FORMATION METHODOLOGY OF STANDARDIZATION SKILLS IN THE FORMALIZATION OF GRAPHIC DOCUMENTS IN SCHOOL TECHNICAL DRAWING

Associate Professor of the Department of Art Studies,
Qoʻqon Davlat Universiteti:
A.X. Abdullayev

3rd-year student of the Department of Fine Arts and Engineering Graphics,
Qoʻqon Davlat Universiteti:
Tuychiyeva Odinaxon Ahmadjon qizi

Annotatsiya: Ushbu ilmiy maqola maktab chizmachilik darslarida grafik hujjatlarni rasmiylashtirishda standartlashtirish koʻnikmalarini shakllantirishning samarali metodikasini ishlab chiqish va amaliyotga tatbiq etishga bagʻishlangan. Zamonaviy sanoat va texnologiyada muhandislik grafikasi va standartlarga rioya qilishning muhimligini hisobga olgan holda, maktab oʻquvchilarida ushbu koʻnikmalarni rivojlantirish zarurati tadqiqotning asosiy muammosi hisoblanadi. Tadqiqot doirasida tajriba-sinov ishlari olib borilib, unda anʼanaviy va taklif etilayotgan metodika boʻyicha taʼlim olgan oʻquvchilar guruhlarining grafik hujjatlarni rasmiylashtirish sifatidagi farqlari tahlil qilinadi.

Kalit so’zlar: Chizmachilik, grafik hujjatlar, standartlashtirish, ko’nikmalar, metodika, maktab ta’limi, pedagogika.

Аннотация: Данная научная статья посвящена разработке и внедрению эффективной методики формирования навыков стандартизации при оформлении графических документов на уроках черчения в школе. С учётом важности инженерной графики и соблюдения стандартов в современной промышленности и технологиях, необходимость развития данных навыков у школьников рассматривается как основная проблема исследования.

В рамках исследования проводятся опытно-экспериментальные работы, в ходе которых анализируются различия в качестве оформления графических документов у групп учащихся, обучающихся по традиционной и предлагаемой методике.

Ключевые слова: черчение, графические документы, стандартизация, навыки, методика, школьное образование, педагогика

Abstract: This scientific article is devoted to the development and implementation of an effective methodology for forming standardization skills in the preparation of graphical documents in school drafting classes. Considering the importance of engineering graphics and compliance with standards in modern industry and technology, the need to develop these skills among school students is identified as the main research problem.

Within the framework of the study, experimental work is carried out to analyze the differences in the quality of graphical document preparation between groups of students taught using traditional methods and the proposed methodology.

Keywords: drafting, graphical documents, standardization, skills, methodology, school education, pedagogy.

Introduction

No other subject develops students’ imagination and thinking abilities as effectively as technical drawing. In a developed society, the importance of engineering graphics and technical drawing is steadily increasing. It is impossible to imagine any technical project, production process, or construction work without clear and well-structured graphic documentation. For such documents to be understandable, they must comply with specific standards, that is, unified rules and requirements.

At a time when special attention is being paid to modernizing the education system of the Republic of Uzbekistan and preparing young people for modern professions, developing skills for preparing graphic documents in accordance with standards in school technical drawing classes has become an urgent task.

Currently, in school practice, the focus in teaching technical drawing is mainly placed on the technique of drawing itself. Graphic literacy (the ability to create and read drawings) is considered the primary condition for mastering technical drawing knowledge. However, insufficient attention is paid to developing students’ skills in formatting drawings according to state standards (GOST, O‘zDSt) or international standards (ISO). As a result, after graduating from school, students face difficulties in higher education institutions or vocational colleges when studying technical specialties, particularly in formatting graphic documentation. This may negatively affect the training of qualified engineers, designers, and technologists in the future. This problem necessitates the development of a new methodology aimed at effectively forming standardization skills in educational practice.

The purpose of this research is to develop scientific and methodological foundations for forming standardization skills in preparing graphic documents in school technical drawing lessons and to test them in practice. The main objectives of the study include analyzing existing teaching practices, identifying the didactic potential of standardization, developing methodological approaches considering students’ age characteristics, and experimentally proving their effectiveness.

Research Methodology

The theoretical foundation of the study is based on works of domestic and foreign scholars in the field of technical drawing and engineering graphics didactics, pedagogical technologies, and the theory of skill formation.

