WARMING UP AND COOLING DOWN QUESTION

Briefly describe what happens to a dancers body In a warm up and cool down. 

Discuss the benefits of warm up and cool down, providing specific examples of appropriate activities which can be used - 20 marks. 

Warming up is vital to a dancers body, as it goes through many changes until the body is safe to dance. There are three different stages to a successful warm up these are cardiovascular, mobilsation of the joints and dynamic stretching. All of these stages are needed to prepare the body for dance. Each stage helps the body mentally prepare for moving, this is because the body goes through different stages of movement before it starts dancing so that you are fully aware of what you are going to be doing. This allows the body to be less likely to hurt the body by not being aware. 

The cardiovascular stage of a warm up should last about 5-10 minutes and included things such as jogging, jumping and travelling exercises. When warming up a dancers core body temperature should raise, this is important as when the body is warm nerve impulses travel faster and therefore the muscles become less stiff and they are able to release and contact more easily, compare to whether the body temperature is cold. This happens in the first stage of the warmup, the cardio stage, this is also needed to raise the heart rate, this is needed so that the blood flow is increased and therefore the muscles are able to loosen up and work more efficiently as there is more oxygen available to them.   

The mobilisation stage of a warm up, includes head, shoulder and ankle rolls, this is needed to help protect the major joints because this section of the warm up increases the supply of synovial fluid, this is good for the body as it helps lubricate the joints so they are able move more easily and therefore reduce friction, so that they are damaged when dancing.  This stage also helps the body release adrenalin as the body had began moving and therefore the body is able to move around safely as the muscles and joints are less stiff and there can move more easily.  

The third stage of warming up is dynamic stretching, this is where the body is constantly moving and not held in a position there is no bouncing and lots of repetition, it is important that when doing this the dancer uses breath to complete the stretches. This stage is also important as it increases the elasticity and flexibility in the muscles. It is important that this is the final stage of warming up as it is dangerous to stretch cold muscles as they can tear and cause injury, and is not beneficial to the body.
  

After dancing it is vital that the body is appropriately cooled down after dancing, it is needed to bring back down the heart rate and stretch out the muscles that had been used. This allows the body to get rid of the lactic acid that it may have built up which may cause the muscles and joints to seize up. As well as this because the lactic acid prevents aches and pains in the body. The core temperature is also brought down as well as the heart rate as the body prepares to stop constantly moving. 

In conclusion it is important that the body undertakes an efficient warm up and cool down so that it can complete different changes such as core body temperature, blood flow and preparing the body mentally for movement.  



Monday 28th September 2015 - Gym Mambo (2nd Lesson)

In this lesson we continued to learn the gym mambo, i found this lesson difficult as my partner was not in the lesson, this meant that i had to learn the new material by myself. When doing this i was unable to work on the way that i dance with my partner as i didn't have one, this is important that me and Phoebe do this as we have found it difficult. I think that this may be because she is taller than me and i am dancing the male part and she is dancing the female part, this is especially when i have to turn her, i find that i have to releve to be able to do it. As a group i felt as though we found spacing an issue today this was also because there was a large amount of people who were not in the lesson, this meant that we couldn't block the spacing, only learn some of the movements, however some of these may change when there are more people as there may be less space meaning some things are impossible to do without bumping into other people. In the next lesson i am going to focus on working my Phoebe so that we can dance this successfully and make it look s though it is appropriate for the time era and the context of the play.  

Tuesday 22nd September 2015 - Blocking The Prolouge Of WSS

In today's lesson we began to block the prologue we began by splitting the class between the two gangs (the jets and the sharks) one gag went one side of the theater and the sharks stayed at the other. We also experimented by using different levels, for example me and Phoebe were at the top of the messene, Alex was on the stairs and Jess was slightly lower down. This allows us to create more of the scene where it is set (New York City) this is because there is supposed to be more levels as the buildings are higher up and everything is more built up. As well as this it allows us to create more tension within this scene are there more people than the audience would originally presume.

