Year 2 Semester 1: First week reviews

We're about to start on Week 2 (guess who hasn't done readings for literally everything) and I wanted to take down all of my feelings about this semester because it's only been two days on campus, and I already adore what I'm doing.

To ensure that we're all on the same page, here are the classes I am taking this semester: TS2233 Making Contemporary Performance (Praxis), TS2240 Voice Studies and Production, MUT1201 Introduction to Classical Music Composition, GEI1001 (GET1050) Computational Reasoning and TRA2101 (CL2280) Basic Translation. It's a very interesting combination of classes and if you asked me to explain my choices, I would struggle to tell you why, except that I am a masochist who enjoys torturing myself academically. Make of that what you will.

On to the module reviews.

TS2233

Of all the things I did in Week 1, this module probably wins the most exciting class award. With a tiny cohort of 8-9 people and Dr. Shan, we launched straight into the action. This semester will be the first time since the pandemic that TS2233 will get a live audience (of possibly hundreds!) in the theatre. You can see why this is an early first stop for me as a TS student in the lead up to the final capstone which is TS3103. We will be devising a brand new original performance from Lady White Snake, which is a mythological romance about a snake-lady who falls in love with a mortal being.

My first impression about this module is the emphasis on getting our research right as performers. We do the acting, the singing (hopefully) and the dancing, but we also go way back to look at the historical roots, the scientific accuracy of snakes as a species which would inform the movement work in the show, the political, cultural and feminist angles of the source text and how we can present our work to a modern audience. As someone who primarily concerns myself with the story and the acting, this is a really fresh perspective which I will definitely be working on.

TS2240

I love this class. In fact, I loved it so much that I'm willing to ignore the fact that it starts at 9AM, in person, at LT13 on Mondays. As a musical theatre child, this class means the most to me out of everything that the Theatre Studies Programme has to offer. And guys, it does not disappoint! Noorlinah, our instructor, created a safe environment for all of us right from day one. We were introduced to a broad overview of voice studies and the various practitioners who have innovated new systems for vocal training. We also got a little taster of vocal anatomy and pedagogical frameworks.

I'll be keeping a voice journal that encompasses both my growth in singing lessons as well as in voice studies, and it would be interesting to figure out how my awareness changes over the course of this semester.

MUT1201

It took me this long to visit the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and folks the environment? It's so beautiful and elegant that I feel mildly (read: very) salty about FASS in general. The classroom we were in had a grand piano in it, where our instructor would stride over multiple times throughout class to play a sonata and to ask us to sing after him. It's tons of fun, and I relished the opportunity to use my singing voice in class. Now that is proper use of tuition money.

MUT1201 has been described by my peers in music as a class with minimal workload. Well, not to me, a performer with negligible knowledge in the way of music theory. I would probably struggle somewhat for this class but hopefully it would all be worth it in the end when I apply for my Masters in musical theatre, and I can say that I actually have background in basic composition, yay!

GEI1001

I described this module as mental torture, but the professor teaching it is also one of the very best I have ever met. What a guy. The number of crowns he dropped throughout the Zoom lecture (and I have only watched one thus far) is so refreshing, and the fact that I was not scrolling Telegram or Instagram during the Saturday afternoon where I finished the Week 1 tasks should be enough evidence to inform us that Jonathan Sim actually got it. It is notoriously hard to capture my attention as a student, so major props to every teacher (especially core modules I did not sign up for) who manages to make me interested in class. In this case, I laughed so hard at one lame joke that I sent it to three separate chat groups. I am like this.

In terms of the quiz, I informed Jonathan that I was happy with my 12/14. While of course in other circumstances I would try and try until I have a perfect score, it seems that they specifically want to discourage us from doing anything of that sort due to (1) the sheer amount of brain power needed to get through the quiz and (2) the fact that the last attempt is taken as the final score, not the best. And did I mention that you only have five attempts? So if you get 13/14 the first time and for whatever reason you decide to take a gamble, and you somehow get lower marks each time you try, it would be a real shame if we end up with 9/14 at attempt number 5.

My life pro tip to the juniors: Constraint approach, guys. Just set a minimum target and once you hit it, hands off. Stop optimizing it. Iykyk.

TRA2101

Last but not least, this is an interesting class to take considering that the rest of my classes are so skewed in a certain direction. Indeed, I question the logic of my choices as well, and there is some temptation to chicken out of this module and replace with something safer, more logical or at least more related to my pattern of subject areas. However, there was once a girl in Junior College who wanted to do translation as an A-Level subject. As misguided as she was about her love for languages (it did not swing that way), I wanted to at least have some closure to that phase. The more practical reason was that TRA2101 was originally listed as a module that can be mapped to the Asian Studies minor, but I am not banking on that because when I emailed the Department, they told me that they are still getting approval. Well, I seriously considered dropping the class, but too late for that I suppose.

At least it will be an interesting class. I just hope that my Chinese has not deteriorated past the point of no return.

And that's all for week 1 reviews! I'll try to be back for another round of reviews, but my regulars know me. I'm really inconsistent. If you want to request an article, just DM me on Instagram and I'll get cracking.