Friday 27th February 2015 - Cats Dance Motifs (Ongoing)

Friday 27th February 2015
Cats Dance Motifs

In todays lesson we began to learn the physical theatre dance that is going to be used in the year 13s production of Cats. Firstly we did a range of different warm ups, starting with running around the space and every time one word is mentioned we had to either turn, roll or jump. This is good for improving focus as well as warming up before a dance lesson. Another warm up we did was different stretching routines that involved planking, squatting and lunges as well as other things.

After this we got into two groups, the photographers and journalists and learnt the motif that is the basis of the physical theatre dance. After we had learnt this as  a class we had to work within our groups  to use choreographic devices to change the motif to make it different from the original. 

We used:

Fragmentation - this is where the motif is split up and put back together in a different order.

Canon - this is where the same movement is done by everyone, one after the other, this is instead of always dancing in unison. Unison is where everyone is doing the same movement at the same time. 

Levels - we incorporated different levels to create variation for example in one section alternate people go forward and down while the others go up and back. This makes the choreography look more interesting to the audience.

Before we did these motifs we had to create four freeze frames in our groups, we had to use characterisation skills to create an image that would resemble journalists.  For example we had to look as though we were all fighting each other to get a good story.  To do this we used different levels, with some people on the floor being trampled on and others jumping on top of others to show how desperate these characters are to get what they want .

Friday 6th March 2015

I did not take part in the majority if this lesson, however we ran through the motifs that we choreographed a few times and worked more on the transitions between different parts. Last rehearsal the transition between the freeze frames and the main motif was messy and unorganised, running through this today helped us to find a way to make it look better. As well as this we has one extra person in our group compared to last rehearsal, consequently we had to change our original formation to make sure that it was suitable for us to still do our parts in cannon.

Friday 20th March 2015

We had a longer rehearsal today, this meant that we could learn most of the choreography of this dance. Because of this we have more time to spend making sure that timing and our interpretive skills are the best that they can be. We learned the next section before the marching bit, I found this relatively easy to learn as it is very similar to other dances that I have done before, therefore I was help other people with parts that they found difficult. We then had to make up small solos that could be used in the next section. When doing this I used different things from all of the other sections of the dance, this is because I wanted to it to look completely different from the other parts.

Peer Assessment

- Paige

When watching Paige I thought that she had really good characterisation, she is a pap so she has to fight all of the other paps to get the best photograph of the models. I thought that she used really good facial expressions to show the audience that she was really serious. I think that she could improve her extension a little in the parts where she has to reach across the others to get to the front. If she did this then it would improve her whole performance.

When watching my own performance I self assessed...

Paige assessed me and gave me one star and one constructive feedback, her star was that i had good extension in my legs however i need to develop my facial expressions to help portray my character.

My targets are, to improve my posture and alignment especially in my back this is because at the moment i feel as though i am dancing slightly slouched. It is impo

Friday 17th April 2015

We continued to learn more of the peaks and the policles dance, in today's lesson we focused on the ending of the dance. This when we all come towards the front and come up and then in towards the runway. After This we had to go back to doing our solos, at first we were goin to go off of stage after these. However it later changed to everyone going down and then rising up and on the phrase "scattered like sheep" we all run off.

Friday 24th April 2015

This was the first time that we got to dance in the space that we were using, it was a lot smaller than the dance studio. Therefore we had to change our staging slightly instead of being more spaced out we had to dance closer together. This meant that some of our movements we had to make slightly smaller or travel less, for example when I rolled on the floor I had to travel less to make sure that I didn't bump into anyone else, which would have made the dance look messy and under rehearsed.

We also learned another motif that we were going to perform at the end of the show. There were some movements that I found to do in the space because they needed more room and sere was a lot of people dancing in a small amount of space I couldn't do them to the best of my ability, this was especially when doing the round kick. I Found the other parts of the motif easy to pick up as it they were quite simple and counts fitted to the music.

