Fo me personally the struggle was in keeping my face in the action and not looking blank as when i am trying to focus hard on dancing and singing my character is lost on my face. However as i began to know the routine a lot better I was able to put myself in the character of a worred jurer which hopefully began to show on my face. Now I need to work on the movement further so that I can perform it with characertisation and confidence otherwise there is danger of it looking plain.
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Court Room , dance development rehearsal
This fridays rehearsal was dedicated to really getting the two big dance numbers up to a high standard. Since I am not in the pirate dance this meant i was just going over the court room scene. We spent a long time carefully going over the routine then placed it together at high pace alongside the song.
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Cort Room Dance and Singing Rehearsal
This afternoon I began learning the first part of choreography and song I am properly involved in. This is in the second section of the play when Paul is transformed to the book of alice in Wonderland where there is trial going on about who stole the Queen of Hearts tarts.
In this scene I am a jurer. This means that I do not have a speaking role but am very much involved in the demanding part of the jury ensemble. After learning the very face paced song 'Guilty' , we began to piece three sections of choreography to the three different sections of the song. the first part of cheorgrpahy is very sharp and rigid , this goes along with the part of the song which begins the routine and is then a constant under current to the rest of the songs versus. We then moved on to a much more bouncy part of Choreography alongside the first verse of the very fast part of the song. Finally we learned a much more fluid dance to go with the last section of the song.
Initially I found the cheorgrahy very hard to pick up as though the movement itself was simple the pace at which were learning it and the pace of the dance itself was very confusing. This was highlighted with the fact that we were learning cheorgraphy to three sections of the song which all had a different feel in tempo and pace and fluidity. To create a busy bustling cort room we then mixed up different groups of people with different sections of song and dance. Meaning the whole room was filled with chaos which had to be extremely organised and perfect in order to look good. Also as i have never done musical theatre before learning to dance and sing at such a high pace was a struggle as i was very tempted to focus on just one element meaning often my singing volume would be very low and words unclear.
However though thew rehearsal was very challenging nearing the end I felt myself beginning to get the hang of it which was very encouraging. The challenge now is to keep going over it and making sure I have not forgotten any of it by Fridays rehearsal.
In this scene I am a jurer. This means that I do not have a speaking role but am very much involved in the demanding part of the jury ensemble. After learning the very face paced song 'Guilty' , we began to piece three sections of choreography to the three different sections of the song. the first part of cheorgrpahy is very sharp and rigid , this goes along with the part of the song which begins the routine and is then a constant under current to the rest of the songs versus. We then moved on to a much more bouncy part of Choreography alongside the first verse of the very fast part of the song. Finally we learned a much more fluid dance to go with the last section of the song.
Initially I found the cheorgrahy very hard to pick up as though the movement itself was simple the pace at which were learning it and the pace of the dance itself was very confusing. This was highlighted with the fact that we were learning cheorgraphy to three sections of the song which all had a different feel in tempo and pace and fluidity. To create a busy bustling cort room we then mixed up different groups of people with different sections of song and dance. Meaning the whole room was filled with chaos which had to be extremely organised and perfect in order to look good. Also as i have never done musical theatre before learning to dance and sing at such a high pace was a struggle as i was very tempted to focus on just one element meaning often my singing volume would be very low and words unclear.
However though thew rehearsal was very challenging nearing the end I felt myself beginning to get the hang of it which was very encouraging. The challenge now is to keep going over it and making sure I have not forgotten any of it by Fridays rehearsal.
How is Ashcroft Community ?
When first starting the project i was slightly confused as to how Ashcroft was a community project in contrast to other groups in the schools who were working with different groups of the community each week. As our piece is a series of big performances to many children that we werent directly meeting i was confused as to how we were being involved in the community.
However since starting the project I have realised that due to our written piece along with attention to our audience that our peice is absoultly for the community. Our community is primary school children from year 4 to 6 if which some will never have seen or been to the theatre. Therefor just by performing to them we are unlocking a huge door to many of their lives. Ofcourse we cannot expect every child to love th show or suddelnly become in love with theatre if they were not before. However some of the children watching will have a new exciting expeirence that hopefully will influence there lives and open them up to things they didnt know possible. As an actress one of my most important things i must always consider is my audience and how I am acting to give them effect as when we perform it is to an audience and there feeling to the performance is essential. Meaning that our community is very much part of our piece.
Performing to so many children again enforces the community aspect to Ashcroft. We are essentially interacting with 2000 children, therefor a huge community of young people in croydon. Not only do are shows infulence a huge amount of people but also we will be holding workshops for groups of these children after the performances. This will give us the chance to directly work with the chidren and the children a chance to be directly involved in the play. We hope to be able to teach the kids part of our peice therefor meaning that theatre and arts is opened as a real opportunity to them.
Hopefully through this project we will be able to open up to children that never really thought of theatre and unlock creativity and passion in them. Even those who arnt passionate about theatre will hopefully have a really fun experience and recgonise that there are many teenagers that want to work with them and can help them to see exciting new things.
