unit 8 logs

proposal

                                     

Level 3 Extended Diploma – Performance and Production Arts Assignment Brief:

Assignment Title	Westside Remix proposal
Unit No & Title	Unit 8: Collaborative Performance Project
Level & Credit Value	Level 3 / 24 Credits
Assignment Leader	Shelley Wilson
Assignment Verifier
Start Date	27/03/17; Proposal hand in Weds 19th April
Assessment Date	Performance- wk Beginning 29th May/ 5th June Final Blog/Evaluation  wk beginning 12/06/17
Assessment Grade	DISTINCTION	MERIT	PASS	REFERRAL	FAIL

 

Project Proposal

 

Learner Name	UAL Reg. ID	Centre name & Number
Christine Gallacher		Westminster Kingsway College 11072

 

Project proposal title	Main Area of Activity/s e.g. Performance/ Direction/choreography/ acting
Prologue and the jet song	Performance/choreography

 

Tutor / Assessor Name	Signature	Date
Shelley Wilson

Section 1 – Rationale (approx. 100 words)

This section provides an opportunity to reflect on, review and summarise your progress and achievements through the first seven units. It also offers a chance for you to take stock of the knowledge, skills and understanding you have acquired, what you know now, compared with what you knew and could do before you started the course, and how this has influenced your choice of pathway and your project proposal.

At the beginning of the course I had the basic technical skills such as turn out and a standard flexibility range. During the first two terms I noticed both these elements improved due to more practice and I also noticed that my core had got stronger. My weakness during the first two terms was my performance quality and my choreographic skills. Now, compared to the first two terms I have a wider range of flexibility and a much stronger core. I have also worked on relaxing my body and using my body weight more efficiently to create different dynamics. My choreographic skills have improved but I would still like to expand on them as it’s something I enjoy .So for Westside story I would like to choreograph a section as I would like to even further expand my choreographic and performance skills by creating a movement based piece. I will also be performing in my own piece and any other pieces I am asked to perform in.

 

Section 2 – Project concept (approx. 200 words)

This section provides an opportunity for you to clearly explain the concept and aims of your project. This should include what you anticipate producing, the research and ideas that will support its development and the levels and types of resources that you will need to complete and present your project realisation within the allocated timescale. You should include the names of anyone you will be collaborating with and/or those who will perform in your piece.

 

Ideas for Westside story is I’m going to re-create the prologue section and the Jet song and add a modern twist to it. For example change the music and change the clicking at the beginning to using different items which make clicking sounds such as a lighter, car keys, phones etc. the length of the piece is going to be between 3-5 minutes, and  the number of people performing in it is 6 therefore 3 people from each ‘gang’. The style of the piece is going to be a street/jazz/contemporary type piece. The piece is going to be set in a street and to create this on stage we could have a background of a street wall with the two gang’s names written in graffiti to give it a modern feel. We haven’t yet decided our music but want an instrumental piece of music to a modern song. Our dance will consist of movement that shows intimidation as during the film version intimidation was definitely shown by showing that people feared the gangs. Also during the film the two gangs play trick’s on each other so through dance movement I would also like to include that to show a sense of rivalry. I am collaborating with Gina we will organise our rehearsal and work by filming each week when we create more choreography and when we have enough to start teaching what we have created to those who are in the piece, also by completing weekly logs will ensure I do not fall behind with my work and I have a weekly update of the progress that is made. The main source of research ill use is video clips of the Jet song and Prologue from the film and stage version as this will give me inspiration when trying to modernise dance moves.

 

 

 

 

Section 3 -­ Evaluation (approx. 50 words)

This section provides an opportunity for you to explain how you will reflect on and self-­ evaluate your work, as both an on-going activity and at the conclusion of the project.

You should describe how you intend to record your decision-­making and how you will document developments as the project progresses. This evaluation should reference your stated aims and be reflective and analytical rather than a description of actions completed.

