Strengths and Weaknesses (Jazz/Contemporary Technique) - 15/10/15

Strengths and Weaknesses:

In todays lesson, we had Julia. In this lesson, we were concentrating on the Potion routine. We also went over the Witches routine and The Conference and cleaned and changed some parts. All of these routines have Jazz and Contemporary elements, which means that this post will be a mixture of both Jazz and Contemporary technique. In this lesson, I found that many of my strengths and weaknesses changed. Also, our teacher gave us feedback back, so I will incorporate them into my reasons. In this blog post, I will explain each of my main strengths and weaknesses and why they have changed.

Strengths:

• My first strength, which was a strength in the previous lesson, is my dynamics and clarity of my moves. This is because, I know what type of dynamic I need to put into which move during routines. I also knew how much tension I needed to put into moves. As well as this, my alignment was good. This is because I knew where my arms and legs needed to be. I was also able to form straight lines with my arms by engaging my back. Both of these are strengths as it means I observe not only myself, but my teacher. This is because I listen and watch what she is doing to see where I need to be in comparison to where I am. To continue to have this as a strength, I will continue to observe my teacher and myself. Also, I will continue to focus on all of the above technique skills.
• My second, and final strength which I noticed during my lesson today was my ability to stay in formation throughout routines. This was because during all of my routines, I was able to stay in my place. It also meant that I was being observational. This is because I was able to stay in line with other people and concentrate on not only the routine, but also my placement. I was also able to help other people stay in their place. This is a strength as it means that the routine will not look messy. To continue to have this as a strength, I will make sure I know where I need to be throughout all my routines. I will then make sure I know the routine properly so that when I perform it in formation, it will look clean and correct.

Weaknesses:

• The one weakness which stood out from all the rest during this lesson was my stamina. Although it has been part of my strengths for a number of lessons, I have found that this lesson, it was a weakness. This is because in the other lessons, we would only run one number full out, however in this lesson we rang three of the numbers one after the other. I found this a struggle as slowly my moves became weaker and not as clean. It also meant that I was getting tired. As well as myself noticing this, my teacher also noticed this. She mentioned to the class that she thought we all did not have good stamina and that we needed to improve it. She suggested to us that we could go on jogs/runs in the morning or evening to improve this. Because of the suggestion, I have decided that in the evenings, I will go for jogs. This will not only improve my stamina, but also my strength in things such as my legs. 

Third Production Meeting Overview (PPP) - 15/10/15

Third Production Meeting Overview:

In todays Production meeting, we spoke about all the main tasks that each production group needed to undertake. At the very beginning, myself and the rest of the Marketing, Publicity and Fundraising team sat together and discussed what we had done since the last Production meeting.

The day before the production meeting, I had made an email account for the dance company. I told everyone in MPF about it the night before, so they could create social media accounts before the meeting the next day. I created an Instagram account, Eden created a Twitter account and Max created a Facebook page. During our group discussion, we told everybody else in the group the usernames and passwords to these accounts so they could login to them and edit them if they wished. We have decided not told the rest of the class this as we feel that we should be the only people to have access to these accounts. In our class that day, we had taken a couple of video clips of some of our routines for our Instagram account and a group photo of all of us in a Witch pose. While we were in the meeting, I put the group photo up onto Twitter and Eden put one of the videos on Instagram.

After this, we were then told by Julia to discuss
ideas for our logo. Eden had a couple of ideas and so did Nina, but they did not fit with the theme of the show. Also, some of them were not practical. Julia then gave us a couple of ideas to consider and so we tried to incorporate all of them into one. Nina sketched them out and the photo to the right is the finished idea. I really like it as it incorporates lots of things which are in our show. These include: Test Tubes (because one of the main features of the show is creating the potions), the Eyes (because one of the main/most noticeable features of a Witch is their eyes) and Cobwebs (because of the witches). Also it includes the name of our dance company which I personally like as it shows our originality. Also, it makes it look more interesting.