We then worked on building up the different sounds within this scene to start the show, to do this Bethany started off whistling, this is then followed by Alex whistling after this i had to create a banging noise on the floor. When Jess walks across the top i have to crawl underneath and stand with her, all of these subtle movements and sounds help to slowly build up the scene rather than just going strait into the action. Slowly everyone moves into the middle and crowds around, the sharks surround the jets and they are trapped.

Tuesday 22nd September 2015 - Gym Mambo

How to choreograph dance

1. Choose a stimuli - This means that you have a subject/theme that you are focusing the dance on.
2. Research - This is important so that you have key things that you can include in your dance and you are able to focus on choreographing things that are relevant to the subject or theme you are focusing on.
3. Improvise and experiment - By doing this you are able to come up with different movements and phrases that you can use in your final piece. 
4. Select and refine - This allows you to chose the things that you like from improvising and refine them so that you can put them into your choreography.
5. Use different choreographic devices - Using different choreographic devices such as retrograde, instrumentation, dynamic variation and levels to develop movements can allow you to choreograph a dance piece.
6. Ensure there is a climax - A climax is the build up and the highlight of a dance and allows it to have a clear structure.
7. Ensure there is a clear structure - This is important because the dance needs to have different sections to allow it to be interesting rather than be the same dynamics and levels all the way through.

Gym Mambo

We got into partners and began to learn this dance scene, we had to run on and begin with a motif that moved around each other. We also had to learn other dance moves that would be typical of that style and time, this is important so that this reflects on the rest of the musical and fits in with it. My partner is Phoebe and therefore we found some of the movements hard, especially when doing things like lifts, as i am the male character and Phoebe is the female so we couldn't do this as she is taller than me and i am not strong enough. 

There were some movements that we found easier to pick up such as turns as we were looking at how it was being demonstrated carefully and therefore we could do it. However even though we did this we found some of the timing hard as it is quite fast, this meant that we had to speed up the movements that we had just learnt. 

Monday 21st September 2015 - Researching Training Courses

https://artsed.co.uk/musical-theatre/musical-theatre-home

• BA Honours in Musical Theatre at Arts Education
• 3 year course 
• Focusing on becoming a triple threat, weekly dance classes cover jazz, classical ballet, tap, street jazz and contemporary. You have one private singing lesson a week and also take part in workshops and ensemble performances. As well as this you learn a wide range of acting styles and techniques an be taught how to gain a supported, expressive voice.

This is suited to me as I feel as though I work better working for a longer amount of time than just a few hours a day. This is because I think I work better and I am more focused, as well as this at allows me to put more time into working with others who I am currently working with. I personally think I respond better to more intense classes like what they have at arts educational, so I believe that I would be suited to this course.

http://gsauk.org/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-musical-theatre/

• BA Honours in Musical Theatre at Guilford School Of Acting
• Technical skills training in the first year includes singing, acting, physical theatre and voice.
• Dance includes ballet, jazz and tap
• 3 year course
• Everyone takes a week-long intensive course in stage combat certified by APC

Like at Arts Educational this is a full time intensive course so I feel like I would be better suited to this drama school compared to a university. I think that it is really important to study all areas of performing arts like singing, dancing and acting as well as this every student takes a week long intensive course in stage combat. In my opinion stage combat is a high valued thing to learn in todays musical theatre industry, and therefore an important skill to have.



http://www.uwl.ac.uk/academic-schools/music/courses-subject-areas/musical-theatre

• BA honours in musical theatre
• 3 year full time course
• This course provides individual singing tuition at all levels while engaging in acting, actor movement, voice (sung/spoken), stage combat and dance (jazz and contempora

Even though this course is not a drama school course it is in London and therefore students are around the musical theatre industry, and are surrounded by many different west end shows and other types of theatre. All students still study singing, dance and acting as well as other aspects of the industry, so I think this would still be suitable for me. 
  http://www.chi.ac.uk/department-music/undergraduate/musical-theatre

• BA (Hons) Musical Theatre with specialist routes in Musical Theatre Voice and Musical Theatre Acting, Singing and Dance
• 3 year full time course
• There are two major productions each year supported by an extensive practical programme, also focuses on technical and behind-the-scenes areas like stage and tour management.