The following research methods were applied: pedagogical observation, interviews, questionnaires, testing, pedagogical experiment, and statistical analysis.

The current practice of teaching technical drawing and the initial level of students’ knowledge and skills in standardization were examined. Surveys were conducted among teachers and students to determine their attitudes toward learning standardization and to identify existing difficulties. Textbooks and curricula were analyzed in terms of how standardization elements were reflected in them.

Based on the identified problems and analysis results, a new methodology aimed at forming standardization skills was developed. This methodology was based on the principles of systematicity, consistency, visualization, practicality, learner-centeredness, and differentiated instruction.

The methodology included special learning tasks, practical assignments, project-based learning elements, and recommendations for working with computer graphics software (such as simplified versions of AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or similar free tools). Special attention was paid to adapting standards such as GOST 2.104-2006 (Main inscriptions), GOST 2.301-68 (Formats), and GOST 2.303-68 (Lines) to school conditions.

To determine the effectiveness of the developed methodology, a pedagogical experiment was conducted. Two groups participated: a control group and an experimental group. Each group consisted of 18 eighth-grade students, with a total of 36 participants. The control group was taught using traditional teaching methods, while the experimental group used the newly developed methodology.

At the beginning and end of the experiment, tests and practical assignments were conducted to assess students’ skills in preparing graphic documents in accordance with standards. Practical tasks included drawing detail sketches, filling in the title block (main inscription), and correctly applying dimensions. The results were analyzed using mathematical and statistical methods.

Literature Review

The issue of forming skills in preparing and standardizing graphic documentation in school technical drawing has been reflected in numerous studies in engineering graphics and pedagogy.

Scientific sources on engineering graphics widely cover the theoretical foundations of graphic documentation, drawing rules, and the system of standard requirements. Regulatory documents, especially GOST standards, establish unified rules for formatting graphic documents, including formats, scales, line types, fonts, dimensioning rules, and title block requirements. These standards serve as an essential methodological basis for developing students’ technical literacy.

Pedagogical research emphasizes the importance of competency-based approaches, practical training, and step-by-step formation of skills. Ensuring the integration of theory and practice, applying the principle of visualization, and organizing independent work contribute significantly to the effective development of standardization skills.

In recent years, particular attention has been given to the application of modern pedagogical technologies in teaching technical drawing, improving graphic literacy, and developing engineering thinking. However, existing literature does not sufficiently address the systematic formation of standardization skills in formatting graphic documentation at the school level.

Therefore, this research is scientifically and practically significant as it aims to develop and implement an effective methodology for forming standardization skills in school technical drawing lessons.

Analysis and Results

The results of the pedagogical experiment clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed methodology. At the initial stage of the experiment, the level of knowledge and skills related to standardization in both groups was approximately the same. The average scores of the control and experimental groups were 58% and 60%, respectively, indicating no statistically significant difference.

At the end of the experiment, the results showed a significant improvement in the experimental group compared to the control group. The average score of the experimental group reached 85%, while the control group achieved 65%.

In a five-point grading system, students’ level of compliance with standards reached 3.9 points.

Observations indicated that students in the experimental group began to approach standardization consciously during the drawing process. They performed line types, dimensioning rules, and title block formatting more accurately and quickly. Errors related to GOST 2.303-68 (Lines) decreased by 2.5 times, and errors related to GOST 2.104-2006 (Main inscriptions) decreased by three times.

Students’ creativity and independent work skills also improved significantly when completing project-based tasks. Their ability to use computer graphics software improved, enabling them to comply with standards in digital formats.

Survey results showed increased motivation and interest in technical drawing among experimental group students. They began to perceive standardization not as a collection of dry rules but as an integral part of technical culture.

The success of the methodology can be explained by several factors:

First, it presents standardization as a practical and professionally significant skill rather than a set of abstract rules.

Second, it ensures a systematic and consistent approach, gradually increasing task complexity.

Third, it integrates computer graphics tools, which enhance accuracy and adapt students to digital drawing environments.

Although the study confirms the effectiveness of the methodology, it was conducted with a limited number of students and within a specific age group. Further research is required to test its applicability in other educational contexts and to evaluate its long-term effectiveness.

Conclusion

This study was aimed at developing and implementing an effective methodology for forming standardization skills in preparing graphic documents in school technical drawing lessons.

