Home » Blog posts » In the Heights: The Importance of Music, Culture and Dance
Posted by simmolm1 on Thursday, April 7, 2016 in Blog posts.
In The Heights, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes in 2006, is a story about the New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood. This story is told using the structures of music, culture, and dance to help characters form identities and create purpose. The musical production was also able to use the influence of music to explore themes like hope in times of adversity and the importance of family ties. Miranda and Hudes used these themes to further acknowledge some of the critical pressures and struggles faced by individuals living within a minority immigrant community. The musical introduces several different characters covering a spectrum of laboring occupations, which again brings to light the theme of family as well as the importance of relationships within a community. For example, Usnavi was a storeowner, Kevin owned a taxi car service and Daniela was a salon owner, which in some ways signifies the limitations within a minority group when it comes to job opportunities. However, even with the lack of opportunities and resources, these characters are able to use music, culture and dance to express feelings and create a positive morale for the neighborhood.
Hope is a major theme often observed throughout the play during songs. This theme was initially seen in the opening act, when the characters performed “In The Heights.” The optimistic attitude was first seen by Usnavi, when he says, “‘Cuz my parents came from nothing. They got a little more. And sure, we’re poor, but yo, at least we have got the store. And it’s all about the legacy they left with me,” (Miranda & Hudes 12) he then goes on to say, “until the day we go from poverty to stock options. In the heights, I’ve got today” (Miranda & Hudes 12-13). Usnavi acknowledges the state in which they are currently live, but uses his honor and gratitude for his store to show his appreciation regardless of the disadvantages and struggles he faces. I found this extremely interesting and because this play is very recent, so it it is very much so relevant to our society today. We often hear comments about how individuals of an upper class status feel “sorry” for immigrants, because they often have to start fresh and create success without the help of previous generations, but these songs sung throughout this play almost negate these notions. It negates the assumptions made because through music and appreciation of their background and culture, these individuals are able to voice their struggles, but also voice their appreciation and hope for what’s to come in their futures. This confidence in their futures is closely tied to the importance of family ties. In this play the strong community and family ties was shown to build trust and confidence within other surrounding characters. It was evident, when the characters began singing “96,000” and how they were all voicing their plans if they were to be the one lucky winner and the common theme they carried when voicing these dreams was confidence.
Now even though the musical was able to clarify some complex issues through the lyrics, I found it hard to always know the tone and energy that was associated with the words of these characters when singing. In particular when Nina was singing, I was not always able to understand the emotion and energy that was put into her character, until I watched the play. I then realized that my initial impression and mental representation of several of the characters was far from accurate. In a way, it shows how dynamic this play is and how important perspective and representation is because it is easy to give personality and voice to characters when they are performing in front of an audience, but as seen with this play, it is much hard to create the same representations within descriptions in the context of a book.
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In the Heights is a play not only able to illustrate complex issues within immigrant populations, but also able to show the fluidity of representation for each of the characters. Now after both, seeing and reading this play, I am able to take a different perspective on some of the issues and themes illustrated. This play was able to use music, dance and culture as a platform to ultimately show the attitudes of an immigrant community while illustrating the importance of family and community ties as well as the appreciation for ones background.
I agree that hope plays such an important thematic role in this play- the idea that if one of the characters can achieve this one thing, like winning the lottery or graduating from Stanford or keeping the store open and successful, then their lives can truly start and they can live the life they’ve dreamed. I loved how the specificity of the language, songs, and styles of dance that “In the Heights” incorporates shows us the Latinx culture and the diversity of what that can really mean even within different generations of the same family. My favorite aspect of studying this play is that as specific to immigrants and culture as this play is, it is also showed me that the stories of this community and communities like it are integral to fabric of the United States. I think that this play performs what it looks like for this specific group of people to chase “the American Dream” and the challenges they face in doing so, some of which resembled my own.
Asha Bynum on April 8th, 2016 at 2:32 pm I agree with your point about the musical aspect making it difficult at times to understand the energy and tone. However, I think this is because of my pre-set ideas and impressions of the characters from the book. In the end I thoroughly enjoyed the musical aspect of this play and feel that it aided in my understanding of the characters and how they were feeling in the moments of song. This just shows that reading a play and actually experiencing one can create two completely different impressions on the same person.
