Emotional Connection To Songs

During today's dance lesson, we worked on improving our contractions. Contractions begin from the pelvis and travel up the spine, lengthening the space between each vertebra, up to the neck and head, which remain in line with the spine. Each contraction is accompanied with an exhalation of breath. Then we practised lifts and counterbalancing (one or more dancers combing their weight in stillness or in motion to achieve a movement or design that is interdependent) in pairs. My partner and I managed to execute our lifts successfully and to incorporated transitions (the way in which you move in and out of a movements, phrases or sections of the dance). Afterwards we had to get into groups of two or three, in which we had to choreograph short routines of eight counts. The routine was to be part of the introduction to 'When I Grow Up' and so it had to be childlike. I was in a group of two. Our first attempt at choreographing for the dance needed to be a lot more child-like, so we adapted it by swapping the splits with a backwards roley-poly and by swinging our arms etc.

During our singing lesson we were asked to listen to a few emotionally charged songs and then we had to pick a song that we felt most connected to. I couldn't pick the song that I felt most emotionally connected with because I knew that I wouldn't be able to perform it. I chose 'As Long As Your Mine' from Wicked, as it is more to do with the situation I was in during time that I first heard it, rather than the actual lyrics. When I was practising singing it alone, I sang it exactly how I wanted it to be sang. However when performing to the class I purposely thought of the sad situation and I let my emotions and nerves get the better of me and I could not perform it all the way through without getting emotional and singing flat. I need to remember to keep control of my emotions and nerves when performing such songs. I also need to make sure that I don't always 'look out' when singing, but instead I need to make eye contact with the audience so that they don't loose connection. This is a bad habit I've picked up from years of performing in children's plays when your told to 'look up and not at the audience'. I need to break out of this habit, so that the audience doesn't loose interest. Therefore, for my next performance (singing, acting or dancing), I am setting myself the target of making sure that I look at the audience.

This image shows that I remembered to look at the audience and that I demonstrated a happy emotional connection to the song.

Being Put On The Spot

Today, during our dance lesson, we participated in ,corner work,, in which we had to spin from one side of the room to the other. I remembered to spot and I remembered the short routine, which is a small improvement from the last time we did 'corner work'. We had to get into groups of 6 and perform 3 balancing acts, in which 2 of us were not allowed to touch the ground in each balancing act. We also had to make transitions from one lift to another by dancing, spinning, jumping, etc. into the next position . I struggled to get into the second balance, in which I was not allowed to touch the floor. I also thought my first transition could have been a lot sharper, but most of my transitions were quite smooth and I remembered to keep my body tense. Here is a link to a video recording of the exercises:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/574232582612318/666201870082055/?notif_t=group_activity

Then we had to make up our own choreography for a dance routine of 8 counts, inspired by a show that we had recently seen. I chose West Side Story- as demonstrated by the clicking that I added to my routine. I repeated my dance moves over and over again, so that I would remember them. Afterwards, we had to get into groups and learn eachothers' routines so that we could merge them together. From watching the above video, I am quite pleased with my choreography, as choreographing is not something I have had a lot of practise doing. We then had to perform this merged routine to the rest of the class. I forgot the moves at times, went out of time and I felt that I could have put a lot more energy into it.

Later we had to listen to 3 tracks and identify the instruments. Each time, I could only identify the drums, which means that I need to improve on my instrument knowledge. We then had to choose a chorus or verse, from either the song 'Royals' by Lorde or 'Crazy In Love' by Beyonce and add our own creative twist to it. I chose to sing the chorus of 'Crazy In Love' as I am more familiar with the song. When I had to perform, I calmed my nerves by doing quiet breathing exercises and not stressing about it too much. However, I was still really nervous, which affected my vocals. I was out of tune, sang it much to quickly and forgot to breathe . I also think that I could of been more creative with putting my own twist on the song. I have found that, at times, my nerves do not affect me at all when I have to sing solo. These are usually the times when I have practised singing in front of people a lot. Therefore, I am setting myself the task of singing in front of other people more often, in order to help to build my confidence when singing.