Chloe's workshop

Chloe had a assessment today therefore she took our class. 

Chloe ran over technique due to the show being so close. I felt this helped alot due to this is the background I will be studying when I go to university. However I liked the different atmosphere aswell as how she taught due to being from a different background. As Chloe's main style is contempary. 

I felt I benefited from Chloe's class today and get taught simple technique and movement to perform solo . Chloe picked up on a correction I need to work on, this was when I kick my leg I end up going on my toes, yet my foot should be flat on the ground. 

 

I now know my key elements that I am strong on and what needs to be improved. I aim to improve this before June and improve on all my JAZZ AND CONTEMPORY ready for uni aswell as for every performance I shall be interpreting. 

DAY OF TECHNICAL STAMINA

22nd of October, was the performance of my 6 week assessment.

I felt posititve that I knew and understood the moves/ counts due to rehearsing in my own time with others and individuals.

I was in a group with, Sammie, Shardarea, Honour and myself. I was placed at the back on the right hand side, I was happy with the transformation given.

This was my first exam that I had taken this year, so I did not know how this was going to work, I danced for about over a minute or so, then the music stopped. Kat explained that you change the transfoprmation so that the camera could see individuals performance clearly, I therefore  had just put my all in the first section and now was getting a bit out of breathe, yet I knew it was my time now, so needed to keep my control of stamina up and ready for part 2 ;

During the performance Individuals were performing different counts and lost timeing/ movement. yet I needed to keep my concerntration,. and I was glad I was not relying on anybody in that performance, yet I kept my focus and was pleased with the outcome.

After the performance my breatheing was very heavy, yet I was pleased, a weakness for myself was I did not land my pirouttes neatly, they were messy and not steady, so this is another tip ready to practice for next time.

FEEDBACK;
Kat sat us all down and gave us feedback, I got positive feedback from Kat about my appearence of what I wore for my audition.

Kat did not give us a percific dress code for the audition, however due to being part of auditions before i knew what to wear, and therefore I wore all black, black leggings, top and sports bra for extra safety. I should of also wore jazz shoes, however I do not have any, but this is a concideration for next time and I am going to be buying some, due to on going auditions for 2014.

Kat explained important information about an audtition, the judges will look on appearence and posture when you walk into the building, they will also then look upon piercings, so making sure all jewellery is out before you step foot in the building.  Hair should be tied back, with no loose bits, all scrapped back neatly in a bun, so there is no reason for you to get distracted, also it shows your face shape and expecially emotions upon the face when dancing, expecially in contempory pieces.

One tip that the group was given, was performance, the dance looked like it was an exam there was no performance or originality of own styles, therefore I understood what Kat meant and kept that in consideration for the on going assesments.

Overall I am happy with the outcome of today and therefore am just waiting on my results.

Technical stamina

Today I developed on my Pirouettes and Turns, this heped alot due to my Technical stamina assignment being next week.
Kat taught us alot of different exercises that interpreted the Pirouettesn ready for the routine. This helped alot due to Kat making sure that everyone had got the technique correct before carrying on. I felt by performing this it helped alot as I now understood the co - ordination from the arms and legs.

Kat then taught, different use of technique to help flexability. Due to my flexability being negative, I now understand what I need to do to help the performance of my flexability to increase much more positively. I now am going to focus on my flexability due to having negative flexability this therefore restricts different movements.

Simple exercises we did today were; working in partners and lifting one leg up, while the partner holds the leg up , this is stretching the leg, helping with flexability as well as knowing your own limits and how far to push your self throughout the process of this exercise.

Strengths and weaknesses;

Today I learnt how to perform chenne turns, as well as developing my pirouettes to a high standard so I felt comfortable to perform pirouettes during the assignment date.

I felt motivated and wanted to learn, I was fully focused and therefore picked up the technique on how to perform Pirouttes.

Weaknesses; Flexability is not at a high standard and therefore this is interacting negatively with different movements in the jazz Exercises

I feel my stamina is improving, yet it is still not at a high standard for where it should be, I only have one week left to perfect this ready for the assingment.

I need to Interpret Dynamics alot more during rehearsal, no sloppy arms fully in the arm placement with sharpe, force to get them in place.

