Ritual-performance and criticism

 Performance day was upon us, and we were nowhere close to being ready. Well, we were, but a few key elements were missing. We decided to change the location of the ritual in the last minute (from a classic stage to a nearby garden) which didn't leave us time to even rehearse the whole piece. The ritual went exactly as planed but there were some slight changes of plans. We all went on our school uniforms and in the final Suzuki part, I played a short blues riff followed by 30 seconds of "Misirlou" by Dick Dale and the Del-tones. The criticisms of our final project were in my opinion, all caused by our attention to our individual scenes instead of looking at the whole picture. This is shown in the passage from part 2 to part 3 where we all stand up and go off-stage, only to return to the exact point where we were sitting. We also didn't take the space in consideration and it was only by the end of the performance that we realized that I could've used the whole school as stage. I didn't pay much attention to the audience interaction and I could've made an effort to make the audience feel more apart of the ritual. Other minor things didn't mostly because we didn't rehearse in the actual place where we were going to perform, for example the making of the tea. The story telling part could've had more context in our ritual, but overall it was a good piece with some nice elements. The Suzuki part was well performed and when we sang "With a little help from my friends" it created exactly the mood we wanted. In terms of the four perspectives of a ritual, all try to describe what the audience saw and not what we were trying to achieve:
Structures- Very peaceful environment, with the sound of a fountain in the background and a gentle breeze throughout the ritual; limited space in a small piece of the garden; individuals in school uniform carry out the ritual always in a understanding and peaceful mood.
 Functions- Integration ritual, two new elements being accepted into a tribe, creation of bonds and exchange of both physical and sentimental gifts.
 Processes- The aesthetics of the individuals, painting of the face and body, the sharing of the tea, the song about friendship, the collective dances and the overall collapse (to create the feeling "you fall I fall").
 Experiences- Sense of community, feeling of acceptance, alternative state while doing the final dance.