Like The University of west London this is a university course and therefore is not as intensive as a drama school course. Despite this I think I would benefit from performing in the two major productions were year, I will be able to develop my performing skills when doing this. As well as this students get the opportunity to develop their technical skills which also contributes to being a better all round performer.

Monday 21st September 2014 - Evaluation Of My Audition

What aspects of the audition did you feel were successful and why?

I felt like I sang my song well in this audition, this is because I had rehearsed it thoroughly and spent a substantial amount of time doing so. This meant that I didn't mess up on my pitching or timing, in previous rehearsals I had struggled with some of the pitching when it first rises in pitch, however I noticed that if I changed this to sing it in my head voice I hit the note rather than singing under it. I also thought that in the interview section of this audition I answered any questions with fluency and I answered in full sentences rather than one word answers. I felt like my answers were detailed and explained clearly and I felt calm and comfortable during this so I didn't act overly nervous, I felt as though this gave a positive effect on my audition.

What aspects of the audition did you feel were not successful and why?

I thought that even though I put effort into performing my song rather than just singing it, I could have improved on this more. For example when I got asked to sing to Taylor as if she was Maria I could have been more confident with this so that I could acted more of the song, this would have improved my performance and therefore my overall audition. I also forget some of the first line when singing A bot like that, I think this was a result of being nervous, however I continued to sing the rest of my song as if nothing had happened. Once I had got over this I think I was considerably more confident and was able to perform my audition.

How did your preparation and research help you? What could you have done better?

After researching the relationship between Maria and Anita I was able to use this when singing this song. This is because Anita is very protective towards Maria and therefore is angry at her for being in love with Tony, this means that I had to sing the song in an angry way. If I hadn't had researched this then I perhaps wouldn't have sung this in the right way and perhaps wouldn't have had the right concept for it. As well as this I had a knowledge of the different aspects of the musical, and therefore I could answer the questions that I was asked in enough detail.

How can this experience help you in the future (eg. Drama school auditions? Job interviews)?

I think that this has prepared me for future auditions and interviews, this because I feel like I am more prepared to answer questions in good detail. This is important so when you are in an audition or job interview you are able to put across some of your personality across through the answers that you talking to them. I also feel more confident when going into auditions as i have experienced it before, it allows me to feel more calm and in control and therefore i am able to relax, this impacts the overall audition in a positive way.

Tuesday 15th Septmeber 2015 - West Side Story Research

http://www.westsidestory.com/

West Side Story is based on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, however instead of being set in Verona, Italy it is set in New York City. As well as this the two gangs are not the Montague's and the Capulet's but the Jets and the Sharks, the Jets are Americans and the Sharks are immigrants from Puerto Rico.

Arthur Laurents - (July 14th 1918 - May 5th 2011) Born in Brooklyn, New York City he is a writer mostly known for west side story, rope and the way we were. He went to Cornell University and had won tow Tony awards one for author of the best musical and besg director, he has also been nominated twice more. He once quoted "I love to write and i had something to say"

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0491306/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Leonard Bernstein - (August 25th 1918 - October 15th 1990) Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts he is one of the first American-born conductors to gain worldwide recognition for composing the score for the musical West Side Story. From 1945 to 1947 he conducted the New York City Center orchestra, as well as this he became a guest conductor across the USA and Europe. He once quoted “Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”
http://www.biography.com/people/leonard-bernstein-9210269

