Tech Rehearsals

Yesterday I arrived at college at 10:15, in order to help Chris to come up with an alternative idea for his Variety Show act. I suggested an alternative, slightly more comedic Magician's song called 'You're Playing With The Big Boys Now' from The Prince of Egypt. Then Chris suggested that we do a 'The Cheese Shop' Monty Python sketch. I watched the video in order to study the character that I would have to portray. I read the script over and over again and worked on developing the character. Although I thought that I would be able to learn the whole script, after going through it all night and not even being able to successfully recall the first page, I realised that I would not be able to learn the lines by Thursday. I have never had to learn a script in such a small amount of time before and I know that I find it very difficult to learn dance routines, scripts and lyrics. I should have realised that I would not be able to learn the script in time much earlier.   

Our lesson began with a rehearsal of 'The Nicest Kids in Town'. I put all of my energy into it and I remembered to use the necessary technique (e.g. I engaged my core muscles, used pointed feet and extended where necessary). However, the second time we ran through it, I made a mistake. I got one of the moves confused with another. This happened to me during panto, when I had practised the dance so much, that I kept making silly mistakes. On the other hand, I never made a mistake during any of the actual performances. So, I must remember this in future rehearsals and I should concentrate on each move individually.

Afterwards we ran through 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'. I had practised it earlier, by helping others with the choreography. I was given feedback and was told that a combination of knowing what I was doing and smiling made it seem like I was really performing to the audience. I remembered the moves and remembered to use the necessary technique. I also put all my energy into it, which made me out of breath. I need to put this amount of energy into the dance, but I must remember to keep hydrated. I will also engage in a 15 minute exercise routine every night before the show in order to improve my fitness.

Today's lesson began with a vocal warm up. We did breathing exercises and worked on improving our breath capacity. I was able to inhale for 4 seconds and exhale for 32 without going staccato and I still had some breath left in me. My record is 70, so I will aim to improve on this in my free time. 

Afterwards the technical rehearsals began. First, we went through 'When I Grow Up'. I definitely know the correct choreography now, but I still need to work on my timing. The formation has been changed, so I need to remember these changes when I rehearse. Then we went through 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'. A lot went wrong. Specifically our formation was wrong and everyone has different timings for the dance moves. I don't help the formation issue, because I travel too much and I tend to end up in front of some people in my line and in line with others. Then we went through 'The Nicest Kids In Town'. I had helped people to learn this dance earlier, which helped me to remember it as well. I remembered to engage my core muscles and focused on my posture. 

The girls in my group went through 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' together. We were in the dance studio, so i notices my 'foot problem' again. I always dance on the balls of my feet, which is necessary a lot of the time, but for this particular dance style it hinders my performance and my feet and legs are always awkwardly placed. I need to break this habit quickly, so that I can perform this dance the best I can. For future dances, I might have to invest in a full length mirror so that I'm not just concentrate on my upper body and thighs. We tried to work on our formation, timing and the moves that people were struggling with. I tried to help the best I could by showing people what I believed the original choreography was. Though some of it was adapted to help people overcome some of the difficulties they faced in the dance. Then we went through it with the boys.

During a break, I copied the running order onto a few sheets of paper, so that I could memorize the names of the acts and the people performing them. Although this will not be exactly the words that I will say on Saturday, it will give me an idea of basics and I will be able to memorise the running order.

Then we ran the whole show again. 'When I Grow Up' went okay for me, but I forgot when to begin the short dance. I remembered the rest of it but, I need to remember to adopt better dance technique during this number (e.g. I need to focus on extending and my posture). 'Supercalifragilisticexpialudocious' went better than it did earlier but the formation issue remained (which is once again a lot to do with my travelling, so I need to take smaller steps and strides). Also everyone is doing the 'step over your leg move' at different times still. I know I start that bit of right, but then I get confused with the timing and I also travel forward too much. 'The Nicest Kids In Town' went alright for me. I also felt less out of breath than I did Yesterday, probably due to my evening exercise routine. So I will continue to do this every evening, until the shows begin.

Here is an example of poor legwork. I could improve om this by extending the movement down to my toes and by adopting a better posture.