Category: Stories In Focus

After four years of Houghton College’s only official college theatrical productions being musical theater and lyric theater, the college is putting on a dramatic play directed by a professional director. Over three performances from February 5th to 7th, Houghton students will present Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House in the Rosemary Tysinger Auditorium at Houghton Academy.

The idea to organize an official college play originated in a discussion between faculty in the English, Writing, and Communications departments last year. Together, the faculty members wrote a proposal to use revenue from the Van Gordon Chair–the endowed chair shared by their departments–to hire a professional director and provide resources needed for a play. Once the proposal was approved, they advertised for a professional director, and ultimately hired Kevin Leary.

Leary is a professional actor and director who has performed in four national musical theater tours, and has directed several shows at the Lancaster Opera House. He is currently employed by the University of Buffalo as the assistant to the director in their arts management program, but saw Houghton as an outside opportunity.

“I knew that they were looking for something in a Christian context,” said Leary of applying for the position. “I don’t think that only means Jesus plays. It’s more about the social dynamic of plays, which could be a foray into a wider discussion about themes in a Christian context that the play has already dealt with. Theater exists for social justice and for the concerns of larger society in general.”

Leary and Houghton faculty members worked to choose a play that reflected these values, and would also challenge students. The play they chose, Ibsen’s A Doll House, was originally published and performed in 1879 in Norway. It follows the character of Nora Helmer – a woman who grew up depending entirely on her father, and now depends upon her husband, Torvald. The action centers on the fallout after another character discovers that Nora once engaged in fraud without Torvald’s knowledge in order to save his life. The play’s exploration of gender roles was considered revolutionary at the time, and remains a staple in the study of modern and contemporary drama.

“It’s a classic play, and one of my personal favorites,” said Douglas Gaerte, professor and chair of the Communications department, who was involved in the decision. “The ending is ambiguous enough that I think it can inspire some interesting discussion.”

Leary held auditions following Thanksgiving break, and assembled a cast that features four female and three male students. He also held interviews for a creative team of students, which includes a production assistant and marketing director, a dramaturge, an assistant director, and a stage manager. Once all of these roles were filled, he held three rehearsals the week before finals, and then officially began rehearsals at the start of the spring semester. While the majority of the cast has had little theater experience, Leary has worked diligently with them to develop their characters in an honest way.

“Kevin hasn’t been pandering to us because we’re inexperienced,” said junior Jakin Rintelman, who plays the character of Krogstad. “He’s been making sure that we’re on the ball and that we’re doing our best. He tells us to really live as the characters rather than simply pretend to be them.”

Assistant director Colleen Shannon, a junior with past theater experience, also praised Leary’s directing style as collaborative and challenging.

“He brings a professional, yet completely open and welcoming atmosphere,” she said. “He’s all about discovering those golden moments that are compelling. He really brings the best out of people.”

Students involved with the play have also expressed that this experience has been a valuable learning experience for them, whether or not they plan to go into theater as a profession.

“I’m learning how to utilize criticism to further my role as an actor, and how to listen to people around me effectively,” said junior Ava Bergen, who plays Mrs. Linde in the show.

With only four weeks of rehearsals, the cast and creative team of A Doll House have devoted a significant amount of time to creating a production not only for Houghton community members, but also for an audience that extends farther away. According to Leary, the team hopes to reach people as far as Geneseo and Olean. He believes it is an important play for this community to see, not just because it is a source of entertainment – which it is – but also because of its message.

“It’s such a pertinent story,” said Leary. “A hundred years later we’re still dealing with women’s rights and minority rights in a male-dominated white society.”

A Doll House runs at Houghton Academy February 5th and 6th at 7:30 p.m., and February 7th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for children, students, and seniors.

While students at Houghton’s main campus seldom have the opportunity to interact with students at Houghton-in-Buffalo’s campus, Professor Laurie Dashnau and her Literary Non-Fiction class have spent the past semester challenging this division. On Wednesday, November 18th, she and five students from the class traveled to Houghton-in-Buffalo’s (HB) campus to meet with a Writing 101 class, and to see how Houghton’s mission extends beyond the Genesee Valley.