Stephen Sondhiem - (22nd July 1930 - Present) He has won seven Tony awards for his songwriting. Musicals that feature songs written by Stephen Sondhiem include "Into the woods", "Company" and "West Side Story". In 1989 he was awarded the  London Evening Standard Theatre Award's Special Award for Lifetime Achievement to Theatre. He has the same birthday as the musical composer "Andrew Lloyd Webber". He once quoted "My idea of heaven is not writing".
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814227/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Romeo And Juliet - This play was written by William Shakespeare in 1595 and tells the story of two lovers who come from opposing families, their love is forbidden and however plan to run away with each other but ends in a tragedy as there are multiple deaths including both Romeo and Juliet. The musical West Side Story is based on this play, it shares some of the same themes such as forbidden love and tragedy, however there is a heavy focus on song and dance that both feature heavily in this musical.

Puerto Rico Immigrants -

http://lcw.lehman.edu/lehman/depts/latinampuertorican/latinoweb/PuertoRico/1950s.htm

This graph shows the level of immigration of Peurto Rican people into the US, it shows us that the highest level was in the !950/60s, this is when West Side Story was set and therefore backs up the idea that some of the Americans were getting fed up with the amount of people coming into the country. Many people moved after the second world war, because they were able to fill the jobs that were previously filled by Americans who had lost their lives in the war. This helped the Peurto Riccans as they wanted to move to another country where they would have ore chance of a better life for them and their families, which included better education and heathcare facilities as well as more employment opportunities.

Polish Immigrants -

Many polish people migrated into the US because they were jewish and trying to escape the rasicm in Europe at the time. By 1920, 23% of the worlds population of Jewish people were living in America, this gave them a chance to have better employment opportunities as they were being discriminated against in their own country. By the 1950 second and third generations of Jews were living in America as American citizens. This meant that they thought they had more of a right to be living in New York than the Peurto Riccans, and this cause conflict between the two nationalities. This conflict is the basis of the background story in West Side Story, the two nationalities take the place of the Montagues and the Capulatets in Romeo and Juliet.



Tuesday 15th September 2015 - Audition Lesson

In this lesson we started to mind map all of the different things that are important when attending an acting audition, these include being appropriately dressed, being organised and having the correct attitude.

We then learnt about tips that can help you during an audition. Making sure that you are well prepared, punctual, calm, listen effectively, ask questions and be brave give you the best chance of receiving the results you wish at an audition. Another thing is making sure that you have the correct headshots for the audition you are attending. For example most directors want you to bring simple headshots where the actor is not wearing too much makeup or a crazy hairstyle. It is advised to wear minimal makeup and your hair naturally down, some directors also would like these in black and white. It is important that you have the correct attitude, where you are respectful of the director, other applicants and anyone else you come into contact with. It is also important that you answer any questions that they ask you and make any changes that they request. You should also arrive early to your audition so that you have an adequate amount of time to warm up physically and vocally, as well as this it also means that you are less likely to feel stressed out so you can be more prepared and clam for your audition.

We then had to come up with questions that you could be asked at an audition and we practiced by interviewing each other. This was good as we got to answer questions that maybe you haven't previously thought of and therefore allowed us to be more prepared for our upcoming audition for west side story/rent.

Monday 14th September 2015 - Preperation Of My Audition For West Side Story

When preparing for my audition i first decided to watch both of the musicals so that i knew the main themes and story line. I did this so that i could be prepared for any questions that i could get asked in the interview section of my audition. Another reason for this was also so i knew how to interpret my songs when i am performing them, i decided to focus more on my West Side Story research as i knew the show i was auditioning for was this rather than Rent. This was important to me because i wanted to be fully prepared for anything i was asked to do or talk about in this audition from my knowledge of this musical. 

As well as this i read through the full musical score of the show so that i got more of an idea about the style of music than i would have if i just listened to them. I found this more helpful as it could see the styles of music that were frequently used. For example i noticed that there is a mixture of slower, calmer songs like "somewhere" and "maria" however this contrasts with the faster, more energetic songs such as "America" and "mambo". I think this is important to the musical as the songs are influenced by bother Puerto Rico and American culture. This is because the people who have emigrated from Puerto Rico to America and therefore there are influences from both.