Each week I’m going to log my progress by filming what I’ve created or taking a picture of any notes that I’ve made. I can then put them on my blog and then write about it so each week I can log my progress and therefore keep on top of my work. I decided to film since it makes it easier to explain what I’ve done and also each week if I forget what I created I can refer back to the video also when watching each video back I can then decide what works and what doesn’t. This also means when I get feedback from the class I can watch the videos and reflect on what needs improving, also when writing my evaluation I have video evidence I can write about.  

jazz/musical theatre 

In musical theatre we are working on a piece from Westside story, were creating a piece to the song ‘cool’ which is when the jets have just killed a couple members from the sharks and the leader of the jets has also been killed many of the jets starts to panic however the second leader of the gang takes control and tells the others to keep cool. So in the musical theatre class we create a dance with the same intention of panicking and calming down. We create very sharp movements and very quick movement which hit every beat of the music which indicates a heartbeat there I also a lot contracting and relaxing to show how we calm down.
we also are performing 'America' which is a dance about how some of the members from the gang want to go back to their own country and others from the same gang disagree and say America is much better and there are more opportunity's and facilities fro them in America, the style of dance is jazz and include a lot of Spanish type movement to it.   


dream ballet
This scene is not apart of the stage version however in the film version the song somewhere is sung when Maria is singing about how she wants to get away from all the violence and how she wants to find somewhere where she can finally be happy . The piece that we danced was a ballet, contemporary piece of music that was in the background of the same song being sung.

   

Week 1 24/04/17

The brief is to re-create a scene from west side story I chose to recreate the prologue scene which links in to the jet song however I wanted to modernize it by creating new choreography and using different music and also by the gangs having different intentions. Originally the scene I chose was the rumble scene because I liked the idea of rivalry however after the prologue scene was suggested to me and so I decided to recreate that scene as it still has the same intent going on and I preferred the idea of having to introduce the two gangs. My role in this is to choreograph the scene as I wanted to create new and more modernized choreography as this is something I enjoy and would like to pursue in the future however I will also be performing as this is also something I very much enjoy. To help me I will need to do some research on types of gangs create character profiles and also read articles about gang’s crimes nowadays. A source I have already used is watching the film version of west side story and I have also watched the stage version of the scene I will be re-creating so I can see the differences between the two. My research will help me because it will give me a better insight in modern day gangs and therefore make my piece more effective and also give me inspiration for new movement ideas. For the scene because were introducing the two gangs for the prologue we will have 6 people on stage so 3 in each gang and then for the jet song the whole class will be involved in order to show the audience they are a gang. Practical skills needed for this piece is dancing as there is no singing or acting roles. I will also be performing in other pieces such as the dance at the gym scene and ending scene. This week we made decisions or music pieces we will use and roughly the structure of the piece and how many people. Next week the plan is to start choreographing the prologue.
week 1 videos

  

These videos were from the first week when choreographing the prologue where me and my partner  decided that the sharks and the jets would have different choreography in order to show that they are different gangs, we wanted to give off the impression of rivalry because in the film version both gangs play tricks on each other and tease each other however still want moments of unison to show that they are in fact the same , we have tried to replicate this through dance and almost made it in to a dance off. In the two videos I demonstrate the sharks choreography that I was experimenting with, after the jets have danced and tried to scare us off, I included girly movements as the gang is made up of girls and I made them simple as when doing it as a group it will look strong and put together which replicated the sharks style I also included splits since it’s a dance off it shows how the sharks are trying to show off their best moves.

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week 2 videos





This week me and my partner started creating choreography for our second song choice for the jet song, this dance is supposed to show the gang and how tight and close they are , we haven't created a lot of choreography so far but the structure of the routine is  to make "clapping" our gang sign as in the film  "clicking" is used throughout to symbolise the gang the audience knows when they hear clicking that it links with the gangs, we decided to use clapping as this fits with the music well and comes across as summoning each other which I think convey the feeling of being a gang. This week we also finished the prologue by adding in moments of unison which shows that the gangs have similar traits and are not that different from each other.

 



Week 2 30/04/17

 

This week we added unison elements of choreography to the piece in order to show the gangs similarities in the fact that they both fight over territory and popularity. Me and my partner adapted our movements to the theme of the dance that it is a fight/dance off for example we done a sequence of travelling movements from the corner that travel towards each other  to try and show intimidation . This helps link to the brief because we have modernised the prologue in our own way by straight away showing that the two gangs are against each other through a dance off which in the film is shown by the two gangs playing tricks on each other, we have also shown unison movements to show that the gangs can get along which is shown at the end of the film version. The amount of people in our piece has not changed there are still 6 people in the prologue including me and my partner meaning 3 people from each gang, and for the jet song everyone will be a part of it however maybe not everyone will be on stage at the same time. My role has not changed I still am choreography and performer in the piece.