The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed methodology significantly improved students’ knowledge and practical skills related to standardization. The higher performance of the experimental group confirms the scientific validity and practical relevance of the methodology.

Students not only learned to comply with standards but also developed greater interest in technical drawing and enhanced their engineering thinking.

The developed methodology can be integrated into school technical drawing curricula and serve as a strong foundation for preparing qualified engineering professionals in the future. The formation of standardization skills improves not only technical literacy but also accuracy, responsibility, and systematic thinking.

Future research may focus on applying this methodology to other age groups and vocational institutions, as well as studying the role of digital drawing technologies in developing standardization skills. Long-term monitoring of graduates’ academic and professional success would also be valuable.

FOYDALANILGAN ADABIYOTLAR ROʻYXATI 

1. Karimova, D. A. (2018). Chizmachilik o’qitish metodikasi. Toshkent: Fan va texnologiya.

2. Toʻlaganov, A. A. (2020). Muhandislik grafikasi asoslari. Toshkent: O’zbekiston Milliy Ensiklopediyasi Davlat ilmiy nashriyoti.

3. Soliyev, N. I. (2019). Maktabda chizmachilik fanini o’qitishda innovatsion yondashuvlar. Pedagogika fanlari doktori dissertatsiyasi avtoreferati. Toshkent.

4. OʻzDSt 2.104-2006. Konstruktorlik hujjatlari yagona tizimi. Asosiy yozuvlar. Toshkent: Oʻzbekiston standartlashtirish, metrologiya va sertifikatlashtirish agentligi.

5. OʻzDSt 2.301-68. Konstruktorlik hujjatlari yagona tizimi. Formatlar. Toshkent: Oʻzbekiston standartlashtirish, metrologiya va sertifikatlashtirish agentligi.

6. OʻzDSt 2.303-68. Konstruktorlik hujjatlari yagona tizimi. Chiziqlar. Toshkent: Oʻzbekiston standartlashtirish, metrologiya va sertifikatlashtirish agentligi.

7. ISO 128-1:2020. Technical product documentation (TPD) – General principles of presentation – Part 1: Introduction and fundamental requirements. International Organization for Standardization.

8. Shishkin, P. I. (2015). Metodika prepodavaniya cherchaniya v obshcheobrazovatelnoy shkole. Moskva: Akademiya.

9. Vinnikov, V. I. (2017). Inzhenernaya grafika i osnovy konstruirovaniya. Rostov-na-Donu: Feniks.

10. Mirziyoyev, Sh. M. (2021). Yangi O’zbekiston strategiyasi. Toshkent: O’zbekiston.

11. Tursunov, R. (2016). Grafik kompetensiyalarni shakllantirishning pedagogik-psixologik asoslari. Pedagogika fanlari nomzodi dissertatsiyasi. Samarqand.

12. G’aniyev, B. T. (2022). Chizmachilik darslarida zamonaviy pedagogik texnologiyalardan foydalanish. Xalq ta’limi jurnali, (3), 45-50.

13. Smirnov, S. A. (2019). Didaktika vysshey shkoly. Moskva: Urait.

14. Khojiyev, J. S. (2020). O’quvchilarda texnik tafakkurni rivojlantirishning didaktik imkoniyatlari. Yosh olimlar axborotnomasi, (2), 89-94.

To Know We are Alive

Close your eyes,

Value your smile,

Make stretch and shine bright,

Push forward towards the light.

Make others smile,

Don’t just do it for a while,

Take care of your time,

Make time for the great Divine.

Plant trees,

Sow your seeds,

Chase your dreams,

Finding every little gleam.

Feed the hungry,

Stand up for the weak,

Don’t do it for glory,

Even when it feels black and bleak.

Give voice to those who can’t speak,

Give more than you take,

Don’t go after the fake,

And don’t prey on the weak.

Feel others pain,

Don’t just be after your gain,

Be the hands to the armless,

The sight to the ones in darkness.

Feel morning rays on your skin,

Evening shadows hovering on the horizon,

You depart with nothing, not even a pin,

Everything is just vanity.