The partnership between Dashnau’s writing class and the HB class has been in the works for the past three months. As a project for the duration of the Fall semester, Dashnau assigned her Non-Fiction students to write to students in Anna Matejova’s (‘11) HB Writing 101 class as pen pals.

“The idea came from me already working with the Writing 101 instructor in Buffalo and having met last year’s students and wanting to seize the opportunity of encouraging them to connect more strongly with Houghton College in general, as well as with our residential students,” said Dashnau.  

She consulted with Matejova, a former student of hers, in mid-August about the idea, and Matejova responded enthusiastically. They tried to mostly pair male students with male students and female students with female students. Several of the Non-Fiction students were assigned two pen pals, as there are twelve students in Dashnau’s class, while there are twenty-two in Matejova’s. The letters would be posted to Moodle on a regular basis, and the students could write back and forth. Over the course of the next few months, they gave their students writing prompts for each letter that included topics such as a favorite memory, a historical event or country of interest, and a discussion of a character in a work of literature. According to students in Dashnau’s class, these assigned topics often branch out into other areas as they discover things they have in common despite their differences.

On November 18th, Dashnau and students Carina Martin ‘18, Bonnie Huegel ‘19, Jordan Trautwein ‘19, Alyssa Rogan ‘18, and Andrew Meyers ‘18 all traveled to Buffalo and sat in on an HB Writing 101 class. In the classroom, each Non-Fiction student was assigned to a group of five or six HB students, and instructed to interview one another with questions they had prepared beforehand. Rogan’s group was mostly interested in what her life was like on Houghton’s main campus, while she asked them about their lives in the United States compared to their lives in their home countries. Huegel and her group talked about how they are different and similar, their home lives, their friends and their families.

“Their life experiences are so different from my own, yet really, we are the same,” said Huegel. “It was exciting and eye opening to talk to them and get to know them.”

After writing to one or two of the HB students throughout the semester, it was especially exciting for the Non-Fiction students to finally meet their pen pals. According to Martin, the experience was somewhat strange, but still enjoyable.

“When you’re communicating virtually with someone for a long period, you sometimes formulate an idea of them in your mind that turns out to be very different from the way they really are,” said Martin. “In general, I found that my pen pals’ letters had clearly reflected their interests and personalities, enough that I felt upon meeting them as if we already knew each other. It’s amazing how much of someone’s personality and individuality can be conveyed through a thoughtfully written letter.”

 Overall, the pen pal program has proved a success. Not only do students in both classes have the opportunity to practice their writing skills on a technical level, but, according to Rogan, the writing project has enhanced her abilities to relate to and understand people of different cultures through her writing.

“It isn’t often that I connect with people from cultures so vastly different from my own,” said Rogan. “The whole experience has given me a deeper appreciation for diversity.”

Dashnau echoed Rogan’s words, saying that the experience was designed to accomplish this.

“My students have been challenged to think about crafting their writing for students with a different level of experience with the English language as well as cultural knowledge,” she said. “Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, ‘I am a small pencil in God’s hands.’  I think many students feel the same way in regards to their pen pal experience.”

The Good Dinosaur is built around a “what if?” premise that the film’s trailers have likely already explained to you: what if the meteor responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago had just zoomed past earth, uninterrupted? Pixar takes this scenario and imagines dinosaurs that have evolved to become an advanced species, while humans still walk around on all fours in a pre-Neanderthal kind of way

The central story being told here, revolves around Arlo, a young dinosaur who becomes separated from his family after being provoked by a human child. The two are forced to overcome their initially perceived differences and gaps in overall mental capacity; having to rely on each other in order for Arlo to conquer his fears of the unknown so that he can find his way home.

The first thing one is bound to notice is how incredible The Good Dinosaur looks. From the hypnotic flowing water, to the shining brilliance of snowy mountaintops, to the painstaking detail of the lush forests, it is unbelievable how photorealistic the geography is. However, while the quality of the animation is sublime, the overall presentation suffers a bit due to the out-of-place cartoonishness of the dinosaurs themselves–they stick out like a sore thumb against such authentic landscapes. Cartoonish though they may appear, the film still manages to do some incredible things animating the various species of dinosaurs; Arlo, especially, the bruising and physical wear and tear his adventure has on his body is shown with great yet subtle detail.