Thursday 26th February 2015 - Blocking Act 2 Of Our Country's Good

Thursday 26th February 2015
Blocking Act 2 Of Our Country's Good


In this lesson we started with the transitions between scene 1 and 2 and 2 and 3, the stalls that me and George sit on are being at the sides of the stage throughout the show and during the transition to this scene they are being carried in. George carries in the small one, whilst Alex is carrying the bigger one, he places it on the ground and becomes the table that I am going to be looking at my work on, I carry on the piece of material that I put over him and the papers that I am supposed to be looking at. The transition from this scene is slightly different, I carry my stall as Alex is laying on the floor for the next scene with the piece of material. This makes it easier to change from this scene to the next.


In the next part of the lesson blocked scene 10 - The question of Liz, this is a static scene where the decision of weather Liz is going to hanged or not. Me and the other officers are standing in a diamond formation around Liz, there is not much movement from any of the characters, this tells the audience that it is a formal situation that they are in. There are a few long silences, in these we all are looking at her and edging slightly forward toward her to try to persuade her to talk. When I say that she is going to be set free the other characters walk off stage whilst I untie her, and walk off carrying the rope in my hand.

Interuptions - When you are supposed to be interupting someone else you begin to say your line a coupke of words before the end of their line. This makes it clear to the audience that you are interupting rather than just waiting to speak when its your turn.

Tuesday 24th February 2015 - Blocking Act 2 Of Our Country's Good

Tuesday 24th February 2015
Blocking Act 2 Of Our Country's Good


Liz Morden's Monologue - Today we started with Act 2 Scene 1, this is when Liz Morden has her monologue, the rest of the class are using physical theatre to act out what she is saying. This is to set the scene for the audience and show them her life story, also because some of the language that is used in this monologue is hard to understand, acting it out will allow the audience to know what she is talking about. Firstly we have to spin onto the stage, I have to stay behind the birthing bit, because for the next part I am being pick pocketed. I have to walk from one end of the stage to the other as if I was just walking down the road, when George takes my purse I don't notice, this is to show that he is used to doing this and can always get away with it. Then I stand in the line with her other brothers, and we turn around in canon, this is so that we are being introduced one by one. Then we wonder off to be members of the general public, I am going to be a market stall owner that is selling something to Rosie, this creates a scene of a street that would be typical of 1700 England. Then when her dad is putting the blame on Liz for being a pick pocket, we all have to look at her, this is to emphasis that everyone is ashamed of her for committing a crime. After this me, Max and Rosie have to pick her up and beat her as she is explaining how she got beat up in the middle of the street. Next me and the other people who were previously the brothers have to be prostitutes, for this we each have to stand there and pose in a way that would suggest that we were available, Liz then has to look at us and as she says "I begin to sell my mother of saints" we move into a formation where we all have to point at her. After this we have to gradually move from this formation to form a wall that Liz is going to get caught stealing against, because of this we then change into a courtroom scene. Emily is going to be lifted up as the judge and me and Rosie have to be officers that are standing on either side of the judge. Because Liz is now going to be sent to Australia we form a ship, that is similar to the ship that is formed in the first scene of the play, we gradually move to represent Liz on the ship on the way to Australia and then we all crouch on the floor holding stomachs to show how hungry we all are. I then turn into the governor and welcome Liz to the new colony, just as she is saying. After this we spin back off stage as he monologue finishes.

Ralph And Phillip's Scene - We also blocked the scene between Arthur Phillip and Ralph Clark, I am talking to Ralph about the play and the state of the colony. The scene begins with me sitting on a stall concentrating on my work, this is as if I am in my office and looking at maps to see when the next ship is likely to come to save the colony. Ralph walks in and I ask him about the play, I sit down until I say "If you break conventions...", I walk around Ralph. This is because my character has a lot of power and therefore doesn't have to wait for anyone to tell him to sit down, or what he can do. I continue to walk around even when I tell Ralph to sit down, because of his rank he cannot just walk into my office and sit down as he doesn't have the authority or the power. When he is sitting down I walk around him and interrupt him when he brings up the matter of Liz Morden and he stays quite, this is also because he knows what his rank means. I turn to the back of the stage whilst I am telling him a story about previous soldiers, this is as if I am imagining something that I had previously witnessed, I only turn around when I am talking to him directly. At the end of the scene I say to Ralph "Good luck with the play" whilst walking away, this is to suggest that our conversation is over and he should leave now. As he is walking out he turns back around to talk to me, however I stay looking down at my work and interrupt him and then dismiss him from my office again.