THE JUNGLE DARES THE WORLD OF CRIME

Dr Jernail S. Anand

Whenever there are events involving injustice and wildness, we often say, it is ‘jungle raaj’ [the law of the jungle].  The jungle is abused as we often abuse a man who has done an indecent job calling him a dog.  A crow, when crows, is a harbinger of a cherished guest, but a crow, nowadays  is mentioned more as one, who is killed and hung aloft for a lesson to other crows. 

When we compare a man’s mischief, we go to monkeys and cats, and when we refer to his power, we catch the lion. However, when men eat human flesh, and turn indiscriminate, we invoke wolves. A man who is dunce is likened to an ass, and if something is going very fast, it is said to be talking to the winds. How is power of a man measured if not as horsepower. And most of all, when we have to reject something as absurd, a bull comes to our rescue, along with his shit. We call it ‘bull-shit’.  The jungle is never far away when we men have to say something, and it has to be exemplified   from the animal world. 

In fact, we go to nature to authenticate our experience. In the same way as we quote from great authors and thinkers and even from Vedas. If some man has eaten up some other person, there is no way to say it more effectively than saying that he has eaten into him like ‘deemak’ [termiotes].  If some misfortune strikes a man, we compare it with lightning. 

If we have to compare a man’s steadfastness, we invoke mountains. If a man starts going to a place of worship after committing sins, we are reminded of a cat going for Hajj after eating nine hundred mice. And if we want to tell man he should have a great patience, Farid the great poet says: a man should have the patience of a tree.  Men who are full of wisdom, are humble just as a branch bearing a fruit bends.  As pure as the Ganges, as high as the Himalayas, I wonder if there is any human emotion which can be delivered authentically without referring to nature. 

So, it is the nature which we often call the ‘jungle raaj’.  The idea of ‘jungle raaj’ conveys the idea of lack of justice in the human world.  It is interesting to see why man thinks that his world is more just, as compared to the world of nature. Here is a glimpse of the life of the jungle, which human beings often denounce. The big fish eat the small fish. The powerful kill the less powerful. This is what happens in the jungle and even in oceans and the same thing happens in the world of men too. But the point of departure between the two world arrives soon, and I wonder if we can really accuse the world of nature as a land of lawlessness. 

The Order of Nature

The order that we find in nature is far more powerful and more established than in the human world. Birds, animals are born with a default understanding of their role. Just imagine, they have no schools. It is only the human being who needs training in schools. And we need worship places to teach us how to pray and remain connected to the creator, whereas animals are always in a state of prayer. A Punjabi poet, Prof. Puran Singh finds the buffaloes and calves [animals on their fours] always in a state of prostration.  Animals and birds have no liquor shops, they do not have ‘bars’, they do not have rave parties, they do not molest women. And most of everything, have you come across any murder in the forest?

In the forest, which we call the ‘jungle raaj’, there are killings. The big animals eat away the smaller animals. In fact, most of the birds are non-vegetarian. They eat up smaller insects. But nobody raises any cry. Because it is their way of life. There are no murders as I said, no police stations, no violation of rights. There are no courts to ensure justice. Only we human beings need courts of justice because the human world thrives on injustice. Murders take place in the human world only.  The jungle has no underworld. They have no armies. No weapons dump. We have never seen them fighting pitched battles as men have done in the past over land for oil or resources.  

Nature is a repository of sense and wisdom. Jungle is far more composed and balanced in its attitude towards life. They do not attack humans. Only humans have assaulted and molested the vegetation and the trees. 

In fact, for the human world, ‘jungle raaj’ refers to the lack of justice and fairness, and a world which is given to crime. The fact is that the world of the jungle is the real world of nature where the law of the creator, the original laws are in operation. Man, with his greed and weapons, has created a world of crime which he equates with the ‘jungle raaj’. In my opinion, we denigrate the jungle in order to establish our superiority, whereas the facts prove it otherwise. 

The final truth about the law of the jungle and the law of man’s land is a comparison between a sense of live and let live, and a passion for greed and exploitation and ultimate elimination of the other. The jungle ‘raaj’ is original and superior, whereas man’s laws are artificial and inferior, if not altogether infernal. 

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, with an opus of 190 plus books, is Laureate of the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky awards.  His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Anand’s work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision. He is President of the International Academy of Ethics. 