We then got into a big circle with the whole class and discussed each of our ideas. Each group spoke about their ideas and what they needed us to do. I took some notes on what we were asked by other groups to do so I remembered. When it was our turn to speak, Emilia spoke. She told the class about each of our social media accounts and also our idea for the logo. The majority of the class liked it, however some people did have other ideas. Julia then told our group what we needed to do next. She told us that over the holiday, we had to think about what we wanted/needed to include in the programme and whether people were going to pay for our programme. She also told us to arrange a time where we would do headshots of each dancer in the company. We all agreed that it would be before a dance class or on a day where we did not have dance. This was because usually all of us are tired and sweating after dancing, so would not look good in the photos. She also asked us to scan the drawing into a computer and draw over it. Nobody in the Marketing, Publicity and Fundraising group was confident enough to do this, so Issy (from Costume) agreed she would do it for us. The rest of the groups who hadn't spoken then spoke and then the meeting was over.


Below is a link to each of our social media accounts:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/noxiousdance
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/noxiousdancecompany/
• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/noxiousdancecompany?fref=nf

Strengths and Weaknesses (Jazz/Contemporary Technique) - 12/10/15

Strengths and Weaknesses:

In todays Jazz lesson, we had Julia. In this lesson, we were focusing on the Potion routine which we started to choreograph last lesson with Julia and Josie. We cleaned the parts we had already created and added on more choreography. Because this routine is Jazz with some elements of Contemporary, I am going to combine the two into one blog post. In this blog post, I will explain my current strengths and weaknesses and how I will improve them.

Strengths:

• My first strength, which I noticed while doing the potion routine was my stamina. This is because I was able to put the same amount of energy in the routine throughout. It also meant that I was able to dance for a longer period of time without getting tired. This is a strength as it means that I have improved since the beginning of the year. It also means that by the time the show happens, I will be able to keep my stamina at a high level throughout it without getting tired. To continue to have this as a strength, I will do exercises (such as running) to keep my stamina up.
• My second strength which I have noticed previously, however has not been in my strengths for a long time is my dynamics and clarity of my moves. This is because throughout the routine, my arms were using the right amount of force that I needed to use. Also, my arms/legs were where they needed to be. This is a strength as it means I can observe where my arms/legs are while still performing to the best of my ability. To continue to have the as a strength, I will practice the routines slowly. This means that I can focus on my alignment, posture, dynamics and clarity of my moves before trying to do it full out and perform.

Weaknesses:

• My first (and only weakness) which has previously been both a strength and weakness on my blog is my performance. This is because unlike other routines in the show, I am not confident of the moves and dynamics during rehearsals. This means that I cannot perform the routine to the best of my ability and focus on where I should be at the same time.  To make this a strength, I will practice, clean and know the routine fully. This means that I will then be able to perform the routine with facial expressions. 

Rehearsals Overview (Jazz/Contemporary Technique) - 05/10/15 - 09/10/15

Rehearsals Overview:

Unlike other weeks where we have had two rehearsals (on a Tuesday and Wednesday lunch), this week we only had one rehearsal (on Wednesday lunch). This was because the year 10's had booked all the studios, so we were unable to dance. At Wednesday lunch, we all went to 1021 (Dance Studio). The three Rehearsal Directors; Grace, Amie and Chyna were there as well as the majority of dance. A few people did not turn up - either because they didn't know it was on, they were ill or they just didn't turn up. Some people did also turn up late, which over ran the rehearsal. Then we did a 10 minute warm up, which also took too much time. Although we should warm up, I personally think that it should have been for 2 minutes as we were not doing the routines full out. Then we went on to doing the routines. First of all we went over the Opening dance (Dreams). It went well and we all knew the choreography. However, the Rehearsal Directors thought that we should go over the counts and placement, as occasionally we went out of our spaces. We spent 10 minutes cleaning it up and when we did it again, it looked much better then it did before. Then we ran The Conference dance and into The Witches routine. The routine looked good, however no one was going full out and the energy in the room had deteriorated. This meant that all of our moves were sloppy and not to the best of our ability.

I feel that overall the rehearsal was a success to a certain degree as we managed to clean up one of the routines. However it was not a success in other ways. Because there was no teacher in the room, people spoke over the top of one another and took a break when they wanted to. This meant that we spent the whole lunch time in the studio, rather then 30 minutes (which was the original time we were meant to spend in there). In future, I think that we should let the Rehearsal Directors take charge and decide what we are doing, rather then individuals deciding what they want to do. I feel that when we worked together as a group; it looked amazing, but as soon as individuals spoke their opinions, the routines became sloppy.

