top of page
'100, 90, 71, 69...'
This page shows the creative development of my choreography and all the processes that it took to get to the final piece.
For my song choices, I originally wanted 'We are all going to die' by Eomac mixed into 'Teardrop' by Massive Attack. However, after choreographing different ideas to 'We are all going to die', I have decided to no longer choose this song. I made this decision because it didn't have a climax section within it and also I felt like the 'Teardrop' song had more of this and also was more of a challenge to choreograph to which is what I wanted. In Addition, even though I have chosen the 'Teardrop' song, it originally comes with lyrics but I didn't want them so I have decided to use the instrumental version of this song. I feel like instrumental is a challenge to choreograph to and also the audience and dancers won't get distracted by the lyrics within the song.
These are some choreographic notes that I have written since I had my first rehearsal on creating some ideas with the dancers. I have made some adaptions from the original ideas so that they not only fit with the theme but also so that it fits within performing it 'in a round'. I have made sure that my formations are changing to make sure that it is interesting and engaging to watch as well showing the idea of chaos and also sanity, which are my themes. Furthermore, I have used different colours to clearly highlight important notes to me but also keys so that I can see which dancers are doing what at each section. Some of these ideas might change when I put them together with the dancers as they may not work but also they may not look right within the space or fit my theme/ideas correctly.
Struggling with choreographing
I have been struggling with choreography and this is effecting how much I am taking leadership for my routine. When I am teaching, I am learning that I need to take control when I am teaching the dancers as I am not doing this right now which is slowing down how much choreography I am able to teach. I am also finding creating choreography a lot harder than the start and I am trying to work through this by going back to my research and using this to help with finding smaller movements such as gestures to help to lead to bigger and more challenging choreography.
Change of Music
I have decided to change my music because I was finding it a challenge to be able to choreograph too and also because I felt like it didn't fit into my research or the theme of my routine. The new music, has more of a climax and allows me to create some new motifs that fit the theme as well as create a sense of unknown and build up a feeling for the audience. I am finding it a lot easier to choreograph with this music and more creative ideas are coming to mind.
Date/Plan Video Evidence Reflection
Rehearsal 2 - Thursday 7th April 2023.
Lesson Plan - To play around with different ideas and choreographic skills that I could use in future choreography.
1) The area that I played around with ideas for was for the beginning and the middle where the climax would be. This is because I wanted to see whether some lifts would work for when the dynamics increase and also the numbers for the beginning.
2) I explored the idea of the numbers for the beginning of the routine and this links to my research because in the script there are scenes of numbers. Also, it links because when someone is in a mental episode, they are asked to count down from 100 in 7's until they reach 'sanity'.
3) From this video, I can see that the straight line works because it is really effective with the canon, however I could face this a different direction to work with the 'in the round' audience. I don't like the lift in the line when a dancer dives forward, I think that this looks messy and also doesn't fit my research or theme. The numbers need improving but could work in the next rehearsal.
4) I think in this rehearsal I had strong personal organisation because even though I didn't have choreography, I had ideas planned that I wanted to do. I think I had strong focus and leadership skills and took lead of my rehearsal strongly. I could have had more creativity with my ideas.
5) My target for next week is to start my choreography and think of creative formations and ideas.
Rehearsal 3 - 25th April 2023
Lesson Plan - Start teaching the choreography that I have created and explain the meaning behind the movements.
1) The area that I choreographed today was the beginning of the routine, and this is the part with the use of chairs to do the numbers and also some unison sections as a group.
2) In this rehearsal I created choreography that I think related to my main theme and this used different formations and unison. I explored the idea of facing different directions to fit the stage that we are doing.
3) From this video, I can see that the first part where the dancers are all in the centre and dance together is really strong, but I noticed that I need to explain the meaning behind each movements so it relates more back to the theme. Another part that I liked was the diagonal line with the roles, and this is because it looks effective when you don't know which way the dancers are going to go. I need to work on timing and the solo for one of the dancers. I need to do more research for the numbers to make sure that it looks effective at the beginning.
4) I think that my personal organisation is strong because I made the time to make some choreography and make sure that it was creative. I do need to make sure I am spending more time teaching and that the focus is strong all the way through.
5) My target for next lesson is to amend the parts that don't work and then create some more choreography for next lesson.
Rehearsal 4 - Tuesday 3rd May 2023
Lesson Plan - Carry on with choreography and to change sections that don't work.
1) The area that I have choreographed for today is carrying on from last weeks choreography. At the end of this part there is a change in the tempo and dynamics of the music.