We will rock you the musical ' overview'

In the musical there is a range of jazz techniques. Posture is noticeable a lot during the performance they all are placed correctly in parallel with the weight equally on both feet , however the back inlinement is flat making sure all movement is correct. 

Alignment technique is very important especially with the arms due to there being a large amount of performers performing all at once. Therefore time management is crucial, as If one performer makes a mistake then this will attract the audiences attention.

Movement memory was a big technique in this musical due to having to sing and dance at the same time. Need to concentrate vocally aswell as movement making sure the level of performance is the same throughout the whole piece when performing to an audience. 

Spacing awareness is crucial. Health and safety has to come first making sure this is prioritised. The amount of performers on stage aswell as actors needs to be in consideration. 

When dancing you need a good stamina to keep the level of performance going at all times and therefore when singing and dancing you got to make sure the level stays the same, as near the end on the video I could not tell any different. No performers were trying to catch there breathe they performed full out throughout the whole piece.

The qualities to perform well on stage, one big issue is being developed & demoted to the piece giving it your all at all times. However due to the movement /style being jazz this therefore requires good flexability! It is crucial to understand to point toes & what turn out we should be in! 

Another qualitie would be projecting the voice, making sure your head is slightly tilted upwards as this will help the projection more positively than looking down on the floor, strength of performing this way will be that no voice cords will be strained and the health will not be at risk. 

Dynamics; 

Arm control is very sharpe when elevation is taken Into Action. Making sure the arm placements are correct, with steady line management 

Accurate movement due to the amount of other performers performing together at the same time 

Smooth movement throughout the feet when moving along the floor, very gentle and smooth. Making no noise!

Key elements of dance

Learning objectives 26 th September 

Develop flexabilty 

Identify a develop jazz technique 

6 week assignment 

Technical stamina 

Audition 

Demonstrate jazz technique 

Exam ; Tuesday 22nd of October 2013

Key elements of jazz dance 

Arm placement / arm lines 

Parallel / use of parallel (arms - legs) 

Strength power (core! ) 

Flexability - develop splits , kicks , leaps 

Posture - up right 

Individual style ( make the piece yours , originality ) 

Dynamics 

Contractions 

Extensions 

Isolations 

Jazz is always in 4th for Arms and legs 

Co - ordination / opposition 

Piraettes / turns 

These are all uses of technique 

What is technique?

Technique is the manner and ability which an artist, writer , dancer which employs the technical skills of a particular art of field of endeavour 

The body of specialised procedures and methods used in any specific field especially in an area of applied science. 

Technical skills ; ability to apply procedures of methods so as to effect a desired result. 

Informal - methods of projecting personal charm , appeal 

Technique - a practical method , skill! 

Stamina ; 

Physical , mental , stamina 

Stamina is resistance to fatigue , hardship or illness 

Example; stamina is when you can run a long marathon without tiring . 

 

Technical stamina routine

Fold into lunge ( bending knees) 

Sharp, straight arms , tall posture up on tip toes 

Look right , attitude body 

2 counts ( walk forward) (attitude)

( facial expressions ) 

2 head rolls followed 2 hip rolls 

Body to right knees bent (looking right ) 

Jump up to parallel 

Arms bent on shoulders 

Bend knees in parallel 

Body bent to floor 

Right arm up in parallel in air (sharp ) 

Followed by left 

Walk forward. Push of 

Jump in air 

I found that I picked up on the routine very fast considering how much time we got taught this in.  I found the steps great and did not feel uncomfortable performing this at the end of class infront of the other performers 

2nd part of technical stamina 

Attitude pushing hip to right 

Right arm up hitting diagonal with right leg behind left 

Followed alternatively. (Co-ordination ) 

Step ball Change 

Followed by pirouette x2

On toes left foot 

Right leg bent with posture high 

Arms on chest 

Styles of JazZ

Vaudeville is performed in a series is shows more variety than anything.

Musicals are all jazz based , west end jazz , big dynamic is jazz hands 

Ballet techniques are interpreted with jazz dance. 