Strengths and Weaknesses (Jazz Technique) - 08/10/15

Strengths and Weaknesses:

In todays lesson, we had both Julia and Josie. The routine we were working on was Jazz, so again I have no Contemporary technique posts. In this class, we worked on the Potion routine. At the end of the lesson, we also did 'The Conference' and 'The Witches' routines. I found that some of my weaknesses became a strength in this lesson and some of my strengths stayed the same. In this blog post I will talk about each strength and weakness and what I will do to improve them.

Strengths:

• My first strength - which has been a weakness in all my other blog posts, is my flexibility. This is because I found that moves which I used to find challenging (because of the flexibility you needed) much easier. I also found that when I was doing the warm up, I was able to get lower in my splits and some of my stretches. This shows that I have improved a lot since the beginning of the year. To progress and have this as one of my strengths, I will continue to stretch everyday and practice moves which need flexibility. 
• My other strength, which was part of my strengths on Mondays blog post is my performance. This is because I am performing the routine as if there is an audience in front of me during the rehearsals. Also, I do some of the facial expressions which we are meant to do. This shows that my confidence and stage presence has improved significantly since the beginning of this year. To progress, I will now continue to perform during rehearsals and do all of the facial expressions during rehearsals.

Weaknesses:

• A weakness that I noticed during my rehearsal today - which I have not noticed before, is my clarity of movements. This is because I found that sometimes my movements looked sloppy and messy. For example, I have noticed that once I get tired or have danced for a long period of time, my moves become messy (e.g. arms will not be in the correct places/alignment, knees may not be over my toes when doing plies, moves may not be the correct dynamic - sharp, rigid etc). This shows me that although I have the stamina to continue dancing, I have not got enough stamina to keep my movements clean. To improve this I will build up my stamina more so that the clarity of my movements also improves.

Creating the Potion routine (Devising) - 05/10/15

The Potion Routine:

In todays Jazz lesson, we created a brand new routine. This routine is going be the tenth number in the show. In this routine, you will see Luke and the children getting ingredients and creating the potion to kill the witches. In the previous lesson (01/10/15) my group and I created our piece for the routine. Julia also created a motif which was going to go in the routine. In that lesson, we had no music, so we just created a routine which we thought would fit the theme of the music.

In todays lesson, we still did not have any music, however Julia and Josie had thought about some ideas they wanted us to do. They told us to get into a diagonal line in any order front downstage left to upstage right. We were then placed in pairs and told to create two separate counts of eight with our partner. In these counts of eight we were told to include movements as if we were passing an ingredient down the line to Luke so he could throw it into the cauldron. My first partner was Nina. We created two separate counts of eight. We worked successful as we included both of our ideas. Our routine did not include any lifts or tricks as we wanted it to be simple, yet effective. 

After we showed our routine to Julia and Josie, we were told to work with the person the other side of us. My second partner was Camay. We were told to do the exact same as we did with our original partner; except instead of doing two counts of eight, we were to do one count of eight and one count of four. I also work effectively with Camay, however sometimes she did not input all of her ideas and occasionally we had differing opinions on what we should do. In the count of eight we included one lift, yet in the count of four we included no lifts, and just purely dance moves. We then showed it to our teachers. They liked all of ours because they were different, yet similar (because of the characters we were portraying). Julia and Josie then told us to combine the two pair routines together so they flowed from one pair to the other. We did this and it also looked effective.

After this, we were told we had two counts of eight to move from one spot in the line to another. I moved from upstage right all the way to downstage left within the two counts, however some others only moved a couple of places down. We were then told to work with the person next to us. My new partner was Rhiana. We were told to create another two counts of eight which had the same meaning behind it, however the movement had to be different. Originally, we couldn't think of anything unique or different, but then we decided to combine parts of our other pairs. We included a lift, which looked really effective. We also included movements from both of our pairs which flowed really well. We showed it to our teachers and they were happy with it. Our final task was to work with the person the other side of us. This time, my partner was Dylan. We also had to do one count of eight and one count of four. Just like Rhiana and I's pair, we originally could not come up with anything. However, Dylan came up with a couple of ideas and they looked really good. We then showed our pair to Julia and Josie and they were happy with it. As a class, we then ran through the whole routine from our first pair, all the way to our last and it looked really good.

