Task 1-six rehearsal log

10 weeks of rehearsal logs showing my progression

 

 Review of own technical performance in each rehearsal 

Task one-

7th of September Ex - Wives

This was our first rehearsal for SIX the musical, so we started with the opening song 'Ex-wives'. This song is the first that the audience will hear and see, meaning it has to start of super strong to keep our audience entertained and engaged from the second the lights go on. The start of the dance begins with creating our own poses to match the beat of the song. These poses don't only need to be sassy; they need to be strong and on time, making sure these poses are sharp is so vital for the overall look of this section. We all have to work as one to ensure that we all have the timing correct whilst creating these shapes. This song has quite a difficult beat/rhythm to follow so using the lyrics to keep with the timing was something that helped me especially on the 'revealing' lyric where we have to do a move that mirrors this lyric. For the small section we have learnt, we have to make sure all our movements have purpose, making them strong and sharp, we have to over exaugurated these moves to make them look effective and overall good on stage. For me, I know I need to work on my timing for the chorus section and making sure all my actions are in time with everyone else, I will do this by watching back the video and rehearsing repetitively and also by asking the choreographer the counts so I can learn them in detail. See full video below.

Video of ex wives -

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14th September - Ex Wives 

This was our second rehearsal learning the Ex - Wives choreography, from last lesson I can confidently say that I have worked on my timing accuracy and now I understand the timing for the chorus. This lesson I felt that I was really focusing and working on my interpretation of character, making sure I was capturing a strong and sassy person to match the song. This skill heavily helped to improve my overall performance this lesson, letting myself create a character for myself allowed me to fully express and perform during this song. We continued learning more of the choreography including the first dance break, this break is very fast with many small details and intricate moves. This break is something I need to work on for next lesson, making sure I am working on my technical accuracy and rhythmic control to make sure I am executing these small, detailed moves properly and with confidence. With this section I also need to work on my overall timing as that was something I receptively got wrong. This section took a lot of focus for me personally and as shown on this video wasn't something I picked up the first time. We also worked a lot on our spatial control and awareness whilst being put into our set places with the queens, this was important for the overall look of the number on stage, ensuring everyone was in the correct/appropriate space. For next lesson I need to make sure that I work really hard on the dance break to ensure I am more confident with it.

Video of ex wives-

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14th of September - SIX 

After polishing  'Ex Wives,' a little we moved on to the finale, 'SIX,' which is a really lively and lighthearted dance/song that will put the audience in a positive mood. The song links a lot of its moves to the lyrics, so timing is crucial to make these moves look effective. I felt that I picked up the choreography quickly, but I need to make sure my technical accuracy is there, giving the movements purpose, linking them to the lyrics and making them sharp. I really like this dance because I feel you can show a lot of Charente through it and make it unique to your own, it’s really fun and up beat and is an amazing way for every one  to finish the show of as it bring a positive mood to the team .This dance is also a lot about character, making my facial expressions are always working and matching the energy of each section of the dance. The timing is something I will also work on for next lesson. See full video below: 

Video of six-

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22nd of September - Get down

This was the second rehearsal for 'Get down', I join the stage during the second verse so today was my first-time learning choreography, I walk on very sassy whilst clicking and turning my wrist to give a very sensual look. This choreography needs a lot of timing accuracy, I have to make sure I am listing to the lyrical and rhythm to make sure I know where each move goes. There are a lot of pauses and sharp stops, meaning I really have to work on my own personal timing as I felt that I wasn't in time with the other dancers. My goal for next week is to keep practicing this dance so that I feel more confident with it and then I can start working on my technique and improve my expression throughout to give a better character.

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28th September - house of Holbein

During this rehearsal We spent a lot of time polishing, refining and finishing 'House of Holbein'. This is the end product and I believe I was able to follow the movements well, as well as  being able to adapt to  and pick up new ones. Something that I know that I will need to develop on will be my characterisation within this number. This is because it is a very cheesy number, and you just need to have fun with it throughout.

Video…

 

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29th September- get down 

This was our final rehearsal of 'Get down' which Charlotte wanted to finish and luckily, we were able to do so. This number is very fun and hip hop and is about the character Anna of cleaves who is very sassy and fun. most of the number we are reacting to what Rudi has to say and being very over the top when doing so. Although my target from last week was to add more characterisation, I still feel like I'm thinking about the steps more than focusing on the performance. So, for the next time that we rehearse this, I will be thinking about my characterisation. Another aim of mine for this week is to make sure I dance the style more because at the moment I am being very Elegant with the moves however this style of dance is hip hop so I need to be more aggressive in order to characterise more throughout.