Monday 23rd February 2014 - Personal Prop Task

Monday 23rd February 2014
Personal Prop Task

If my character was able to take one object with them to Australia it would be a medal that he was given by the royal navy. I chose this object because the character of Arthur Phillip values his job more than anything else, and therefore he would keep this as something to be proud of. He is unlike Ralph Clark, as he keeps a photo of his wife with him however Arthur isn't married as he has devoted his life to his job and therefore he is proud that all of his devotion has paid off. This medal would have been given to him by someone who would have previously been of a higher rank than him, before he was promoted to Governor, consequently he would consider this to be one of his most valued possessions.

Monday 16th February 2015 - Researching Character Songs

Monday 16th February 2015
Researching Character Songs

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/154793/signature-wicked-song-
proves-most-popular-among-kristin-chenoweth-fans/

http://pixgood.com/glinda-wicked-costume-popular.html

Character songs are often used in musicals, they allow the character to express their feeling to the audience or other characters in the show. One idea for my variety performance is to sing a character song, this is because I think that my main strength out of singing, dancing and acting is singing. I could use this skill to be able to sing a character song. As most of the songs which I have sing before has been ballads I am going to do a comedy song, this would allow me to develop skills that I hadn't previously used before. One idea of a comedy character song would be "Popular" from "Wicked". I chose this because I can comfortably sing the notes as it is in my range as well as this it combines singing and speaking, this is something I have never done before. As well as this it is a modern version of a character song that would have been performed in a music hall in the 19th and 20th centuries. The song was originally performed by Kristen Chenoweth in the musical Wicked in 2003 on Broadway. The character of Galinda is very confident and "in your face" as she is liked by everyone, she sees an opportunity to help Elphaba to make new friends and make gain more confidence. If I performed this I would need someone to be Elphaba that I would be able to sing the song to, this would improve the performance as it would make more sense o sing to someone, as she is helping her rather than to the audience.

Costume - Galinda wears a puffy pink dress, this suggests to the audience that she is a "girly girl". If I performed this song I would also wear a pink dress to show a true resemblance to the character that I would be portraying.

Monday 16th February 2015 - Researching The Cell Block Tango

Monday 16th February 2015
Researching The Cell Block Tango

The cell block tango was originally performed on Broadway in the 42nd street theatre, in 1975. The music is written by John Kander and lyrics written by Fred Ebb. It is in the musical Chicago and tells the story of 6 murderous wives and how they ended up in prison. The musical is set in the prohibition era in America and is the second longest running show that has been on Broadway, because it is set in this era, America vaudeville was a popular source of entertainment in speakeasies around America. It is a character song that has a mixture of speaking and singing, the dance is fast and high energy that combines burlesque. The cell block tango has been covered many times, the cast of glee did a version as well as Todrick Hall who performed in a parody of it called "The spell block tango".


http://pixgood.com/cell-block-tango-costumes.html


Costumes - Usually the costumes that are used are dark coloured, usually black and short. Black leotards with fishnet tights are often used with black shoes and dark makeup. We have decided to wear black leotards with black shorts, footless fishnet tights and foot thongs. Originally we were going to wear black heeled character shoes, but because we are stepping on and off of chairs, we thought it was safer to not wear shoes. However instead of having bare feet, which we wouldn't be able to slide with, we are using foot thongs.