Overall, this was a really good experience. I enjoyed creating my own choreography and having my own input into the show. I also enjoyed working with people that I may not usually work with or have never worked with before. 

Strengths and Weaknesses (Jazz Technique) - 05/10/15

Strengths and Weaknesses:

In todays lesson, we had both Julia and Josie taking us for Jazz. Currently, we have been working on a new routine which is Jazz based. Because of this we have not been doing any Contemporary so consequently I can not feedback on my Contemporary Strengths and Weaknesses. However, when I do do a class, I will do a blog post about it. In this class I found that some of my strengths from previous weeks have come back and so have some of my weaknesses. In this blog post, I will discuss each of my main strengths and weaknesses and what I will need to do to improve them.

Strengths:

• The first strength which I know has improved since my previous Jazz lesson is my performance of the routines. This is because I have started to use more facial expressions while dancing. As well as this, I have started to perform the routines as if I am on stage or in front of an audience. This means that my confidence has also improved and so I have become more vocal with my ideas and with my movements. To continue to have this as one of my strengths, I will continue to improve my confidence and also continue to perform during rehearsals. 
• My second strength which has varied from being a weakness to strength over the past couple of weeks is my stamina. I believe this is a strength now as I am able to dance for a longer period of time without getting out of breath or too tired to continue. I have also found that my movements have become more sharp and energetic, where as occasionally they used to become sloppy and messy after a while. This means that my strength has also slightly improved. To continue to have this as one of my strengths, I will do exercises (such as running) which will continue to improve my stamina and my strength.

Weaknesses:

• My first weakness which has always been one of my weaknesses in dance is my flexibility. This is because in some of the routines we have to do movements which involve flexibility in your back or in your hips. These are two areas of which I find are not flexible enough. To improve this I will stretch on an everyday bases and continue to do exercises (such as the splits) to make myself more flexible. 
• My other weakness, which I have only just noticed in my Jazz technique is my balance. This is because I have found that when doing things such as releve's, I have struggled to keep my balance. I know this because my ankles will shake and I will find it difficult to stay up. Also, in one of the routines, I have to balance on one arm for a couple of seconds. I find it a struggle to get up and stay up on my arm. This means that not only do I have to improve my balance, but also my strength. To improve this, I will build up my strength by doing exercises to improve it. Also, to improve my balance I will practice balancing on one foot and in releve for as long as possible. I will continue to do this until I see an improvement.

Second Production Meeting Overview (PPP) - 01/10/15

Noxious Dance Company presents The Witches...

At the beginning of todays lesson, we had another Production meeting. The first thing we did was get into our Production group - mine being Marketing, Publicity and Fundraising. On Mondays lesson (28/09/15) Julia told our group to think about a name for our show and dance company and come in with a list of them this lesson. We all had a list of the names we liked. On the Dance Company list we all had the name Poison Dance Company. We all liked this name as it didn't give away what the show was about, but was still obvious at the same time. None of us had any really good names for the show, so we had to brainstorm. We came up with a few, except one stood out which we all agreed was unique. This was Sweet Dreams. This is because it is completely the opposite to what the show is actually about, yet it fits the theme of part of the show. We also spoke about the logo. We did not talk about what we wanted on it, however Malachy said that he was getting his dad to create some ideas for us. We then spoke a little bit about Fundraising, but not much. We planned a Cake sale for Monday, however after speaking later on in the meeting, there was a group decision for it not to be done then.

After this, the whole class came and sat in a massive circle. We went round each Production group and heard their ideas. The first group was ours. We said our company name and everyone liked it. However, Julia said she wanted something different and unique. We came up with a few unusual ones, but after researching the word Poison, a word stood out. We all really liked it, so Julia wrote it down. We then said the Show name. Not many people liked it as they didn't understand it. A few names went back and forth in the circle, but nothing really stood out. Julia then said she would speak to Josie and they would make the final decision and tell us at the end of the lesson.