 

 In terms of research I completed a newspaper article questions about gangs in America and what they got up to during their free time which helped with the choreographing of the routine because it gave me more knowledge on the mannerism of teenage gangs and how they act which helps with movement choices so by adding in impressive moves such as splits and kick and very strong definite movements such as fists and strong arms show confidence in which both gangs have.to help with choreography I’m going to look into dance groups which play roles of gangs I know the style krump represents a lot of gang expression. When choreographing me and my partner ensure that we film any movement ideas I also ensure what is set everyone is able to perform the movement and I try to visualise what would look good on stage as a group piece and what might look better just as a solo and if that’s the case then I wouldn’t suggest using those movements, movements that look better as a solo are movement that would be hard to teach a group since everyone would has to be in time with each other in order to look effective. Also by discussing with my partner our aims of the each week and the following give us a guideline on whereabouts we are when structuring our piece. My extra role iv have taken on is warming up the class so no one will injure themselves so an effective warm is completed before choreographing our piece this includes running on the spot, star jumps to increase blood flow and stretching. I feel by planning our session works well for both of us and now we need to teach others what we have done. skills that we use is stamina as the dance is quite full on, strength as our movements need to look strong to give off the right impression, also basic ballet technique is used for example stretching our legs and pointing our toes where necessary. I am also performing in others performances so ensuring I remember their choreography is important.

   

week 3 videos

week 3

Update I had realised that the choreography we created in week 2 did not fit to the music that well and would be hard to teach the counts to other people so we had to change the unison parts we decided it was best to carry on the dance off and the travelling from the corner just change the choreography in the middle to something that fit with the music better, I also had to teach my partner the choreography for the jet song as the choreography we created in week 2 I could not remember and during the lesson my partner was not present at all times throughout the lesson and I could not wait for her and therefore had to create new choreography , I kept the clapping as this an important part of the dance and included handshakes and greeting each other which conveys to the audience that we are a gang. I kept the choreography strong by using fists and a lot of arms movements as I feel this gives off the emotion of being strong I also decided that certain movements would be done but slightly changed for example when we are in a deep plié I feel this could look creative when done in different directions because it shows as a gang we all have individuality which makes them even stronger as a group of individuals this is also done when we’re clapping using different levels and different positions I feel could look effective.

 

Week 3 09/05/17   

My additional role that I have taken on is warming everyone up before they start their work this is important because it reduces the chance of injury if everyone’s bodies are warmed up and stretched it means no one will pull a muscle due to being cold and unprepared. The targets we set for this week was achieved however during one of the sessions we had planned to carry on the jet song but my partner kept wondering off the whole time during the studio and therefore I had to choreograph the jet song myself which resulted in the next session having to teach my partner what I had done and put us slightly behind our planned intentions if this week had been more successful we would have been on schedule however this meant on Friday we had a lot to do , going forward we are going finish the jet song and then decide on who will be on stage for what section. A decision I made was to re choreograph the unison section of the jet song because the original choreography did not fit to the music and therefore created different movements. I have created a character profile which helps choreograph movement as it gives me a better understanding on who the gangs are. The skills being used have not changed stamina strength and basic ballet and contemporary technique is being used to make the piece look effective. I also keep watching the film version of the jet song to help with movement ideas. 

 

week 4 16/05/17

In terms of content I feel that our piece relates to the piece and clearly show two gangs rivalry straight away we have included moves such as a deep plié which I think represents a gang as it is a move which is very grounded also by including a dance off it communicates to the audience the division between the two sides. The aim for the prologue was always to introduce the two gangs and let both sides show themselves off which correlates with the film and stage version and for the jet song the aim was to impact the audience on how strong of a gang the jets are. To improve aspects such as impact and actions I feel as though some movements need to be made stronger for example when both gangs walk on at the beginning it’s very simplistic and I feel as though both gangs need to make more of a statement as it’s the first thing the audience which will effectively determine their initial thoughts on the piece.