Lighting - In the film version of the cell block tango they use red, dark lighting, this reflects the theme of the performance as it relates to murder and blood. They also use black silhouettes as background dancers that are behind jail bars, this creates differentiation in levels and lighting in the performance.

Props - In the original performance the dancers use sashes to dance with, red for guilty and white for innocent. In the next rehearsals we are going to experiment with using these in our version of the cell block tango. We are also going to use chairs, we had this idea as we don't have jail bars or boys to dance with, therefore we are going to dance around the chairs instead.

I would perform this at the variety show because it would give me a chance to develop my skills in both singing and dance. I have never done a high energy fast dance whilst singing so rehearsing this would give me a chance to do something that require me to use different skills and improve my stamina. Also this song incorporates burlesque and is a character song, these were both used in variety theatre, however this is a modern version.

Wikepedia:Chicago(Musical) can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(musical) (Tuesday 17th February 2015)

Wikepedia:Cell block tango can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_Block_Tango (Tuesday 17th February 2015)

Thursday 12th February 2015 - Splitting The Cell Block Tango

Thursday 12th February 2015
Splitting The Cell Block Tango

We split the lyrics up so that we each had a character to portray, this is because In the original performance if this there is 6 characters who each had a story to tell. We wanted to keep it with the original number of people rather than cutting it short because we thought that the chorus when we all have to sing together would sound better with more voices. As well as this with an even amount of people there are different formations that we can use.

