Contemporary Dance

Tuesday 25th January 2012

Today we learnt about the 4 factors when you move to another space, the effort graph and the eight basic effort actions and Rhythms.

The 4 factors are Space, Weight, Time and Flow.

Effort Graph -  


Eight Basic Effort Actions
- Dab (like a painter)
- Slash (like a sword)
- Wring (wringing out a towel)
- Press (like a button)
- Flick (A fly)
- Glide (ice skating)
- Float (flying)
- Thrust (Punch)

Dab - Sudden, light, indirect, bound
Slash - Indirect, sudden, strong, bound
Wring - Strong, sustained, indirect, bound
Press - Strong, sustained, direct, bound
Flick - Free, sustained, indirect, light
Glide - Free, sustained, light, indirect
Float - Free, light, indirect, sustained
Thrust - Strong, direct, sudden, bound

Rhythms
Rebound    ---o---  (bound and light)
Impulse      o------  (De cellerate)
Impact       ------o  ( Accellerate)
Continous               (Same all the way through)
Swing        ---o---  (Weight in the middle, free and strong)

Jamie chose 3 characters from the film Harry Potter and told us to fill in their rhythms, their eight basic effort actions, and their effort graph.

Professor Snape                          Luna Lovegood                          Bellatrix Lestrange
Thrust                                         Free                                           Strong
Slash                                           Light                                          Sudden
Wring                                         Sustained                                    Bound
Press                                          Indirect                                       Direct             

Strong                                        Float                                           Thrust
Bound                                        Glide                                           Wring
Sudden                                      Dab                                             Slash             
Direct                                         Flick                                           Float

Impact                                       Swing                                          Impact
Continuos                                  Continuos                                    Swing
Rebound                                                                                       Rebound

Then we were told to do one for ourselves:
Swing
Impact

Float
Glide
Flick
Dab

Free
Bound

After we done written work, we learnt a dance phrase that involved balancing our bodies when on one foot doing a table top.

Principles of Acting

Thursday 19th January 2012

Today we performed the play The New World Order in groups of 3. We performed and then got feedback from our peers. We got feedback about our strengths and also what we could improve on.

We then sat down in a circle and played one word story game. We had to say one word going round in a circle to create a story. At first we found this hard and didn't know how to approach it, but by the last try we created a story.

(Not finished)

Dance Lesson 3

Tuesday 17th January 2012

Today we watched 3 dance clips. 'Yesterday' choreographed by Yasmin Vordimon in 2008. 'The Car Man' choreographed by Matthew Bourne in 2000, and 'Rooster' choreographed by Christopher Bruce in 1991. We watched them twice over so we can watch in detail and analyse the piece.

Yesterday:- 

Actions

- The dancers keep very still

- Use some aspects of capo-era

- Strong and powerful movements 

- The relationship between the two is intense

- Use of a prop (Pillow)

Dynamics

- Fast paced movements

- Punchy and explosive

Space

- They use the whole space around them. They take advantage of the space.

Aural

- No music used, the man talks to the audience but is still effective.

- The lighting allows the audience to focus on the two people on stage.

- The set is neutral, they want the audience to concentrate on the two people, and what the story is about.

The Car Man:- 

Actions

- Movements are in sync (in time with each other)

- They use aspects of ballroom dancing (Argentina Tango)

- They use props (Tyres, cloths and cars)

- Repeated movements

- Use of levels

Dynamics

- The dancers were in rhythm, their movements hit a beat every time.

- Powerful movements

- (Women dancers) Flowing movements, elegance.

- Movements speed up to the music (Shower scene)

Space

- Good use of space

Aural

- Dirty, ripped mechanic clothes suggest hard work, the movements are a metaphor for hard work.

Rooster:-

Actions

- Balanced their weight from one side to the other.

- Creating movements whilst attached to two other people.

Dynamics

- Free movements

- Their legs flowed

Space

-They used half a stage, and got into a line and then as they got into the routine they spread out a little more.

Aural

- There was attitude, cockiness and loves them self a lot.

Analyzing is a good way to open a story up and find out what it's all about, the ins and outs. 

Second Half 

After watching and analyzing the clips we got into groups and choreographed a dance piece based on the clips. We found it quite easy coming up with movements because we saw what movements they used in the clips, we just found it a little hard linking them all together and keeping up with the rest of the group. I don't think we had a sense of speed, we just went and did it till it was over. 