As I am performing in other people’s pieces as well as my own I have to ensure that I remember choreography that is given to me and I perfect it so the right atmosphere is created for example, if I dancing a gang part my movements need to be strong and clean in order to covey to the audience that I am part of a gang this is also created by using facial expressions and body language as well as dance technique because if that is correct it will too express how prestige the gang is. I also have to ensure that during perhaps an acting piece that I am a part of that I stay committed to the role I play so even though I do not have any lines to say I need to stay in character the whole time otherwise it will draw focus off the main parts I can do this by pretending that the situation I am in is real and reacting to everything in the way I think my character would react. Also for my own piece I have considered that when teaching choreography I need to demonstrate exactly how I want the dance to be performed because this will then communicate to the other dances what the dance needs to look like and will be easier to learn and teach. What I need to do now is teach more choreography and keep going over what I have already taught to see what needs working on, I also would like to change the spacing of the prologue as at the moment not a lot of the space is being used and everything just seems very static which is the complete opposite to the stage version, which used loads of space and gave a different dynamic into the piece which I too would also like to incorporate.

Currently my work has met the expectations of the brief and I am working on improving and developing ideas. I plan on doing this by manipulating dance moves as a problem that has occurred is amongst everyone’s piece certain dance moves are constantly being used I am going to try and avoid this by thinking of gang mannerisms and making them into a dance move so it tells more of a story rather than just dancing to music and having no sense of meaning behind it. What’s going well at the moment is choreography is being taught and I can see the ending of our piece is coming near which means we will have plenty of time to improve and critique our own piece. Priority’s now in terms of rehearsal is during free time and self-directed learning is to create choreography that will finish the piece and during class time is to try and teach people when they are free and to also stage it so I can see what works and what potential problems there may be.

The stage design we have planned is for the prologue to have a PowerPoint backdrop of graphited brick wall with the names jets and sharks on it, this is purely so the audience knows who the gangs are, the purpose behind the graphited wall is that vandalism is associated with gangs and teenagers as it is seen as a rebellious thing to do. Also because of this I and my partner have decided that the lighting should be quite neutral and just have white light and side lights so the stage is still lit but doesn’t take the focus off the dancing and the backdrop. The aims for the next few sessions is to finish the dance completely and finish teaching it so we can start cleaning it.       

week 5 22/05/17

This week’s rehearsals were designed to make sure people were leaning other pieces they are in and also cleaning any choreography they have already learnt. This meant that I had to teach the class the choreography for the jet song that included everybody I taught what was needed up until the part where some people go off and then the other people are left on stage to do some floor work then I will bring everyone back onto the stage to do a little bit of unison work and then finish the piece so it means we all started together and we all finish together as we are part of a gang. This week we have also gone over the “rumble” scene, “the ending” “dance at the gym” and the “I’m scared” scene this was a case of learning more choreography in the dance at the gym scene and arranging where people stand in the acting scenes and just cleaning choreography in the rumble scene and the ending. I think my main priority at the moment is finishing the jet song where everyone comes back on stage and finishing the prologue also getting the music cut to where I need it.

My extra role I have taken on is leading the warm up this is because everyone’s pieces require elements of movement and therefore if your muscles are not warm there is a high risk of injury. When warming the class up I start my increasing the heart rate to get the blood flowing round the body quicker and therefore warming the body up I then move on specific areas of the body and work in the system of warming up a part of the body and then stretching it for example I start from the head and work my way down to the toes. So I’ll start with semi circles with the head and looking from side to side and then to stretch I will slowly rest my hand on my head with my head tilted to one side and then gently apply pressure to stretch the neck out.

My targets to move on with the dance is taking in the feedback from the previous week is to rethink some choreography as between pieces some moves are very similar and also for the prologue definitely add more travel  and change the spacing because at the moment everything is all facing the front and not really moving anywhere. Also I’m going to add more elements of gang movements for example movements that are perhaps more grounded and have a more fight element to them as some
feedback that was given was that movements like that are effective and work well with the theme of the dance. Feedback that I got from my peers and my tutor was change up the spacing in the prologue and the jet the song, to finish the choreography so I can start cleaning and make any adaptations and also consider changing some moves as they have been used before. So taking in the feedback I will definitely change elements of the dance to improve it and create the desired effect.