As great as Arlo looks, overly cartoonish or not, he is, unfortunately, insufferable as a main character. He is frightened of anything and everything, and it ends up becoming the only memorable thing about him. Nearly every step forward in the story is a result of one of Arlo’s irrational fear-induced episodes and it gets old quickly. He becomes little more than a plot-device to keep things moving. In a film dealing implicitly with the effects of evolution, it becomes clear that Arlo might have been better off experiencing the effects of natural selection.

Arlo’s journey toward self-confidence does eventually begin, kicking off with the friendship he comes to establish with Spot, the film’s token boisterous, silly, apelike, human character. Spot is a lot of fun to have onscreen, although he falls victim to the recent animation cliché of being more of a dog in nature, than an actual portrayal of a prehistoric person. He pants with his tongue out, sniffs the ground, howls at the moon, etc. It’s cute, but he essentially has more in common with the moose from Frozen or the horse from Tangled than something resembling a person.  

Overall, there is a striking lack of originality or creativity in The Good Dinosaur, especially given its distinction as a Pixar movie. It struggles as a film to establish any real narrative identity that goes beyond material that doesn’t feel like it is being lifted directly from films like The Lion King, Ice Age, or Finding Nemo.

Beyond the lack of original ideas, as the film progresses it becomes less and less apparent why this story requires the presence of dinosaurs at all. There is hardly anything novel about the way the movie uses them. There are no jokes about the meteor, no jabs at evolution, no conjecture as to what will become of these silly humans, nothing like that. It is a major missed opportunity for the film to feature anything memorable or particularly noteworthy to supplement a storyline that Pixar is essentially knocking off from previous projects.

The film itself is a marvel of technical achievement and looks better than anything Pixar has ever made, making it all the more disappointing that there is very little to sustain the viewer once the novelty of the aesthetics begins to wear off. In the hands of the Pixar of old, The Good Dinosaur might have been something special, but when compared with the impact left by Woody and Buzz, and other famous duo’s, much like the meteor that misses the earth, Arlo and Spot fail to hit their mark.

From November 30 to December 11, the city of Paris will host the Conference of Parties (COP21) which is a meeting of representatives from over 190 countries around the world. The conference was called in the hopes of forming a legally binding and universally recognized agreement on climate action. This week, three members of the Houghton community will fly to Paris in order to show their solidarity with the movement: Sustainability Coordinator Brian Webb and his wife Becky, along with senior International Development major Lauren Bechtel. Becky Webb was unavailable for interview, but both Brian and Lauren expressed high hopes for the outcome of COP21 and stressed its international importance.

This is the twenty-first time that the Conference of Parties will meet, but according to Webb, the effect of previous meetings has been minimal. This year, however, a different approach will be taken. Rather than a treaty on climate action being drawn up and ready to sign before the conference meets, the participating countries have been asked to bring their own solutions and goals toward slowing down climate change. Because of this new approach, Webb said that he believes that COP21 is “the single most important political event of the decade,” and that the outcome “will decide the trajectory of how the world decides to take a stand on climate change.”

When asked what his goals for conference were, Brian answered, “there are two primary goals. Most importantly, we’re hoping to use this as an opportunity to bring a witness to the church about how climate change is related to our faith and how responding is an issue of justice. The secondary piece is that we want to be a witness to the world of God’s love by simply being there, and by being there as Evangelical Christians.”

Although Webb and Bechtel both agreed that the primary reason they are attending COP21 is to be witness to the fact that they care about climate action, Bechtel also views the conference as a means of empowering voiceless people groups. She stated that the people who are most affected by climate change are often those who are least able to speak out against it, but that “the global community thinks of COP21 as the first time that we can really band together to do something, to make a positive difference.”

To Bechtel, the issue of climate change has moved from a distant future to an immediate present. She said, “One of the arguments that has been made for a long time has been ‘preserve the environment for those that come after you,’ but what we’re seeing now is that we’re looking out for the environment because climate change is going to affect our lives.”