Eric Frizzell on April 17th, 2016 at 8:31 pm I completely agree that the theme of hope resonates through the entire play. Instead of the main characters feeling sorry of themselves in the financial status they are in, they sing praise of their culture. They take pride in where they come from and integrate their past cultures into their new lives in the United States. In addition, I think it is important to note that many of the song ensembles were sung with more than one cast member. This further links back to the importance of community and family in the play. Together they keep each other going and support one another in their times of need. They all came to U.S. with the common “American dream,” which was expressed multiple times through the music, dance, and playwright. With that, I think one of my favorite aspects of this play was the pride they took in their Latino culture and how they did not let thier struggles or their new place they call home affect this in any way.
boganc on April 26th, 2016 at 12:26 pm I agree with the point that the music, dance and culture aspect of In the Heights made this play very unique. Growing up in New York and visiting friends in Spanish Harlem or 125th street, I am familiar with how music is what distinguishes each and every borough. It is what paints the streets and what makes each and every culture distinct from others. Lin Miranda was born in New York City, in the neighborhood of Inwood but she would spend a month a year in her grandparents hometown in Puerto Rico. This is what allowed her to adapt to both type of cultures. One culture being her northern Hispanic neighborhood in Manhattan and the other being her grandparents hometown in Puerto Rico. The integration of these two cultures is what made her who she is. I love how each character came from a variety of different situations. However, they all were chasing the American dream. The challenges that they found themselves in were specific to them. As a reader or audience member, we can identify with at least one of the characters in the play. With my father born in Jamaica and my mother born in Trinidad, I could identify with Nina Rosario. My brother and I are part of the generation of children that are expected to be successful and go to college. The pressures that her family puts on Nina, is similar to the same situation that we are in. I understand the feeling of not letting my family down. They moved from the islands, simply for us to have the opportunities that we have right now. For us to fail them would be like letting not only my parents down but my family as well. As successful as they were, my brother and I are expected to be even better. It’s interesting to read a play about a different culture and different makeup of people but still being able to see yourself in a character. This just goes to show the beauty of the universality of theater.
Sasha Gray on April 26th, 2016 at 3:06 pm Leave a Reply
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Label: Irond - IROND DVD 05-25 • Format: 2x, DVD DVD-Video, PAL • Country: Russia • Genre: Rock • Style: Death Metal
Best viewed without Internet Explorer, in x resolution or higher. In Flames has never been known for their sense of humor, but given the title of this DVD and the fact that the vocals are overdubbed makes one wonder if they've turned over a new leaf. For starters it contains several promo videos, a handful of live performances and an interview with a random mtv personality.
On the first DVD there is a double live set, one that consists of the entire 'Soundtrack to Your Escape' album and the other set of classic In Flames tunes. Musically, this is a brilliant performance, with the exception of when the drummer messes up on the first song. The instruments sound as good as ever, the vocals are noticeably dubbed. Plus when he is speaking in between songs the mics volume changes.
This is enough to give this a 'zero' rating, but given that there are other live performances, and that they are or at least appear to be live, coupled with the promo videos and lengthy interview more than makes up for it or at least enough to give this something in the double digit range as far as a rating goes. Ge brightspeed 16 slice manual download. This is a pretty good DVD as it shows how the band is live, tight and intense. You can tell that they enjoy what they do and that they are for the most part at least, real.
This is recommended to fans only. Gathering footage and highlights from what many consider to be the high point of the band's career, 'Used and Abused: In Live We Trust' is a pretty wealthy collection of some of In Flames' larger performances, insight from the past 2 years or so of the band's success.
Disc 1 mainly focuses on two live shows and a mini-show, while Disc 2 highlights the band's music videos from the Soundtrack to Your Escape album, as well documentaries of the U. The first show, considered to be the main feature of the DVD, is the band's performance at the Hammersmith in England. Multiple camera angles of the stage and band members let viewers see everything that happens through the show's duration, and do a great job of getting intimate with each member's performance.
Jurassic park operation genesis for mac. All of the band members make reasonable use of the stage's large size, and the crowd is ravenous in its reaction to the band's performance, as seen on the vicious circle pit on 'In Search for I.
Pretty sweet. However, the size of the venue and ambition behind the show do nothing to overshadow the music. Sound quality on this show is superb, and the band's flawless performance make it all the better.
Stage energy is in high form here; Anders works the crowd fairly well during the middle of the set list, and sounds much better hear than on album. Thank God.
In The Heights Soundtrack Free
Jesper and Peter both seem a little shy to move, but they're the same way through the entire DVD's duration. Thankfully though, they do more than make up for it the tightness of the show. Daniel's drum work is without mar, and the natural drum sound is a relief from the triggering most bands use. One really cool aspect of this show is the surprise cover of Pantera's 'Fucking Hostile,' the band's tribute to Dimebag shortly after his death.