When teaching the cast members the choreography I feel what works well is to teach maybe 2 8s of counts keep going over it and then try it with the music from there answer any question or go other any issues people may have try it again with the music so everyone can apply the corrections then once everyone is happy with that I will then teach more with the same system applied. This work well because it allows everyone to remember the piece easily and for me it means I have a chance to listen to any problems the cast may have and to clarify movements that people may initially struggle with. However a problem with this system is that people who have picked up the choreography quickly may get bored when I’m going over it with those who need help and also this technique can be time consuming however in this case I feel the positives outweigh the negatives as I noticed when helping some people the others who had picked it up where perfecting their technique rather than getting bored and although its time consuming it means people can remember it easily so a few days later when we come back to it I will not need to re teach it as everyone should know it. I feel from a teaching point of view to improve my technique I need to know each and every count and clarify with the cast some details for example how many times we repeat a movement what leg everyone should have in front what arm might go first as small details like that will make the piece look stronger and cleaner and therefore effectively create a stronger looking gang.

Sources that I have used to help with my piece is to keep watching the stage and film version of the dance as this gives me inspiration for dance moves which I ca manipulate, develop and modernise to fit the piece. Also my experience from dancing over the years has definitely helped as it means when learning other pieces I can pick movement up quicker and also when deciding with choreography it helps me decided what moves will look effective as a group and what moves are better suited for a solo performer.

Costume has been decided that everyone the plays a member of the gang will either wear an orange or white bandanna depending on what gang they are a part of. The set that is potentially needed for the jet song is maybe table and chair to show that the gang is chilling and relaxing in their own area as they are postcode gangs however I don’t know if this will cause a spatial issue on stage as everyone is part of this dance. Also I need to decide when the music needs to be cut and how it is going to cut and this means perhaps talking to grant about it so we can discuss what will work well and what wont.
My rehearsal for other pieces is going well the dance pieces definitely require dance technique such as ballet technique and contemporary and I feel as though the time we have in studio is used effectively and this is proven as everyone’s pieces are coming to an end so the last few sessions will be about cleaning and clarifying.  

Week 6 

This week rehearsals have been planned so that I can teach the cast that is apart of the piece more choreography and cleaning any bits that people are unsure of , they also have been designed so I can learn other pieces of choreography from other pieces this was to ensure on Friday when doing our tech run everyone's pieces could be lit properly and any other effects that anyone wanted could happen. The main priority before lighting my piece on Friday was to finish the jet song so that I knew what the lighting was going to be throughout the whole dance and therefore could give the correct ques to Alex. 

I feel I have taken on the feedback from my peers and tutor as when I was finishing the prologue I ensure that I choreographed a travelling sequence to use up more space on stage and also cleaned sections that looked particularly messy in the jet song and just clarified details in the dance. I feel like this makes the piece more effective by showing it's a dance off and both gangs are trying to intimidate each other. What needs to be done next is staging both dances so everyone is seen especially in the jet song as everyone is in that and in the prologue the other gang need to ensure they are in our direction when my side is dancing because we do movements that travel towards them such as posè turns and leaps this is to show intimidation this then means the other gang can push us off which shows that they won the dance battle.

Having run through that pieces a problem that came across to me was stamina , being able to perform all the pieces full out one after another I found challenging , this can be sorted by keep practising over and over so I can build strength. Something that needed to be adapted in my piece to make it more effective was the staging because in the studio space it worked well however on stage there was more space to cover so we had to adapt our movements by making them much bigger for example the travelling sequence from the corner when the two gangs come at each other we had to make our steps much more bigger so both gangs could meet in the middle. Also something that can be worked on is timing for my own piece and for other piece I am apart of. The rubble scene where the gang I'm on does there own dance off I need to get the timing correct as I'm always too fast. For the jet song I need to clarify the timing at the beginning where everyone does a kick and at the moment everyone is out of time however this can be corrected with practicing the move and then repeating it with the music.

The Last session on Friday I finalised teaching the last part of the jet song as I had already taught the last part of the prologue during the week. I decided for the jet song to bring everyone back onto stage because we're a gang and it makes us look stronger if we start together and finish together. Throughout the jet song tension is built by making gradually increasing the size of the movements for example at the very beginning movements like walks and keeping any hand movements small and level with your face are used then this is increased by making movements fast and brining arm and hand movements above your head this then develops into floor work witch is slightly more intricate and this includes movements like deep pliès which is grounded and backwards roll and also a point of stillness as I think this adds a different dynamic to the piece , then the dances tension is at its peak at the end when the music speeds up and the move to are very quick and strong we then get into a massive clump in our own positions using different levels and create a modern day movement called a "dab" as this adds a modern day twist on the original. Throughout the dance I added moments of relaxation and chillness by everyone going round and greeting each other with a hand shake to show a gang like quality to the piece. 