The next group was costume. They spoke about their ideas for what the costumes should look like. Some of the ideas I liked and some of them I found a little unusual. Next we went to the Front of House. Poppy told us about the Hoodies and T-shirts. She asked us all what colours we wanted and what we wanted on the jumpers. A few colours and choices of things we wanted on it was said, but nothing was finalised. We then went to rehearsal directors who spoke about how our last rehearsal went. Both rehearsals were not that good so we were all told by Julia that they needed to improve significantly if we wanted the show to be a success. Then we went to the Assistant Choreographers who told us about their routine and what was involved in it. Finally, we went to props. They spoke about how we would need things like chairs for The Conference dance, goggles for the making of the potion and gloves for the witches to wear.

At the end of todays lesson, Julia and Josie told us their decision of the name of our show. They said the name of our Dance Company was going to be Noxious Dance Company. They then told us that after lots of discussions, they came to the decision that the show would be called The Witches. I am happy with both of these. This is because Noxious is an unusual name, yet means the same thing as Poison. Also, I like the fact that we kept the name of the show the same as the film/book. This is because its easier for people to identify what our show will be about and also it sounds good.

Strengths and Weaknesses (Contemporary Technique) - 01/10/15

Strengths and Weaknesses:

In my Contemporary class today, we had our two teachers, Julia and Josie. In this lesson we focused on 'The Conference Dance'. The Conference dance is a Jazz/Urban routine. Because of this, I did not do much Contemporary at all, other then the dream routine. So in this blog post, I will only talk about two strengths and two weaknesses from todays Contemporary lesson.

Strengths:

My two main strengths are the same as Mondays lesson. This is because my Contemporary technique has not changed over the last couple of days. I will still talk about them in depth now, however most of the points I make will be the same as Mondays lesson.

• My first main strength I have achieved in Contemporary is my observational skill. I know this because during my routines, I will know where props are (for example, a chair), where the set may be and also where other people are compared to me. This is a strength as I can confidently do the routine without worrying about whether I will knock into someone or something. This means that over time my formation will be correct and my performance skills will improve and so will my confidence. To continue to have this as a strength I will continue to listen to the teachers and my peers so I know what and who is going to be where. 
• The second and final strength I have found over the past couple of Contemporary lessons is my spacing. This is because I am able to get to my place in time. Also, I am able to keep in my formation during traveling sequences and when changing to other formations. This is one of my strengths as I can now do my moves confidently without worrying about my spacing. To make sure my spacing is part of my strengths, I need to continue to stay in my correct place and focus on it.

Weaknesses:

Both of the weaknesses I will talk about have been mentioned in previous blog posts. However, I do not find this an issue as it takes more then a couple of lessons to see a big improvement. 

• My first weakness I started to notice again this lesson is my flexibility. This is because occasionally I found that some moves were more challenging as I needed to use flexibility. On my right leg, I do not find this an issue as I feel I am quite flexible in my right leg. However, my leg is significantly less flexible. Also, I find it difficult to straighten my left leg fully, which means some moves which need a straight leg, I find more difficult. To improve this, I will do stretches and more exercises which will improve my flexibility.
• The other weakness which I have found again is my placement of my arms. This is because I find that occasionally they are not in the right place, so sometimes they look awkward. I did not really notice this myself, however during my parents evening a couple of weeks ago, Julia told me that occasionally I look awkward because of it. Because of this comment, I have been trying hard to make my arm alignment correct. I will focus on this and practice in the mirror to improve this. 

Creating a new Jazz routine and Strengths and Weaknesses (Devising/Jazz Technique) - 01/10/15

Creating a new routine:

In todays Jazz lesson, we were taught a short motif. This short motif is going to be in the part of the show where Luke creates a poison which will be put in the Witches soup. After we had learnt it, we were then asked to get into groups of five and create a short routine which used parts of the motif we had learnt. It was to include movements which would be used if we were making a real potion. Some examples of these were: Mixing, Sniffing, Pouring, Grabbing and Laughing. Our dance teacher had not selected a piece of music, so we had no set limit of how long our routine needed to be. She gave us a demonstration with a couple of other girls in our class (one of which was in my group) of what we could do in our routines. This was really helpful as I then thought of ideas we could add into our routine.

