drugs, which caused Gelsey to retire early. Gelsey Kirkland may be the most well known female ballet dancer to ever cross a stage. She still teaches ballet now and then and often visits San Diego.
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Reflection:

I am very proud of this project. This was the first big piece of work that was assigned at the beginning of my junior year. We had to pick an icon that was important and related to us some how. We used photography to capture this person in some way. I was very proud of how my photos turned out and I think they represent Gelsey Kirkland (a professional Ballet dancer) very well. I was also very proud of my writing. I think it was very well organized and structured very well and I think my point was put across very well.

I accomplished my final product, taking many steps. I first did research on the life of Gelsey Kirland. I came up with a setting for my photo shot and had my friend take the pictures. When it came to editing and picking a photo, I just picked one that I felt I could relate too as well as the audience. When I was writing I had it critiqued by my peers and Randy many times to come up with my final product.

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H20 Project Photo Essay


Ocean Beach

Located in San Diego, Ocean Beach, also know as “Mussel Beach” in its earlier days, is known for its hippies roaming the streets and good surf. The famous Ocean Beach Pier built in 1966, is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast, the pier includes a bait shop and restaurant with public walking and fishing. The land development planned for tourists started in the early 1970’s, food, hotels and shops began being built. OB is now one of the most popular beaches to visit and surf because of good food, shopping and such a laid back environment. Also located in OB is a Dog Beach on the north side of the pier, this is very popular to let your dogs run leash less, open to the public daily.



About Bacteria

Through out the month of November the water has been tested for bacteria, such as Total Coliforms, E. coli and Enterococci at OB river mouth (Dog Beach) and OB Pier. Day to day the water varies in cleanliness. Compared to the waters located at the OB pier, tests show that the water directly off shore form the OB river mouth contains higher levels of E-coli, Enterococci, and total coliforms due to urban runoff that flows out of the river. This causes local surfers to be at a higher risk of contracting a potentially serious illness. By leaving trash and other liter in the street, water washes it into storm drains, and leads directly into the ocean. This affects the marine life as well as humans that go in the water.

What do the surfers say?

Ocean Beach surfer, Nate Cintas, has grown up in the Point Loma area and has surfed in OB for the majority of his life. I asked if he has ever gone to the beach and hasn’t able to surf because of polluted water and he responded with “Yeah, I have been in the water while they put signs up, and have also pulled up many times when the water pollution signs have been posted.” Nate says, “From surfing at OB dog beach I have had ear infections, pink eye, and a sore throat from the water.”









Common illnesses

Many illnesses have been reported from the OB River mouth. Ear, nose and throat infections are the most common illness. Local surfer Semus Ward was given medication and was told to stay out of water for a few days because he was diagnosed with a sever sinus infection from the OB river mouth water. We also asked many other surfers what they thought about the OB water quality, one response was “honestly I don’t think about it”. Not many surfers are educated about the water that they are surfing in and don’t think about their health.






Budget Cuts

The government is now taking away the money to do water testing in local beaches and bays because of the economic budget cuts. This causes people to not be informed on the quality of the water. When the water doesn’t get tested, unknown bacteria could be in the water that could cause harmful diseases to humans and kill off marine life. Coastkeeper and the Surfrider foundation do local beach cleanups every few months. Volunteer’s come out to cleanup trash around the beaches to help our environment stay clean. If everyone did this, it could make a world of difference.




What can you do?


While walking around OB, you can easily spot trash, cigarette butts, and liter scattered around the sand and boardwalk. This is a large contribution to water pollution. Soap from cars being washed and other run off into storm drains can also cause bacteria levels in the water to rise because those drains lead straight into the ocean. People control the cleanliness of the beach. By throwing your trash away, picking up trash, and washing your car in the proper area will help make a difference and keep our water clean. Make sure to report any illness that you receive from the water to the Surfrider Foundation Ocean Illness Form on the Surfrider web site.

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Reflection

I am very proud of this piece of work because it not only let me experiment with photography and learn about the dangers in our environment that many people don't know about, I got to share with and inform the public and make them aware of what they can do to help out.

It took about a month to come out with my final product. We first started testing water quality in Brandon's class in November daily. Each day we would get new results in a record the data. We chose a topic and form of writing we wanted to use. I choose a photo essay as shown above. I research and looked over the data of OB. I interviewed surfers to see what they know and think about the water. I then took photos to relate them to each caption.