Feedback that I received from my tutor and peers was when performing it on stage I may have to space everyone again at the stage space is different than the studio space and some people cannot been seen. Also to make the piece stronger I need to pick out movements in the piece and explain the details for example when we do a kick I said to everyone to kick to their 90 degree angle so then it isn’t obvious that some people can whack their leg up and others cannot, this also shows strength amongst the group and overall makes the piece look cleaner and sharper by everyone having their legs at the same height.

Some technical skills that I have learnt form jazz class are needed to perform the piece for example during the prologue I use pose turns which in the jazz class learnt the basic technique and then perfected it, this made my gang look strong. Also during the jet song I put it a step we learnt in the jazz class called a pardorboray which is a movement of the feet in which the feet go behind side front. I added arms with this movement as well as it fitted well with the beat of the music. Basic ballet technique is also included in my piece for example pointing of the toes, turn out where necessary, and also posture when necessary for example when we walk forward towards the audience everyone should have a good posture and pulled up back to make the piece look clean and sharp. Questions that I have concerning the whole piece overall is what colour bandana to wear and when as for every piece I am  from a different gang, I feel this will all be sorted out when we have done a couple of dress runs.

In terms of my additional role I have developed this by when doing jogging on the spot to get everyone to do a vocal warm up as well as for a lot of the pieces there is both singing and dancing involved  and some were finding it hard to do both so this was good practice for that. Before Fridays tech run I had everything sorted and planned so all we needed to do was stage the piece and set lighting and also ensure our background was set.

Week 7

When doing out tech run first we had to cut our music to where we wanted it because if we used the whole piece of music for the prologue and the jet song our piece would have been very long. After doing this we started to light to the prologue as that is the first piece, we decided that a white light wash should be used as this outlined the casts body’s well and gave off nice shapes and silhouettes, however at the very beginning both gangs walk on and for this we decided that a spot light should be used to highlight the two different gangs, then both gangs start to square up to each other and the lighting changes to a red wash to show anger and rage between the two gangs. The jets then start their own bit of choreography in which a spot light is used so all the focus of drawn to them, this spot light then moves onto the sharks when they do their own bit of choreography so the focus is then shifted. The lighting changes back to the red wash when both gangs perform a travelling sequence from the corner towards each other this shows the rivalry and tension between the two gangs, from this the lighting goes to the white wash for the rest of the piece and this is because some of the dances moves are intricate and complicate and a clear lighting will show these moves off. Throughout the whole piece the side lights are used and are dimmed when the red wash is used because if they was not on, the stage would be too dark and not everyone would be lit and when the red wash was not being used the side lights where brighter as this brightened up the stage and each movement could be clearly seen. For the jet song a light blue washed was used for majority of the piece as this colour matched the white bandannas well, for the floor section in the middle of the piece the lighting changed to a darker blue as this showed that the style of choreography had changed, after the floor section the lighting changed back to the light blue wash as this was when everyone comes back on stage. At the very end of the piece everyone gets into a group holds a position and then dabs and the lighting for this was a pink spotlight as this just matched the other colours we used and changed from a blue colour. For the jet song the side lights were also used as we used the whole class for this piece and the stage seemed too dark without the side lights and not everyone was always lit.

In terms of staging for my own piece for the prologue only a few adaptions had to made during the part when the sharks pose turn towards the jets and travel towards them the jets had to make sure the stood in the direction we was travelling in because the first time we done it the sharks ended up just travelling straight past the jets which defeated the whole idea of being stopped by the jets and being intimidated off the stage. For the jet song because the everyone was on stage there was a couple of spacing issues and it all started because everyone starts in a position which makes the piece centre then the first movements travels towards the left which then meant everyone was squished on one side of the stage so to fix this we had to ensure that everyone started more towards the right so when we travelled towards the left it bought the piece centre stage and therefore created more space for everyone to dance, another problem that occurred was the back line some people could be seen so a couple of spacing arrangements had to be changed in order to fix this. When running the other pieces the stage spacing worked out just a couple of adaptations had to be made such as for the acting scenes bring everyone more forwards so the audience can hear what’s going on and to also keep everything open towards the audience for example not being stood too side on because it blocks the rest on the scene.  