Disc 1's second feature is the Sticky Fingers show. Rather than a large music hall like Hammersmith, In Flames return to a Stockholm club for a homecoming show. Obviously, this show is much more raw and stripped-down than the show I just reviewed; the band stick with street clothes on this show, and there's no backdrop or pyro. It's just a raw performance, but the sound mix is incredibly clear. The club is packed to the brim, and I think that Anders' communication with the crowd is better this time around because of the physical closeness.
Camera angles still offer the same intimacy as the Hammersmith, and maybe even more, since the cameramen were right underneath the stage. Due to the sizing down of venues, the band don't have much room to go crazy, but they clearly make the best of the situation. There are actually two sets to the Sticky Fingers show: Set 1 is the STYE album played in full, which actually doesn't come off as half-bad.
The band are reasonably tight in their performance, but some moments come off as boring. The mini-show Is Your All On The Alter - Lorraine Stokes - Lorraine taken from one of the band's largest shows from the STYE tour. Only two songs are shown, both from the 'Clayman' album. They sound great, and the band are on an even grander scale than that of the Hammersmith show. Disc 2's main feature is 'Jester TV,' a minute documentary archiving the making of music videos and tour experiences.
Viewers get a healthy glimpse of the production process behind the videos for 'Touch of Red' and Bottled - In Flames - Used And Abused.In Live We Trust (DVD) Quiet Place,' and get to see some of the band's most memorable moments while being on the road. Interviews with each band member are given, which are only somewhat interesting. The only exception for RtR is a live video for 'System. Skip it. The performances are great, but Disc 2 seems to drag things down a bit.
Somehow it didn't occur to me until later that the vast majority of songs played live on this CD were culled from Soundtrack to Your Escape.
This was a big disappointment to me as I first viewed this DVD as a way to hear a lot of their older material. However, most of the songs from Soundtrack are decent I guess. Since this is a DVD and not a CD, though, I won't talk too much about the music itself and will focus more on the performances of the band and other aspects.
Overall, the feeling is very energetic and the shots of Bottled - In Flames - Used And Abused.In Live We Trust (DVD) from the crowds are pretty interesting. Bottled - In Flames - Used And Abused.In Live We Trust (DVD), Ander's delivery doesn't sound as harsh and biting live as it does on CD and Bottled - In Flames - Used And Abused.In Live We Trust (DVD) aren't enough charming, funny moments that make watching it more than just experiencing the music in visual format.
In my opinion, DVDs should capture more of the essence of the band I think more close-up shots of each band member and more personal comments from Anders would be nice One particularly memorable part, however, is when Anders announces to the whole crowd that he has to tie his shoe. Instead, they just plow through track after track, to the point of tedium.
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I'm not sure how many slow songs In Flames has, but they should've played a few more to contrast with the fast ones. In addition, probably the most well-known 'slow' song In Flames has, Only for the Weak, sounds annoying because the background instrument for the chorus is a synthesizer instead of a guitar.
Now on to the second disc Most of it seemed to focus on their trip to Japan, which they said they Yes You May - DJ Kazzmatazz - Old To The New visited several times. An interesting いとしのロビン・フッドさま - 榊原郁恵* - 5years 〜デビュー5周年記念〜 about Japan is that most of the people in the front row at concerts are young girls, which isn't very common elsewhere.
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Heh, someone asked the drummer if any of the members were distracted by that, to which he graciously declined. Anyway, so they keep talking about what they went through to record Soundtrack and mentioning the videos and such, and a couple of the interviewers kept bringing up the question of whether or not there was a video for Evil in a Closet. It was Marzz - Orbiter fucking annoying because this was mentioned several times and every time the drummer or someone else gave some vague answer and shirked it off.
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Just answer the fucking question. Also, they decided to put in this superfast slideshow of In Flames's experiences in hotels, restaurants, etc.
Thank god I wasn't epileptic and watched that. Well, overall this is a decent DVD, but it lacks entertainment value beyond the music itself.
If I saw the band live, I would just care more about hearing the music I guess, but in the comfort of my dorm or what have you I want a little extra. Note: I could swear that each time they played Touch Good Man In A Storm - Level 42 - World Machine Red the stage turned red. Metal Archives loading Username Password Login.
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In The Heights Soundtrack List
Enter Rules (Original Mix) - Various - Patent Skillz The Best Of Vol.1, Shes My Amazon - Mr. Pink (13) - Spiders, Knot - CHON - Grow, Whatta Man - Various - Thats My Jam! Disc 2, Tim Williams (23) - Lean On Me