POP! Producing Our Power Final

P.O.P!, which stands for Producing Our Power, was the final for all of the ETHS 210 classes. The four classes taught by Irene Duller, Valerie Soe, Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, and Isabelle Thuy Pelaud all came together and put on a four piece show that showcased what was learned throughout the semester. It was a night of performances by way of video, dance, spoken word, skit, and music. The show was held at the Brava Theater at 2781 24th Street and York in the Mission district of San Francisco.

Our class split into six groups and all came up with different ways to commemorate the events that we did in class this semester. We had a News Video that was about our midterm and how we commemorated the 1968 Strike at SFSU. Then we had a skit group that dealt with Asian American stereotypes and a dance group that did three different dances. Next was another skit group that did a reading and improv performance through blogging. That was followed by a poetry skit that was about the Korean resistance of Japanese soldiers. The last part was a music representation where two of our peers rapped and talked about Asians making it in the music industry. We concluded our show with a commemoration video of our class, which had pictures of our class groups, our wonderful professor Irene, and our TA Lawrence.

Although we only had about a week to put together our showcase, I think our final performance went very well. I was a little bummed that we didn’t get to watch what our class had put together, but I am sure it rocked. Since the group I was in went second to last, we got to watch the end of our show and it was a wonderful wrap up to the class; props and thanks to the video group for making the commemoration video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esNNubKu4cg

I thought that POP was a really great way to end the semester and sum up our class. Usually teachers give a test to see what their students have learned, but this performance was by far a better way to test our knowledge and abilities. Also, tests are not always the best choice for certain subjects, especially culture. Just as you can’t fully learn about culture through books but rather through experience, you cannot test about culture by way of an essay or exam. It is best to actually get up and show what you know about culture and to let your voice and opinion be heard. This was my absolute favorite class that I have taken at SFSU, and I think this final shows why – it is fun, different, and definitely impacting.