Finishing touches that were made to the piece was for the prologue originally at the beginning we was going to hit positions that indicated a fight between the two gangs, however after watching this from an audiences point of view I decided that this didn’t give off the impression of a fight so I made the decision of changing this to the two gangs squaring up to each other and trying to intimate each other, this made the piece a lot stronger and the idea of rivalry a lot clearer. Another thing I changed was in the jet song during the floor work piece there was a moment of stillness on the floor which I made cleaner by changing the levels so the freeze was more obvious, by starting from a standing position and then dropping to the floor to freeze made the moment more dramatic and clearer rather than freezing on the floor when your already on the floor.

Skills that I have learnt over the past year that has helped me with my final project are; skills that I have learnt during my contemporary class for example using my weight more efficiently this helped me when performing the ending scene as a lot of the movement used required a sense of heaviness and tiredness also some movements required body weight to even perform the movement correctly for example the backwards roll in the ending scene and the forwards roll in “chill” both roll required a throw of body weight to get you over. The musical theatre class helped with my performance skill for example in the piece “America” when  the singers were singing their lines I was able to have that freeness of using my own gestures in which I thought would fit well with whatever the line was , this I feel added a more believable emotion of how we love America. The jazz class refined skills and broadened my knowledge on dance styles which helped me during the dance at the gym piece as this piece required all different types of styles of dance including “house” which I had learnt during the jazz class.

The first dress run I think went well, it was a bit slow as everyone needed time to think what colour bandanna they needed for each scene and what item of clothing you had to wear. For me the biggest problem was remembering when I was a shark and when I was jet however I overcame this with rehearsing and practising. Also another problem that arose for me was remembering what side of stage I enter and exit off stage however I overcame this problem with practise. I feel preparing for the show physically I was successful as I remembered my costumes for the dress run and arrived to the rehearsals on time. I also ensured that a warm up was done to help with stamina and to reduce the chance of injury.

Now to ensure the performance goes well I think it’s just a case of rehearsing each piece and taking on any corrections I have received.      


 

Evaluation

For the final project in terms of research, to help me I watched the film version of West Side story which helped me decide what my proposal was going to be. After deciding what scene I was going to recreate which was the prologue and the jet song I decided to watch the film version of that scene and the stage version so I could see the differences between the two and therefore that would give me an idea on what I wanted to do with the scene myself. I also researched and looked into Romeo and Juliet as this is what west side story is about and therefore I could look into the scene I chose and develop ideas on what I wanted. Recourses that helped me was the choice of music me and my partner had decided to use, this helped because we chose our music early on and therefore this helped us decide what style of dance the piece should be, it also helped with the structure and story of the piece as change of music meant change of mood and dynamic this also helped by using counts which effectively made the piece cleaner. Techniques that I applied to the piece was basic dance technique so the dance was technically correct but also choreographic technique as the piece required me to teach others and therefore as a director I need to be aware of what I want the piece to look like and how I’m going to go about teaching that to others. These resources have informed the development of my work because by having music means I know where about I am in finishing the dance and also because I used two different pieces of music for the prologue and the jet song I was aware the piece could become too long so by having music already decided meant I could see roughly how long the piece was and have I included everything I wanted. Elements that were most effective in the piece was dance there was no singing involved in the piece so dance was the way of communication to the audience it was the only way of expressing emotions such as anger, rage and rivalry so by using gestures with fists and kicks and turns portrays to the audience these emotions and therefore creates a more successful story. My skills have developed during this process because when given scene to recreate meant I had to be more imaginative in my choice of dance moves and also by participating in the jazz and musical theatre classes broadened my knowledge on dance technique.

My choreographic skills have developed during this project because I’ve had to teach and direct other members of the class my piece this meant considering everyone’s different levels of dance experience and adapting this to my piece for example I included a side kick and when doing this I set a height limit of where everyone should kick because I knew some peoples height of their kick would very. Another skill that has developed is muscle memory being a part of many different pieces meant having to remember everyone’s corrections and choreography every week. My skill of directing has also developed as by being in other pieces meant I could give suggestions and ideas on how it could be improved and developed. My dance skill in general have developed and my choreographic knowledge due to outside dance clubs I was able to recognise what would look good on stage and what may not look as good.