However since starting the project I have realised that due to our written piece along with attention to our audience that our peice is absoultly for the community. Our community is primary school children from year 4 to 6 if which some will never have seen or been to the theatre. Therefor just by performing to them we are unlocking a huge door to many of their lives. Ofcourse we cannot expect every child to love th show or suddelnly become in love with theatre if they were not before. However some of the children watching will have a new exciting expeirence that hopefully will influence there lives and open them up to things they didnt know possible. As an actress one of my most important things i must always consider is my audience and how I am acting to give them effect as when we perform it is to an audience and there feeling to the performance is essential. Meaning that our community is very much part of our piece.
Performing to so many children again enforces the community aspect to Ashcroft. We are essentially interacting with 2000 children, therefor a huge community of young people in croydon. Not only do are shows infulence a huge amount of people but also we will be holding workshops for groups of these children after the performances. This will give us the chance to directly work with the chidren and the children a chance to be directly involved in the play. We hope to be able to teach the kids part of our peice therefor meaning that theatre and arts is opened as a real opportunity to them.
Hopefully through this project we will be able to open up to children that never really thought of theatre and unlock creativity and passion in them. Even those who arnt passionate about theatre will hopefully have a really fun experience and recgonise that there are many teenagers that want to work with them and can help them to see exciting new things.
Monday, 16 June 2014
My Role in the Performance
In the piece my main character is Nibbs , one of the lost boys. This means my lines are in the Pirate scene when I am trapped under a net with Slightly- the other lost boy , Rupert, Paul , Jess and Chanelle. This scene is extremely energetic and exciting as it contains the big pirate number song and dance. Though I am not involved in the dance as i ma under a net it is a very exciting time to be on stage.
With my role i have realised the importance of me keeping my energy very high throughout the scene as due to the fact I am not singing and dancing to the audience i have to bring all my energy within my voice and expression and limited gesture. This is particularly difficult alongside the very high energy pirates. Also being big enough for the huge audience to understand my character yet not being pantomime and patronising is also challenging.
My other role is equally important o Nibbs if not slightly more challenging, this is being part of the ensemble. Ensemble is central to our performance and is extremely hard work. In order for it to look good and not messy it requires 100% commitment at all times from everyone in the production. This is very challenging as not only is the dancing and singing and maintaining character extremely physically tiring , but also for me personally learning the choreography and songs has been a challenge as I have never done anything like it. Also due to the very fast pace we are moving at the process has been daunting at times and i have felt intimidated and slightly foolish. However despite the difficulties it is really rewarding when you really work on something and it begins to pay off. To add to that having members of different strands has benefited me considerably as i ma able to earn different skills from all of them and if there is something i am not sure on i am able to ask them after rehearsal which is extremely useful in such fast pace production.
With my role i have realised the importance of me keeping my energy very high throughout the scene as due to the fact I am not singing and dancing to the audience i have to bring all my energy within my voice and expression and limited gesture. This is particularly difficult alongside the very high energy pirates. Also being big enough for the huge audience to understand my character yet not being pantomime and patronising is also challenging.
My other role is equally important o Nibbs if not slightly more challenging, this is being part of the ensemble. Ensemble is central to our performance and is extremely hard work. In order for it to look good and not messy it requires 100% commitment at all times from everyone in the production. This is very challenging as not only is the dancing and singing and maintaining character extremely physically tiring , but also for me personally learning the choreography and songs has been a challenge as I have never done anything like it. Also due to the very fast pace we are moving at the process has been daunting at times and i have felt intimidated and slightly foolish. However despite the difficulties it is really rewarding when you really work on something and it begins to pay off. To add to that having members of different strands has benefited me considerably as i ma able to earn different skills from all of them and if there is something i am not sure on i am able to ask them after rehearsal which is extremely useful in such fast pace production.
Our Project - Introduction
This term I am part of the Ashcroft community project. A group of musical theatre , dance , theatre and CAP are working together on a musical that we will perform to 2000 children from year 4 to 6 , within a couple of days of shows. The show has been written and choreographed for this particular project to directly target our young audience of school children. The main message of the show is to show the importance that stories and imagination and play has in the world. It also highlights the dangers of technology killing this imagination and fun and really communicates to the children that reading stories and bringing them to life is much more important than going on an ipad or phone.
It would be great if we were able to communicate a strong message to the 2000 children yet in a way that we are talking to them and not down to them , even though we are not that far from there age it is really difficult to put our selves in their shoes again as when you are that young you feel very old and responsible yet you still need to be communicated in a way which is clear. In this day technology has become a scary with its rise and control on children, many kids are not playing with other children as much and actually damaging their social skills due to only being used to screen interaction. Imagination is also stagnated and kids no longer have to think up their own worlds as they have already been programmed. I personally remember loving making up my own worlds with my friends and playing different characters and being creative. Therefor to open the younger generations eyes to this in a fun un patronising way would be a very rewarding experience for myself.
It would be great if we were able to communicate a strong message to the 2000 children yet in a way that we are talking to them and not down to them , even though we are not that far from there age it is really difficult to put our selves in their shoes again as when you are that young you feel very old and responsible yet you still need to be communicated in a way which is clear. In this day technology has become a scary with its rise and control on children, many kids are not playing with other children as much and actually damaging their social skills due to only being used to screen interaction. Imagination is also stagnated and kids no longer have to think up their own worlds as they have already been programmed. I personally remember loving making up my own worlds with my friends and playing different characters and being creative. Therefor to open the younger generations eyes to this in a fun un patronising way would be a very rewarding experience for myself.
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