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2nd October

This rehearsal we were able to refine and finish house of Holbein. We made a few changes  and polished up the choreography for example on the dance break section of the song we crossed Infront and flipped ourselves to face inwards however this was changed to just moving from side to side which I prefer. I need to work on my timing for the toe heel move as I find myself falling behind with this move. I also need to make sure that I am always using my facial expressions to really fully communicate this and show my character, I have to make sure my posture is strong and upright during this number, and I need to ensure my arms are strong and at the right angle during the pre-chorus of this song to make it look fully effective. I need to keep my stamina up, using all of my body to communicate the energy and fun of this dance. I also need to make sure all of my movements are sharp and in time with the music and the other dancers especially during the chorus and pre chorus. I need to make sure I am stepping on the correct leg and tapping it on the floor with the correct amount of force to make it look fully effective and clean on the lyric 'and you'll be fine'. I also need to start using my head when turning (spotting) and to make sure I am always looking up, I feel this song is quite fast  and overdramatic so lifting my chin will communicate this. It also allows the audience to fully see my face and expressions, also allowing for my vocals to be fully heard. another thing I have been working  on during this number is my breather control, to begin with Struggles to keep my breathe whilst singing and dancing and the dance is really upbeat and fast however I can see I am improving on This already 

Task one-

10th October - All you wanna do

We started the song 'All you want to do' this week. The choreography is greatly influenced by Bob Fosse and his dancing style; the routine is very jazz dance inspired. This means that each movement must be exact and correct in order to appear effective. In this number, we use a characteristic Fosses dance gesture, splayed fingers, as shown in the line 'Blowing the flute.' For this motion to look smooth and effective, I must ensure that my fingers are properly splayed and stretched. We must also emphasize the sensuality in this dance, which is a hallmark of jazz dance and Bob Fosse. To bring the sexual element of the song to life, we must all work on our characterization. This is seen in the phrase 'touch me, love me, can't get enough see,' where we must wrap our arms around ourselves and glide them down our bodies while swaying our hips. I certainly need to work on my time for this dance, especially in the tight group bits that require precise timing to seem fully effective. I also need to concentrate on my character communication for the next lessons, making sure I express sass and sensuality in my face and body, which I didn't accomplish in today's rehearsal because I was just picking up the choreography. 

Picture from all you wanna do-

This picture shows one move that we do which is a forward lean with shoulder shrugs and a back lean with shoulder shrugs , Different types of leans are a stylistic feature of Fosse and another thing that we have to think about during this move is keeping eye contact with the audience and making this eye contact very sensual as Fosse was all about the sexuality appeal through his choreography. The bottom picture shows the backwards lean with shoulder shrugs and something that both moves have in common is the sense of shifting the bodyweight over each leg. For example, the forward lean has more bodyweight over the front leg and the backwards lean has more bodyweight over the back leg. The physical skills that you need to ensure that you don't fall on this move and put too much weight over the individual leg is balance, control and strength. 

This picture shows me embracing and thinking about Fosse's stylistic feature of the sexy and sensual  style of dance. During the words 'touch me, love me, can't get enough of me', we cross our arms across our body and then move our hands down our bodies whilst moving our hips which is a very slow and sexy move which could do with a lot of characterisation,  Something I can develop on for next time would be my interpretative skills such as both projection of character and facial expressions. I feel that i need to work on my facial expression a lot more, I personally feel that I could improve my character by doing things like Bob fosses dances used to do like eye squinting ,pouted lips and raised eyebrows.

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19th October -All you wanna do 

I feel that during this rehearsal I was becoming a lot more familiar with the dance moves and getting a lot more into character throughout. instead of just thinking about how precise my dance moves were the whole time I was able to get into character. After watching back the video I feel that I could make a bigger emphasis on the important words during the song so that it comes across alot more sensual than the rest, this way I can get across the story and help the audience to understand what the song is really about 

Video of all you wanna do-

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Flash mob of get down-20th October

 This was the flash mob that we did in front of college, which was a very overwhelming and scary experience as everyone that we knew was walking by throughout, however it did help me with my confidence during this number as we will be performing SIX in front of an audience of a lot more people. This dance is very upbeat and fun which is portrayed throughout this number by the use of physicality and facial expressions and the way we all react to the queen anna of cleves.

 I’n the first video of get down I was mainly focusing on the steps and movement rather than the characterisation however I’m this video of the flash mob I can see a change in that, in this video I have a lot more character and seem to be a lot more confident in my dancing.

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Tech and dress rehearsal 

I personally believe that I was able to stay focused during both the technical and dress rehearsal and stay professional the whole time, I was constantly listening to what was being changed or improved and doing exactly what that was.

During the technical rehearsals, there were a few amendments that had to be made in some certain numbers which then meant that our spacing during these numbers on stage had to change a lot due to the fact we were rehearing with a lot more space forgetting that a lot of this space was going to be taken up for the real thing due to band, lighting etc. For example we were moved a lot closer together in both ex wives and six.

These changes meant that we had to adapt in many ways for example having to be more focused and notice our spatial awareness whilst performing so that no one got hurt during these numbers as it wasn’t what we were used to.

I feel that my biggest challenge during these rehearsals was the dance break during ex wives, this is because I struggled with the timing and preciseness of the dance. After this rehearsal me and the other girls doing the dance break got together and went over the dance to make sure all our timings were the same during the number, this is because of there not the dance will look messy and will be less effective for the audience.

I feel that SIX was another very demanding and strenuous number as it required a lot of stamina to be able to perform this dance. I was very worries during this dance,  This is because all of our spaces were changed not very long before and I was worried I was going to forget my spacing and mess up.