When working on this project I collaborated with another member of the class we worked on the piece together coming up with different ideas on how the piece should look we done this by creating mind maps that explained each other’s ideas , drawing out floor plans and improvising to the music we had chosen which helps with creating new choreography. I feel in future proposals to give myself more time I should create choreography faster so I can have more time at the end to teach people the piece and clean certain movements. The performance of others impacted my piece, by giving off the right facial expressions and right intention behind the movement meant the story of the piece being clearer to the audience if everyone is confident with the choreography that will be portrayed to the audience that we are part of a gang. Absent members effect the piece in general because that person won’t be clear on the choreography I have already taught them because they haven’t practised it, they would have missed out on anything new I had taught which therefore results in time wasting as I then need to make more time to teach them. Lateness to rehearsal also affect the outcome of my piece as it time wastes and I would need to go over whatever they have missed. For those with more dance experience they affect my piece by if they can pick up choreography they can help someone who is having a hard time which helps me because I can get on with helping others. When working with my partner there was a couple of occasions we clashed where I felt like I was doing everything and taking on all the responsibility, also a clash in having different opinions  of choreography there was a couple of occasions where I felt my partner’s choreography looked better a sole piece of movement rather than a group as I knew the movement would be hard for some people to pick up and would be hard to teach and would end up looking messy, however we resolved our differences by finding a middle ground between every clash and talking about it to each other rather than having an argument which then resolved an ironed out any issues . I have learned from this project to be more confident when teaching choreography also to take in consideration that some people may have more dance experience than others so as choreographer/director I may need to explain things slightly differently to everyone. Take in consideration that everyone is different so creating choreography to fit everyone is important for example at first I created choreography that was quite girly then I remembered there are two males in the class so I had to adapt the choreography to suit them by making the movements more masculine. Everyone needs to feel confident and therefore my choice of choreography plays a massive role in this. This project has linked with my goals in the future in being a choreographer and owning my own business because it has given me more experience on the skills needed to create and teach a piece of movement it has taught me how to handle stress better and how to deal with situations that do not help with  progression of a dance for example people that cannot pick up a piece of choreography I ensured that I spend a little bit more time with them to perfect it and to also encourage them that they will eventually be able to perform a certain movement they just need a bit more practise, when dealing with absences I need to make educated decision on whether they are digressing in the piece or progressing are they causing unnecessary stress or is their absents able to work around and are they making the effort to learn from the videos or  are they leaving it up to you. Based on the answers to these questions I will then decide that person should be involved in the piece or not.

In the collaboration process my contribution in my piece was creating choreography and teaching e everyone the dance. I also as a whole class project my contribution was to lead the warm up. Skills I used throughout the process was stamina as everyone was in many pieces and I had to ensure that I could get through each piece with the same amount of energy so by doing an effective warm up I feel definitely helps with raising energy levels. Muscle memory was a skill often used by having to remember the choreography from different pieces. Basic dance technique and experience , when learning different pieces I could have a better idea on what that persons intentions was and therefore could perform it how they wanted their piece to look. These skill have developed as a result of this work because now I can pick up choreography a lot quicker, I have the stamina to get through many pieces with the same energy level because after practising so many times my body could adapt to the fitness needed to perform the whole piece. I now can suggest ideas to people to perhaps help them with their piece because after creating your own piece you can get ideas that may help others and also by watching it from an audiences point of view I can give feedback on whether they story behind their piece is portrayed or not. My additional role was to the lead the warm up this contributed to the overall success of the final performance because a warm up insures the risk of injury is minimal and not will pull a muscle it also allow the muscle to get warm so any movements that require flexibility can be done with ease and to a better standard, it also means everyone can perform to much higher standard with more energy and enthusiasm rather than being cold this may not be conveyed to the audience. I learnt from this experience how to make an iconic musical your own and I enjoyed very much creating this, I also learnt time management by having a clear plan on what to do each lesson means you can get your practical work done as well as your written work, I learnt that I need to balance these two elements as through this process I may have neglected my physical work and concentrated more on my written when they both should have been even. I also learnt how to teach and direct a piece of movement and socially how to discuss differences without an argument.