In my opinion I think the performance went well but could have been cleaner and a bit more to show. I think in the future I will have to work on spotting, and being able to choreograph a good piece, I find improvising a dance is my strength.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek5kT8Zt300)

Personally I enjoyed watching 'The Car Man' the most. I found it entertaining and upbeat and there was so much going on you didn't want to look away. I liked the fact that their movements were large and they acted as well. They used their levels well, they weren't all doing the same thing and the same time. I also enjoyed watching how they worked with their props. They didn't drop them and not grab them a certain way. It's like they were just doing their daily jobs but dancing around. Their arms and legs were well extended, and going in and out of lifts was well done. The women's dance moves were well executed and elegant. 

I think after doing this work it will help us in the future because it has taught us new movements, that space is important unless that's the point in the routine. To always make sure the movements are large and not boring. Also the Yesterday clip taught me that you don't always need music to get a point across. The man used his voice to tell the audience what he wanted to portray through dance. 

 

Principles of Acting

Monday 16th January 2012

Today we read and analysed the script of The New World Order. We then got into groups of 3 and practiced them. Us becoming the characters in the play and acting it out. We will perform the scene Thursday 19th January.

In my opinion I think the play is about someone cocky who likes to run their mouth a lot and thinking they can get away with it. Someone who's trying to change a certain something; Des and Lionel don't like this and they decide to do something about it.

Principles of Acting

Thursday 12th January 2012

Today we learnt about The Stanislavski System. It has 10 Elements.
1. The Given Circumstances
2. The magic if
3. Imagination
4. Concentration - Outter, Inner, Outter World.
5. Relaxation
6. Truth or disbelief
7. Units of objectives
8. Effective sense memory
9. Communion
10. Adaptation.

We also learnt the 7 levels of tension
1. The Jellyfish
2. The Californian
3. Neutral
4. Alert
5. Suspense
6. Passionate
7. Tragic

We learnt to improvise, firstly some people had to open a letter and react on the spot to what it said, whether it was good or bad news. Then we were told to sit on a chair and get into a zone where we could imagine sitting in a french cafe. French music was on in the background which helped us connect. We then had to pick up our cups of coffee from the floor and examine it. Smell it, taste it, the texture of the cup and the coffee. Then Gavin gave us dark chocolate and we had to do the same with that. After that exercise we put the coffee and chocolate under our chairs and then had to go back into that zone in the french cafe and pretend we had the cup of coffee and chocolate in our hands. We had to imagine we could smell, feel and taste it. This was helping our imaginations as actors.

Dance Performance Lesson 2

Wednesday 11th January 2012

9-10:30: Today we did a warm up which involved, sprinting across the theatre, and then grande jete. This helped us work and stretch out our muscles, before we started the contemporary dance piece we started the day before.
We performed the dance piece one at a time in small groups. At the end of the dance we stretched out, for a cool down. We did consistent bounces on the spot and a few roll downs.

11 - 12:30: This lesson we read a poem (DUCLE ET DECORUM EST) we had to share with the rest of the class our interpretation of the poem. We analysed the poem and shared what line or word in the poem really hits us. I chose "like old beggars under sacks" I chose this because old beggars are fragile and sad and I think its a good metaphor for the actual story of the poem.

After we read, analysed and shared our ideas, we were told we had to create 8 movements that related to the poem. Once we got our 8 movements we had to link them up so they flowed and as one dance piece. At first I was afraid because I didn't know I could come up with dance routine just like that, personally I'm not very good at choreographing, but I gave it a try and I am personally pleased with myself. We found out the poem was about someones personal account on the war and how suffocating and scary it is. So our movements were hunched and the dynamics changed, we had slow and fast movements, this is because in the war, when fighting everything is going to be happening very quickly and then once your back at the bunker you have time to reflect on the day.

Dance Performance Lesson 1

Tuesday 10th January 2012

Today we learnt the basic techniques of dance. We learnt how to plie. We learnt how to do this by standing against a wall and plieing, this helped keep our backs straight and not push or bottoms out. At first I found this hard cause when I dance I never thought about pulling my bottom in and you don't realise you are doing it, now that I have learnt to keep my bottom in the dance moves are more cleaner and the sequence looks tighter.

We also learnt a dance, that consists of levels and turns. It is a more upbeat contemporary piece. I found it easy to involve levels and turns because I'm a dancer and I have been doing this for a long while.

Before doing all this, we did a warm up which involved roll downs, which would help stretch our spines out. We also did a foot workout, which was learning how to bounce in a ballet position. This was quite a hard workout because your always moving, there is no time at all to stop and catch a breath, I do feel that this workout will help in the future and also keep us as performers fit and healthy.