Lindey hop started up the ' swing' style of jazz, then you have your traditional jazz which is step kick , step kick . This gets verified in all jazz performances 

Jazz is performed in so many prospectus , from the stage to a big lie theatre to then performing in front of thousands in the west end. 

Well know tv shows ; ' so you think you can dance ?' 

Street theatres busking 

Music videos , not all street up beat performances there can be jazz dance music video based. 

Jazz dance is a big hit & wanted in the cruise ship line, entertainment on the cruise ships are wanted jazz dancers. Aswell as performing abroad , a lot of holiday camps are based on jazz dance. 

24th September

The learning objectives for todays lesson 24th September are ;

• Develop flexabilty
• Identify and develop jazz technique

This is an ongoing routine that has been taught by Kat, I learnt the start of the jazz piece last week, I  had a positive attitude after the lesson, and stayed to make sure I knew this and drill it until looked at a good stage for the first week.
This week I learnt the rest of the jazz piece.  I felt positive about this and thoughrly enjoyed learning this piece. Today we finished the piece and this did not take long at all. the piece will be performed as an audition, I have 6 weeks to get the performance at a high standard, and treat this like a real audition. I personally feel this is great, due to myself overcoming fear of auditions as in the present year I am going to be performing alot of auditons for university. The auditon will be with mixed years and I will be performing this with 3 other performers on Tuesday 22nd October.

Strenghts;

• I personally felt positive about the Dance piece.
• I picked up the rest of the routine quickly.
• I feel the more I practice the more stronger my Dynamics get.
• Once Kat demonstrated how she wants the movement to be, I started to engage/ interprete this.
• I felt positive about being able to perform this for the 6 week audition

Weaknesses ;

• I kept getting the wrong step, for the step ball change ready to peform a piroette, this was frustrating me, and therefore due to this being a simple 3 step, I was stressing/ thinking to into depth that I could not perform this.
• My flexability is not the strongest in the class and due to this it is therefore restricting me on movements of dance, like Kicks, I personally can not get them really high, just above my hip.
• I personally think to hard on the Dance and make it more complicated than it should be, due to this it therefore interacts with the level of performance, as when I think to hard on a movement that I can not perform properly it then frustrates me and I think to hard when the movement comes up in the piece, this then interacts occasionally with the rest of the piece as I am thinking to hard on that certain piece, the negative of this is the rest of the piece does not get performed full out.

I need to practice this more and rehearse individually, so I have not got the security to copy any other performer.

My flexibilty is not strong, this is due to lacking in the past,  I now am aware of which parts of my body lack and this is from the hips, during the exeercise yesterday in class, I felt a big change already and I am therefore going to push myself throughout to gain the outcome I want which are :

• Touch my toes
• Being able to do the splits
• Being able to perforn flips.

Today I demonstrated a range of Jazz Techniques, these were Parallel arms, I felt I could held my arms up in a parallel positon, yet I need to gain the strength to hold them up and not let them drop, to be able to gain this I am going to perform simple exercise movements for my arms, to gain the strength, aswell I have been guided from the Gym instructor to do weights as this will help the upper muscele of my arm.
I am going to perform simple flexabilty exercises and therefore I will push myself throughout yet knowing my limits, as I do not want any health issues, but by performing this it will help my flexabilty and i will be able to see an improvement, depending on the level of determination.

While performing  I needed to peform the dynamics, sharpe , this was due to hitting every movement, sharply, at the begining of the routine while performing I was not performing the movements like this. However from a demonstration from Kat this strongly helped, as I could identify the difference of my performance and how it should be, also the level of accuracy and performance looked 100% better.

While performing simple movements of parallel kicks to the front and sides, the technique was all in the core, due to you having to hold your body up straight and strong at all times, by doing this it will engage in the strength of the musceles of the core. Once you have got the posture correct then you can develop on the level of flexability on when performing each kick.

Jazz dance is all about 4th this is for both legs and arms and therefore there is a  big impact on          co - ordination, this is due to alot of the arms and legs being in the different opposition, for example; on the piroettes and starting position it is needed for the arms and legs to be on opposition.

I personally feel positive about this piece, and have learnt alot of techniques and it is only the second week, alot of the movements are preparing me for university, as jazz is one of the subjects I will be learning throughout the years.