On October 6, I went with some members of
Stockton’s Animal Friendly Organization to volunteer at the Wetlands Institute
in Stone Harbor. The reason for our volunteering there was the Wetlands
Institute was having its Monarch Madness program; a children’s program they set
up every year around the time the monarch butterflies migration path from
Canada to Mexico reaches southern New Jersey. We arrived around ten in the
morning, where we were first taken to the children’s activities tables.  They had various arts and crafts tables set
up where children could color pictures, tie-dye, and make paper butterflies and
a table with butterfly bingo. We switched off working at the tables for about
three hours, but I did the butterfly bingo most of the time. The kids would get
a bingo card that had pictures of various butterfly species and they would put
a chip on the picture if it was called. My job was to be the bingo caller; I
would draw a card from a deck and call out what butterfly species appeared,
sometimes having to help out the kids find the picture on their card. At one in
the afternoon, we stopped working the tables to help with the diamond-back
terrapin release. An employee of the institute took us into the back and we were
given a bucket of turtles and we went down a nature trail with her and a group
of visitors to a boat dock. There, the kids were able to let the terrapins go
into the water. After watching about five terrapins swim away, we walked back
to the institute to continue helping by aiding in a monarch butterfly release.
There was a monarch butterfly expert there and she let us place identification
tags on a few butterflies and let them go. This was the last thing we did for
Monarch Madness, finally leaving around two. Volunteering at Monarch Madness
with the Animal Friendly Organization was an enriching experience for me. Even
though volunteering there was currently a onetime activity, I would definitely
consider volunteering at the Wetlands Institute at some time in the future.

When I arrived at the Performing Arts Center, I can honestly say that I had no idea what to expect from the Koresh dance group. I only chose to go to this show because my friend was going to it. What I did not expect was the explosion of culture that ensued. The Koresh dance company is a middle-eastern based dance group with a completely different style of dance than I have ever seen before. Instead of showing beauty, such as ballet dancers do, they showed strength and flexibility. At times their movements looked unnatural almost as if they were possessed. The sharp, staccato movements kept the audience guessing what was going to happen next. The movements were alien to me and I did not understand most of the beginning dances. Dancing, no matter what genre, however, was not meant to be understood, but to be enjoyed and experienced. A dance can tell a story of love, as in a few of the partner dances, a story of anger, as in the group dances with the ferocious music, or even a story of playfulness, as in the partner dance between the two girls. Once I let go and just watched not to understand, but to enjoy, I saw the beauty in the strength they were exhibiting.  There were lifts, legs kicked higher than eye level, isolations of body muscles that have taken years to perfect, and yet the group made it look simple. The dancers have incredible strength and control of their bodies, but yet are graceful when the choreography calls for it. They exhibited a range of different and ever more difficult steps in their choreography that opened the audience’s eyes to a new culture and a new style of dance. After seeing the different dance style, I was encouraged to be more open about new cultures. Experiencing the intensity and the passion from the range of different dancers, of all different races, made me realize that anyone can learn about and immerse themselves in a culture other than their own. I personally loved the show due to its oddity in my life. If I had known going in that the show was going to be middle-eastern style dancing, I probably would not have gone due to the fact that it was different, but now I am happy that I got to experience the dancer’s performance and learn from their example.

My first experience at Stockton’s Performing Arts Center was William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” This comedy centered around the “love war” between Benedick and Beatrice, two people who proclaim their distaste for love, but who are secretly in love with each other. In addition, Benedick’s friend Claudio has fallen madly in love with hero, a sweet young girl. The play follows the developing relationship between these two couples, as well as Claudio’s brother Don John’s attempts to cause trouble between the lovers.  Though the play’s script was kept to Shakespeare’s original dialogue, the setting, props, and characters’ costumes were set in modern times. The play was held in the Experimental theater in the basement of Stockton’s PAC. The theater was small, and allowed the cast to interact with the audience, including wandering and hiding in the midst of the audience. Overall, the play was a lot of fun and kept the audience engaged and laughing frequently. The cast did a wonderful job of adopting the classic script to a modern set, and the performance overall was a great success!

On October 13^th my friends and I attended Stockton’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.  We walked into a small room with a set design that made you feel like you weren’t just viewing a play, you were in the play.  The audience was very close to the stage area and the seating was modeled to look like it was in a garden.  Occasionally, the actors went into the audience or interacted with the audience, which made me feel even more apart of the show.  The show was a Shakespearian play, but with a very modern take.  I was afraid this modern take would ruin the story of the show, but instead it made the show more relatable and enjoyable.  The police characters were modeled after the characters from the show Reno 911, which was very comical and emphasized the point of the characters more.  The police characters were intended to be comic relief and this proved that point even more so.  One of the main characters of the show, Beatrice, was absolutely perfect.  I have read the play and seen it before, but I have never seen anyone play the part as good as her.  She was extremely bitter and sarcastic, which is what Beatrice is supposed to be.  Between scenes modern music was played to move along the show during the breaks.  The modern music was known by the crowd so that added to the enjoyment because you had something to sing along to in between the breaks.  Also, the music, even though modern, always fit the scene that just happened, so it emphasized the play even more so.  Lastly, my favorite part of the show was that they changed Borachio character to a girl, which caused a lesbian relationship to happen during the show, which was a very nice modern take.  Overall, the play was excellent.  I will definitely see more plays here at Stockton.