I rehearsed my song many times and tried to add in the accent that i used in the musical, at first i found this very difficult as it was something i has never done before, however i felt like it was a new challenge and i was happy to learn something new. I felt as though the more i practiced my song the better it was sounded as i felt more confident and therefore i was able to try new things and perform the song more.

Monday 14th September 2015 - West Side Story Prolouge

West Side Story Prolouge Choreography Ideas




In today's lesson we started to learn a phrase for the prologue of West side story, this was more of a dance rather than physical theater which we had previously looked at. We started with a step ball change followed by a step turn, we repeated this three times, at first i found this difficult to keep in time with the music as it is quite fast, as well as this, this travelling motif has to be kept low as well as not travelling far, this is because there isn't much space as there were so many of us doing it at the same time. We then had to kick out with our left leg whilst also bringing our arms up, this was also difficult to keep in time, to make it so that it would fit we decided that we shouldn't kick as high as it takes less time and therefore would be more likely to keep in time with the music. Also because of timing there was also another part of the motif that we had to cut out, when doing this we just changed turn back to a step, this also made it more simpler as there was less footwork. After doing this we learn another phrase which is used for the beginning of the dance, this is also another travelling motif. However i found this one easier than the previous one. We then added this one to the one we learnt earlier, the more we ran through this i felt more confident and therefore performed this better. 

We then looked into different types of contact work, we focused on two different types of lifts, these are shown in the video above. I chose to work with Bethany as we had previously worked with lifts before and therefore we had trust in each other, as well as this she is taller than me so it is easier to do some of these. When starting doing this we had some trouble as we could not work out exactly what we needed to do, however we then worked with another pair who had fully completed the lift and therefore they helped us so that we could be abe to do it.

Thursday 10th September 2015 - Lesson Analysis

West Side Story Prolouge Choreography Ideas

In this lesson we started to look at how the gangs in west side story would act on stage in the prologue.  We split into two groups and came up with a starting position, when doing this we had to think about facial expressions, relationships with each other and our posture. As we are supposed to be portraying a gang we had to show that we were intimidating and angry, this shows the nature of the gangs. After doing this we had to one by one separate ourselves from the group and stand off with a member of the opposing gang, the first time we did this we had to improvise. I found that when doing this we were not violent enough with each other, this is because we had not practiced what we were doing and therefore was not sure how far we should go. However once we had gone off with our partners whilst practicing and discussing what we were going to do i found that everyone had become more adventurous with what they were doing.

I was working with Amber and when discussing what we were going to do we decided that i was going to walk past her and nudge her. Amber then retaliated and hit me and then we just going to generally fight each other. When showing the rest of the class I found that we worked better together as we knew what we were doing and it wasn't unexpected like it was when we were improvising.


We then split into two groups and started to come up with ideas for the prologue of West side story, we had to be gangs like in the musical and choreograph movement to go with the music that is based on the videos that we watched previously. We stared walking together in a close group, this shows how intimidating the gang as a whole is as we are so close together. If it was just a single individual or if the group was spread apart, it wouldn't be as threatening. As in the original musical a lot of dance movements are used to show how the gang moves around, we used some of these ideas, for example we experimented with jumping whilst travelling as a group. However when looking back at the videos I notices that sometimes our timing wasn't as good as it could have been. This meant that it did not look as effective as it could have if we were in time with each other, it would have emphasized how much of a close group the gang was. We also used different levels whilst using the idea of clicking, when doing this we also used cannon, for example Amber who was at the front of the formation went down first, followed by the next two followed by the next three. Our formation also suggested that we were a gang with a leader, this is because we were in a triangle and therefore the front person is automatically preserved as the leader, this person has more status that the rest of the group as they are they're followers.