Amber  Jaydee  Rosie  Charley  Paige  Emily

[LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace)
[VELMA]
Cicero (Smoke puffs)
[MONA]
Lipschitz![LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace)
[VELMA]
Cicero (smoke puffs)
[MONA]
Lipschitz![LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace)
[VELMA]
Cicero (smoke puffs)
[MONA]
Lipschitz![LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace)
[VELMA]
Cicero (smoke puffs)
[MONA]
Lipschitz![LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace)
[VELMA]
Cicero (smoke puffs)
[MONA]
Lipschitz!
[ALL]
He had it coming
He had it coming
He only had himself to blame
If you'd have been there
If you'd have seen it
[VELMA
I betcha you would have done the same!
[LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace
[VELMA]
Cicero (smoke puffs)
[MONA]
Lipschitz![LIZ (Spoken)]
You know how people
have these little habits
That get you down. Like Bernie.
Bernie like to chew gum.
No, not chew. POP.
So I came home this one day
And I am really irritated, and I'm
looking for a bit of sympathy
and there's Bernie layin'
on the couch, drinkin' a beer
and chewin'. No, not chewin'.
Poppin'. So, I said to him,
I said, "you pop that
gum one more time..."
and he did.
So I took the shotgun off the wall
and I fired two warning shots...
...into his head.[GIRLS]
He had it coming
He had it coming
He only had himself to blame
If you'd have been there
If you'd have heard it
I betcha you would
Have done the same!
[ANNIE (Spoken)]
I met Ezekiel Young from
Salt Lake city about two years ago
and he told me he was single
and we hit it off right away.
So, we started living together.
He'd go to work, he'd come home, I'd
fix him a drink, We'd have dinner.
And then I found out,
"Single" he told me?
Single, my ass. Not only
was he married
...oh, no, he had six wives.
One of those Mormons, you know. So that
night, when he came home, I fixed him
his drink as usual.
You know, some guys just can't hold
their arsenic.[LIZ,ANNIE,JUNE,MONA]
Hah! He had it coming
He had it coming
He took a flower
In its prime
And then he used it
And he abused it
It was a murder
But not a crime!
[VELMA AND HUNYAK]
Pop, six, squish, uh-uh
Cicero, Lipschitz
[JUNE (Spoken)]
Now, I'm standing in the kitchen
carvin' up the chicken for dinner,
minding my own business,
and in storms my husband Wilbur,
in a jealous rage.
"You been screwin' the milkman,"
he says. He was crazy
and he kept screamin',
"you been screwin the milkman."
And then he ran into my knife.
He ran into my knife ten times.."
[ALL]
If you'd have been there
If you'd have seen it
I betcha you would have done the same!
[HUNYAK (Spoken)]
Mit keresek, йn itt? Azt mondjбk,
hogy a hнres lakem lefogta a fйrjemet йn meg
lecsaptam a fejйt. De nem igaz, йn бrtatlan
vagyok. Nem tudom miйrt mondja
Uncle Sam, hogy йn tettem. Probбltam
a rendхrsйgen megmagyarбzni de nem йrtettйk meg...
[JUNE (Spoken)]
Yeah, but did you do it?
[HUNYAK]
UH UH, not guilty![VELMA]
My sister, Veronica and
I had this double act
and my husband, Charlie,
traveled around with us.
Now, for the last number in
our act, we did 20 acrobatic tricks
one two three four,five...splits, spread eagles,
back flips,flip flops,
one right after the other.
Well, this one night we were in the hotel Cicero,
the three of us,
boozin' and
havin' a few laughs
when we run out of ice.
So I went out to get some.
I come back, open the door
and there's Veronica and
Charlie doing Number Seventeen-
the spread eagle.
Well, I was in such a state of shock,
I completely blacked out.I can't remember a thing.
It wasn't until later,
when I was washing the blood off my hands
I even knew they were dead.They had it coming
They had it coming
They had it coming all along
I didn't do it
But if I'd done it
How could you tell me that I was wrong?
[VELMA]
They had it coming
[GIRLS]
They had it coming
[VELMA]
They had it coming
[GIRLS]
They had it coming
[VELMA]
They had it coming
[GIRLS]
They took a flower
[VELMA]
All along
[GIRLS]
In its prime
[VELMA]
I didn't do it
[GIRLS]
And then they used it
[VELMA]
But if I'd done it
[GIRLS]
And they abused it
[VELMA]
How could you tell me
[GIRLS]
It was a murder
[VELMA]
That I was wrong?
[GIRLS]
But not a crime!
[MONA]
I loved Alvin Lipschitz
more than I can possibly say.
He was a real artistic guy...
sensitive... a painter.
But
He was always trying
to find himself.
He'd go out every night
looking for himself
and on the way
he found Ruth,
Gladys,
Rosemary and Irving.
I guess you can say we broke
up because of artistic differences.
He saw himself as alive
and I saw him dead.[ALL]
The dirty bum, bum, bum, bum, bum
The dirty bum, bum, bum, bum, bum
[LIZ,ANNIE,MONA]
They had it comin'
[VELMA,JUNE,HUNYAK]
They had it comin'
[LIZ,ANNIE,MONA]
They had it comin'
[VELMA,JUNE,HUNYAK]
They had it comin'
[LIZ,ANNIE,MONA]
They had it comin'
[VELMA,JUNE,HUNYAK]
They had it comin'
[LIZ,ANNIE,MONA]
All along
[VELMA,JUNE,HUNYAK]
All along
'Cause if they used us
'Cause if they used us And they abused us
And they abused us
[LIZ,ANNIE,MONA]
How could you tell us
[VELMA,JUNE,HUNYAK]
How could you tell us That we were wrong?
That we were wrong?
He had it coming
He had it coming
He only had
Himself
To blame.
If you'd have been there
If you'd have seen it
I betcha
You would
Have done
The same!
[LIZ (Spoken)]
You pop that gum one more time!
[ANNIE (spoken)]
Single my ass.
[JUNE (Spoken)]
Ten times!
[HUNYAK (Spoken)]
Miert csukott Uncle Same bortonbe.
[VELMA (Spoken)]
Number seventeen-the spread eagle.
[MONA (Spoken)]
Artistic differences.
[LIZ]
Pop!
[ANNIE]
Six!
[JUNE]
Squish!
[HUNYAK]
Uh Uh (squeezing necklace)
[VELMA]
Cicero (smoke puffs)
[MONA]Lipschitz!