When asked what she thought of the argument that environmental regulations on fossil fuels should not apply to developing countries because it will hinder their development, Bechtel compared that thought process to feeding fast food to a young child. She said, “We know that it’s not good for the child, but people will argue that if there’s nothing else to feed them, then you have to feed them something. And in some ways, that’s true. But I don’t believe that is our choice here… if we think of countries’ development as either fossil fuels or nothing at all, we’re faced with an unsolvable problem. Using fossil fuels will have negative effects on them in the long run, so we have to think creatively about how to harvest energy in ways that do not prevent that country’s development.”

For students who are interested in the issue of climate change and would like to show their support of COP21, two events will be held by Eco Reps on December 8 and 9. The first is a day of silence which will represent solidarity with people groups who are unable to speak out against the deterioration of their land by climate change. The second is a 24 hour prayer service for climate action, the success of the conference, and for Brian, Becky, and Lauren. Students interested in either event should contact Eco Reps Intern Daniel Bellerose for more information.

The angel resting on Sophomore Joseph Miner’s left shoulder is not a real angel of course, but a tattoo of one. Miner’s angel is a seraphim, traditionally considered in the Christian faith to be the highest rank of angels. Stretching from Miner’s shoulder to halfway down his arm, the seraphim clasps its hands in front of it as if it were praying, and hides its feet and eyes behind four of its six wings, while the other two stretch out behind it.

Miner’s decision to get his tattoo came six months after hearing a particularly inspiring sermon. The topic was Isaiah 6, where the prophet Isaiah finds himself before the throne of God. In the scripture it states that seraphim flew about the throne, covering their feet and faces with their wings while proclaiming God’s glory. Recognizing his unworthiness, Isaiah proclaims himself to be “a man of unclean lips,” who should not even be allowed to look at God. At this, one of the seraphim flies down and touches his mouth with a piece of coal. “He says, ‘Your guilt is taken away and your sins are atoned for,’” Miner recalled, “and it was kind of like a response to… just the weight of the guilt he felt for being such a sinful man.” Miner said he got his tattoo as a reminder that God is more concerned about our devotion to him than he is about how many sins we commit.

Sarah Makosy ‘16  also got her tattoo to remember something special in her life. Hers simply consists of a set of coordinates on the back of her arm: 42’ 37’ N, 79’ 04 W. Makosy said these are the coordinates of a camp where she had worked the past two summers. “In the two summers that I was there, I really changed a lot as a person,” Makosy said, “and I really… found out who I was.” She, along with a friend working there, got the tattoo to commemorate the camp.

Several students interviewed said they believed that tattoos were beginning to gain acceptance in today’s culture. Crystal Zuver, a sophomore and non-traditional student with nine tattoos, said that those with tattoos used to be considered “up to no good”, but that is not the case anymore. “I am an artist,” she said, “and I see my body as a canvas, and tattoos are art and a way to express myself.”

However, others expressed a differing opinion. Emma Donmoyer ‘19 said she believed that getting a tattoo is something that can very easily be regretted. “What means something to you changes a lot when you get older, even if it meant something to you at one point, it might not later,” said Donmoyer.

A number of students also spoke about a change in their perceptions of tattoos and those who have them. Miner said he gained a new appreciation for personal space after receiving his tattoo. “When I’m just walking around trying to get my lunch and someone’s like, ‘Oh, what’s that mean?’” Miner said with a laugh. “Like, I’m trying to eat here! Leave me alone.” He also commented on people who would try to feel his tattoo. “I’m like, ‘that’s still skin’, you know?”

Miner, Makosy, and Zuver all agreed that getting a tattoo is something that needs to be thought about. “That one split-second decision of, ‘you know, I’m just going to go get a tattoo today,’ is something that stays with you forever,” said Makosy. “Permanence-wise and importance-wise is something that I think people should take thought in.”