We are humans 

We supposed to build relationships with humans not meta humans 

Not animals 

Not aliens

We supposed to bring peace in the harmonious world we live 

But everyday I see

A woman hugging a cat or dog

Feed them

Bath them

While babies are throwing to the center 

Men talk to their dogs about their problems and prefer to stay with them

Instead to Go out and meet a human being 

What is going with this society of screening 

We are becoming clones of ourselves 

Without emotion 

Without feelings 

We celebrate and congratulate only our people…. our tribe 

What about the others.. People..that they are doing so much about what we call

Good 

We must say silent 

We must not celebrate their achievements?

Humans need recognition 

Individuals need assistance in every level due to the COVID test and everything that follows this experiment 

But do you think 

Having only relationships

with cats and dogs

Is that healthy???

I wonder exactly in what kind of society we are leaving 

We don’t even speak to each other 

And when we do

We have hate 

We have negative thoughts 

We have too much inside our hearts 

Too much dark and fear

So i tell you now 

Get rid of those toxic feelings 

Start reading 

Start writing 

Start dancing 

Start laughing 

Life is short 

EVA Petropoulou Lianou 

International poet 

Founder of literary movement 

POETRY unites people 

Art painting and poetry 

Meadow Mystic

Inside the meadow there was a stand of trees and inside there was the cool shade and whimsical winds sometimes made a sound through the branches. I stood there and rested, halfway through my sojourn exploring nature. There were times outside of there that blue butterflies were thriving and many grasshoppers bloomed, plus some spiders. 

Up above in the summers a blue sky often, but, if it turned and became overcast and that atmospheric energy entered the air, that sort of ‘before the storms’ feeling, well that was just as good as I wasn’t that far from the paths that led out and it was also an interesting change to feel that charge in the air. 

And in the four seasons, that area was a dutiful and true friend, for it at its base never wavered. I think I realize now that the truth of the truth of the truth of the real and actual truth is that that area became along the way a special and loved and loving destination, a marriage of sorts between a poet and the lands where the walking would help the poet go a symbolic and literal step more towards becoming a mystic. 

Spirit message. Intuition. Renewal of the mind, body, and spirit. self-healing. Kindness. Clarity. A structure out of regular psychological sets and more centred in the universal or cosmic. Society was literally and figuratively so far away in those moments, times with feet grounded on the earth, and say, the summer fields colourful or the spring universe beginning to bloom, but also the autumnal grounds with leaves or after, the wild winter, its snow resting upon the world’s reeds, branches, and pathways. Yes, it was a fine place to be and learn, to get ideas for poems, stories, and pictures. And to naturally expand consciousness. 

Life

A night of tremendous rain

My soul is soaked in the letters

The greenery is beautiful

Like The sunken earth

With all the daisies around

I sip life’s soma in great abundance

The birds are chirping around

The girls with polka dotted umbrellas

Clouds gather in the North Carolina

The letter has arrived

It contains your soul deep love

Till the rain hang overs my body

I play with life’s work.

La Belle et la Bête

Opera Parallèle

Zellerbach Hall

Berkeley, California

Beast Against Beauty

A review by Christopher Bernard

Over a recent weekend in March, Cal Performances hosted an original production by the local company Opera Parallèle, combining movie and stage, of Philip Glass’s uniquely beautiful conversion of Jean Cocteau’s classic film La Belle et la Bête into a cinematic opera.

The original “Beauty and the Beast” was written by the eighteenth-century French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and appeared in her book La Jeune Américaine, et les Contes marins. The story, set in a romanticized High Renaissance France of François Premier and Diane de Poitiers, was later revised and abridged by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in the version best known down the generations. The story’s magnetic appeal has never weakened; in the age of toxic masculinity, it has never been, in some ways, more timely.

To say nothing of the aggression inherent in all masculine sexuality: Has there ever been a sensitive young man in love with a beautiful woman who did not, at some time, darkly suspect that, in reality, he was ugly, disgusting, unworthy of either loving or being loved—a beast indeed? Has there ever been a woman who wasn’t afraid at some point of bringing out the beast in the man who claimed he loved her? And, the claims in the fairy tale notwithstanding, how often has it occurred, not that the beast turned into Prince Charming, but that Prince Charming turned into the Beast?