2) I created some more choreography for this lesson and this links to my research by I wanted to start using duets and contact for the idea of being helped to calm down in a psychotic episode. I explored this idea further to help me come up with these motifs and movements.
3) From the choreography, the new section with the accumulation I like because it looks effective, however I don't like the way that the last group gets to the floor so I am going to change this. I think the section in the triangle is effective but I need to work out the timing for next lesson so it fits better. Also, I might change where the duet lifts are as it might fit better with the music somewhere else.
4) I think this week I could have had better personal organisation because I think that I could have spent more time on my choreography to perfect it before I taught it to the dancers.
5) My target for next week is to amend the timing and where certain motifs have been placed. I might need to start from a different part within the music.
Rehearsal 5 - Monday 9th May 2023
Lesson Plan - Add on more choreography and start to polish and tweak the choreography that I have done the week before.
1) The area that I decided to choreograph today was following on from last week's section. However, I have decided to change the music so I had to tweak some sections before I was able to add on.
2) In today's lesson, I decided to explore the ideas of partner work and also the ideas of splitting the groups and making sure they are integrating with each other, almost like someone is asking for help but then it doesn't happen. This links back to my research of the numbers when someone is in a psychotic episode.
3) From this class, I can see that the partner work does look effective, but I need to polish it with the dancers so it looks clean. Also, I really like the group integration section as it looks like they are all looking for that 'help' in an episode. With the new music, I think the timing for the triangle section works a lot better because there isn't a big gap and also the dancers know when to go.
4) I think my personal organisation is good as I am coming up with new choreography each week, however I need to work on my creativity with my choreography.
5) My targets for next week is to polish the choreography from this week and then fill in any gaps with the new music.
Rehearsal 6 - Tuesday 10th May 2023
This is a video from the rehearsal on the 9th May. I wanted to run the dance on this day because on the previous rehearsal it wasn't as clean or didn't go as well as I had hoped it to go. In this video, it was so much cleaner and more polished from the dancers which shows the development from one day for one rehearsal.
Rehearsal - Monday 16th May
Lesson Plan - Add some more choreography on, with some new skills and motifs. Also, to fill in all of the gaps
in the previous choreography.
1) The area that I decided to choreograph today followed on from the previous lesson's work. In this section I wanted to fit in a lift, and also some smaller gestures that were effective.
2) I explored the idea of gestures in this lesson as it relates back to my research when someone in a psychotic episode is looking for help or looking for sanity. I wanted the gestures to recreate this feeling or approach when it is happening.
3) I think the lift in the middle with everyone else around works because it almost suggests the idea of almost reaching sanity but then not being able to, I need to however just clean up the lifts counts so they are all working at the same time. I don't like how messy it all looks at the moment, but I am working on polishing it all up, I like the way that I have filled the gaps apart from the section before the 'big jump'.
4) I think that my personal organisation was good this week as I had worked on my targets from last week and come up with some more choreographic ideas in order to fill in the gaps and to fit the theme. Although, I do need to put in more work in order to finish it within the next week so then I can spend time on going over it all and cleaning up counts etc for the dancers.
5) My targets for next week, is to finish the routine with the beginning section with the numbers to be completed and also how I am getting them on and off the stage.
Rehearsal - Monday 23rd May
Lesson Plan - To add on the last section of the dance and to clean the rest. I need to also fill in the gaps within the routine.
1) The area that I decided to choreograph today was the end section of the routine and this is when I wanted to show the chaos into a sharp ending which should show almost getting to the 'sane' ending of being in a psychotic episode.
2) I explored the ideas of chaos and sanity in this lesson for the ending because I researched that a doctor will use serial sevens to help reach the idea of sanity in that patient. I wanted to make sure that I linked this choreography to my initial research.
3) In this section, I think that the trio part looks really effective, especially with the use of 'twitching' and also the running and reaching. The part after this, at the moment it is quite messy but I am going to make sure to tell the dancers not to laugh and scream unless the screaming is controlled. Furthermore, the ending lifts look effective with the dramatic change in the song because it shows the 'sanity' part but also the tiredness of someone who has just been through an episode.
4) I think my personal organisation this week has been strong as I had planned this lesson in advance as well as my choreography. I think that my creativity behind this section is getting better as I have linked it back again to my research.
5) My target for next week, is to fill in the gaps and also to clean up and parts that need it as well as stage it correctly within the stage. I need to add in the numbers at the beginning as well as in other places as well.
bottom of page