From December 4-6, Houghton College will host the ninth annual Christmas Prism. The event will take place in Houghton, as well as Rochester and Williamsville, a change from last year’s venue in Hamburg. This year’s theme is “Celebrate the Prince of Peace!” which, according to the dean of the Greatbatch School of music Armenio Suzano, intentionally suggests that this year’s Prism will be a time of worship as well as an opportunity to experience a beautiful performance. Suzano, who replaced Stephen Plate as Dean and Director of the Greatbatch School of Music this year, said “If we have not touched the hearts and spirit of the audience, we have not done our job…People for miles around know that Houghton students are talented musicians, but that’s not the main point, here. The point is to worship the Creator of the universe.”

When asked who will be performing this year, Suzano answered “Everybody!” In addition to the classical groups that have performed in previous years (including Men’s and Women’s Choir, College Choir, Symphonic Winds, and the Symphony Orchestra) the 2015 Prism will include two, more contemporary groups: Gospel Choir and Houghton Singers. Suzano describes this decision as an opportunity to expand the horizons of Prism by including music which has generally not been included as part of the canon. He is excited for the fresh perspective that these groups will bring this year.

Along with the additions to the musical ensembles are several relatively new faculty members directing and conducting this year. Graduate Music Coordinator Kelly Van Kirk, Suzano, professor Sarah Luebke, and associate professor Adam Luebke were all brought on as faculty within the last two years. Malcolm Bell, a graduate student, will also be conducting Gospel Choir. Suzano believes that the number of new faculty will affect Prism positively, as they will be able to see it with new eyes and therefore take a fresh approach. The faculty and students, he said have been praying regularly for Prism’s ministerial success as well as its technical, musical success. Suzano also compared the role of Houghton’s musicians to that of the Levites, who performed holy service in the tabernacle of the desert and in the temple. He said the focus of this year’s performance is not meant to be on the performers, but rather on experiencing God through the music.

In addition to the musical experience of Prism, there will be an upscale dinner served on Saturday night for those who purchased the thirty dollar tickets. Phyllis Gaerte, Alumni and Community Director, said the dinner is always a beautiful experience with delicious food and a Christmas ambiance. While parents and alumni are the primary people who attend, students are encouraged to come and enjoy the pre-Prism celebration as well. Gaerte says the experience is well worth the extra cost.

For students looking for a break before plunging into finals, this year’s Prism will certainly be on the top of the list.

You may find second year music graduate student, Fabio Menchetti working hard in the music building, but one thing you will not catch him doing is complaining about the snow. He shared, “I really like winter. I hope there is so much snow that we can’t get out of our houses.” Menchetti’s adventurous spirit denies the opportunity for life to get stale. He believes, “The process is more important than the result.”  

Although he is currently pursuing a master of arts in piano, Menchetti’s music studies began long before he arrived at Houghton in August of 2014. He began playing piano around age 7 in his hometown of Lucca, Italy. At a young age, he was accepted to a music conservatory in Lucca where he received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance. He pursued a second bachelor’s in music, theater, and visual arts at the University of Pisa. Later he attended a conservatory in La Spezia where he received two master’s degrees in music education and piano performance.

After receiving a job in music education teaching junior high students, Menchetti worried that he would stop growing if he taught at the same school for many years. He admitted, “I was afraid to be stuck.” Without any connections to music schools in the United States, he sent out many applications to different schools. When Houghton got back to him, Menchetti left Italy and made the decision to go abroad and pursue a third master’s degree. He reasoned that a master’s degree from a school in the United States would be important to pursue as a transition between studying in Italy and achieving a doctorate in the United States or in another country. The decision to go abroad and leave familiar places and people was not easy, but he communicated how much he has learned and is learning from the experience of studying abroad.

Currently Menchetti has 22 piano students at Houghton as a part of his assistantship for the master’s program. He explained that it was difficult to understand and be understood by his students at the beginning of the year due to the language barrier. His first year as a graduate student was exciting because he had to navigate a new culture and language in an academic setting, he expressed. In addition, he discovered that he could not only survive the courses, but he could thrive in the Houghton environment making new friends and enjoying his work alongside fellow music students at Houghton.
This semester, Menchetti is focusing on preparing applications for Doctorate programs in piano performance. He aspires to teach music in the higher education field. He finds his musical roots in early romanticism and late classicism and especially enjoys listening to Beethoven and Chopin.