Cocteau’s film, a masterpiece of French surrealism from the middle of the last century, contains some of cinema’s most famous sequences: the line of chandeliers held by disembodied arms protruding from a corridor’s halls, the moving eyes in the faces carved into a mantel above a blazing chimney fire, a pearl necklace turning into a writhing snake in the hands of a wicked sister, the dissolves from beast to human and from human to beast, and Belle’s gliding down a night-time hallway with windblown curtains without apparently stirring a foot, to name only a few.

The original script, itself rich with poetry yet containing enough realism to empower the magic, and Georges Auric’s film score work with these magical images to create a world of consummate fantasy speaking the curious truths poetry is uniquely capable of expressing. Philip Glass’s decision, half a century after the film’s release, to strip out and replace not only the soundtrack and sound design but all the dialogue as well into an immense musical fabric proved to be, not only as provocative as any surrealist gesture, but brilliantly successful and entirely aligned with the soul of the work. Unlike the notorious mustache on the Mona Lisa, Glass’s gambit enhances and even completes the work in a way one can only feel the original artists (with, of course, the possible exception of the silenced M. Auric) would have completely approved. It doesn’t displace the original but provides a perfectly viable alternative.

When I heard about Opera Parallèle’s production, I imagined one of three possibilities: a straight screening of a silent version of the film, with sound provided by live singers and instrumentalists, much like what I was lucky to experience on my first exposure to Glass’s setting. Or it might be an entirely live staging, with a few discreet bows to the film. Or it might be the most interesting but most perilous of the three: a fusion of the film with live action. But if they tried the latter, how would they solve the problem at the heart of any such attempt: how integrate the two without their blundering regularly and clumsily into each other? Because if staging and film weren’t merged into a seamless whole, it could be, indeed would be fatal: the genius of the film would require equal genius, above all in judgment, taste, and tact, in the staging, otherwise it would be in danger of overbalancing, then irretrievably sinking, the performance.

If this third choice were attempted, surely (I thought) the director would realize that film and staging would need to alternate; presenting them both at the same time would have to be generally avoided, for obvious reasons: the audience would not know which one to watch, the staging or the screen (or if two screens were used, which screen?). Staging theater is not like staging a dance or a concert, where multiple strands of movement or sound can be processed by the human mind without what is aptly called brain freeze.

One of the main problems was that some in the audience might resent any attempt to deflect their attention from the brilliance of Cocteau’s film. Concentrating the audience’s focus is, of course, one of any stage director’s primary responsibilities; diffusing attention must be avoided except for brief periods and for reasons that are perfectly clear to the audience as well as emotionally telling, whether dramatic or comic. And deliberately dividing their attention can court disaster.

Alas, this production did not solve the problem described, mostly because it did not seem to realize there was a problem to solve in the first place. The film and the staging stubbornly refused to combine; at times, they even stood in hostile and irreconcilable opposition: the concept for the piece was often at war with the piece’s aesthetic, with frustrating consequences.

Almost all of Cocteau’s film was screened on a darkened wall placed mid-stage as part of the handsomely designed and lit set (kudos to the unnamed set designer). At apparently random moments, live singers, in full costume, walked onstage and, distractingly, more or less imitated what appeared on film. In a few instances the film was paused and the action of the story was given entirely by live singers on stage. These few scenes were the most effective in the performance; effective enough for one to wish there had been more.

To add to the problem of divided attention, there were also a (gratefully) few attempts to screen a second film, which again imitated the action in the Cocteau. The concluding scene of the production abandons Cocteau’s film entirely, replacing it with a shot-by-shot imitation of the film’s famous concluding sequence, this time of the singers we had seen live onstage. If this was meant to bring all of the elements of the performance together in a transcendent conclusion, it was only partly successful.

It is always dangerous to fiddle with a masterpiece once; to fiddle with it twice can be fatal.

Fortunately, the musical elements of the evening came off, for the most part, very well: Hadleigh Adams was in excellent form in multiple roles, including the Beast, as was Chen Kang as Belle. Sophie Delphis did fine double duty as both of the evil sisters, and Aurelien Mangwa was strong-voiced in three well-differentiated roles. Nicole Paiement conducted the small but powerful ensemble, perhaps pressing too hard at times on the volume. The wonderful costumes were designed by Natalie Barshow, and not to be forgotten, given the opulence of the era in which the story takes place, were the hair and makeup designs by Y. Sharon Peng.

_____

Christopher Bernard is an award-winning novelist and poet. His most recent book is the poetry collection The Beauty of Matter.