In my group was: Indea, Nina, Camay, Poppy and myself. At first we could hardly think of anything which would make our routine interesting or different, but after a while we came up with a lot of ideas. In our routine, we included a couple of lifts, levels and some of the actions which we were told to include. Once we had created seventeen counts of eight, Julia came over and watched our routine. She said she liked our movement and concept, however she wanted us to create more choreography. For example, in one part of our dance, we passed ingredients down the line to Indea and she throws it into the potion. Julia told us to include more choreography when passing it down the line to make it look more interested and like a dance. Also, at another point of our motif, we run away from the potion because it smells weird. Julia told us instead of running, we should use levels (for example, sliding on the floor, leaps, lifts etc).
We then did took the improvements on board and changed our motif. Overall, it looked really good and I liked it. We performed it to the class later on in the lesson, and they liked it. Although we did not do lots of tricks like flips in our routine, our motif looked just as good. This is because we worked as a team and showed off each persons individual style, unlike some groups where they only focused on one persons chosen style. Also, we told a story through our movements. Overall, I thought everyones looked really good, however I personally liked ours most.

I enjoyed this task as it meant that we could work in a group to create a piece for part of our show. It also meant that we could include our own ideas and choose our own style of dance (either Urban or Jazz) rather then having to stick to one specific style of dance.


Strengths and Weaknesses:

During todays Jazz lesson, we did not focus much on technique in Jazz. Instead, we mainly focused on choreographing the routine. Because of this I do not have many strengths and weaknesses to talk about. Instead of talking about a lot in very little detail, I will talk about one main strength and one main weakness from todays lesson.

Strength:

• The main strength which I noticed in todays lesson which I've never noticed in Jazz before is my performance skill. This is because I used facial expressions to tell the story and the character I was playing. I also performed the routine like I would if I was on stage. This is a strength of todays lesson as it meant that the routine was more believable. Because of this, it meant that my confidence also improved. I am very happy that these two things have become part of my strengths. This is because at the beginning of year 10 I didn't feel confident enough to perform in front of the class with facial expressions, however now I feel confident enough to do so. To continue to have this as a strength, I will improve my confidence skills and practicing performing during rehearsals.

Weakness:

• The one main weakness which I found during this class was my choreographic skills. This is because I found that I tended to repeat the same or similar moves more then once in a routine. This is an issue as I need to incorporate new and different moves instead of the ones I already know. I also need to experiment more with things such as levels and pair work (e.g. lifts etc). To improve this, I will create more routines. This will enhance my choreographic skills, broaden my dance movement/vocabulary and overall make me a better dancer/choreographer. Also, I can also work with other people/go to more classes to learn new moves which I can then incorporate into my routines. 

Strengths and Weaknesses (Contemporary Technique) - 28/09/15

Strengths and Weaknesses in Contemporary:

In todays Contemporary lesson, we had both Julia and Josie. In this this lesson we were working on the new piece which we started choreographing with Josie last lesson. This piece is mainly Jazz based, but some elements of it could be classed as Contemporary. Because of this I do not have many strengths and weaknesses for this lesson, however I will talk about a couple of them. Some of them also may be the same as the previous Contemporary posts as most of my Contemporary technique strengths and weaknesses have not changed. In this blog post, I will talk about a few of my strengths and weaknesses I have noticed during my Contemporary/Jazz lessons. 

Strengths:

• The first strength I have continued to notice each Contemporary lesson is my spacing. This is because I am able to get to my place in time throughout all my Contemporary pieces. Also, I am able to keep in my specific place while doing things such as travelling sequences . This is a strength as I can confidently do the movements without worrying about where I am. To continue to have this as a strength, I will focus on it and continue to stay in my correct place.
• A new strength I have noticed in todays lesson is my observation skills. This is because I know where other people are in relation to me. This means I will not hit them or run into other people. Also, I know where the centre of the stage would be. This is good as I then can keep my formations easily. As well as both of these, I know some other peoples counts or movement so if they need help, I can assist.  To continue to keep this as one of my strengths, I will continue to listen to what my teachers tell me and keep up to date with where not only myself, but others are during routines.

Weaknesses:

• The first and only main weakness I noticed in todays lesson was my placement. This is because sometimes my arms were not be where they needed to be (For example, in a straight line). Also, I noticed that sometimes my knees may not be over my toes when doing things such as pliés. To improve this, I will continuously focus on it. I will do this by practicing in front of a mirror to see where I am going wrong and where I should be in relation to where I currently am.