Evaluation:
This is the final blog which will show all the work and effort everyone put in this term to work towards this one live performance infant of friends and family of the performers. I will also evaluate the performer throughout the rehearsals over the past couple of months leading up to this very important performance.
The Technical performance skills in drama for "School Song" were very important and meant that everyone had to make sure that they were at the top of their game in order to make sure the technical skills were good enough to make an amazing performance. I feel that in the performance our characterisation was really good as everyone was able to stay in character and make everything so real including having some very good facial expressions through out. I think that my facial expressions were really good because my face made me look like I was very scared and nervous. I feel like the other little kids portrayed this very well too because it helped me knowing that they were doing the same things as me. I feel that I could have had more language because my voice made me sound like a little kid but my body language did not really show my nervous and scared feelings. Although when the big kids make me jump I used my body language to show how scared I was which I though was very effective. I also think that the way the little kids interacted was very good but the way the little kids interacted with the big kids was not as good as what it could have been.
Technical performance skills in dance for "School Song" were very good in my opinion though out. I feel that the dancing that I did as a performer throughout the dance was very limited but I was still able to express my dancing in the best way I could in the performance. I made sure that when I was really scared I'd make all my movements sharp and when they made me jump I made my whole body go fridged so it looked like I was scared to move. When i rolled across the stage I made sure the move showed fluidity and a transition which could mean I was starting to follow what they were saying and the transition of breaking from the other little kids for the first time but after this i do a sharp head tilt to bring back my scared and nervous emotion which was really effective. Although towards the end of the dance I felt like everyone was unsure of what moves we did in the gap so some people did a move and some didn't which could be very confusing when watching it. I feel like after all the performing before the "School Song" performance helped me very much because it improved my stamina which meant I could keep singing, acting and dancing without worrying that I needed to stop because I was exhausted. I also feel we could have improved on our formation because we were quite messy and it did not look very good on the film especially when people were in the triangle.
Technical performance skills in singing for "School Song" were very important in this performance because we had to make sure we were singing in the right way the whole way through in order to have a good performance. In my opinion our projection through out the performance was very good because we were easily understood in the way we were saying the words and when the chorus started for “so you think you’re able” everything was very good and the words all sounded really good and fitted in. I feel like the articulation for the chorus was very well and that the letters really stood out when the little kids shouted them and showed that the warm up tongue twisters really was useful for the actual performance. I feel like I could improved on my tempo in the performance because I was not always in time with the music. This could have been prevented if we all worked with the piano more and kept rehearsing with him instead. I also feel I should have worked more on my singing in a higher range because the high notes did not sound very good.
I feel the use of the props was very good throughout because we passed the blocks really well and I feel like it was very effective because people were able to see the block letters at the right time when it was at an amazing fast-pace which suited the atmosphere of the performance. I feel like this was very useful because it separated the beginning from the end as the little kids and the big kids come together so much near the end.
I felt like the costume we had for the performance was very good because we had a clear separation between the big kids and the little kids as the little kids were really smart and looked like they were dressed in the way little kids would be on the first day of school, then the big kids had more of a messy look that made them seem like they do not care as much as the little kids. I feel this concept was clever because it meant that when they merged together there was a clear divide. Although I feel that it would have been really effective if the little kids pulled there ties of at the end to show their transition.
I thought that the health and safety was not very good because everyone's special awareness was not very good and it could have caused other people to bump into each other. During the performance I was pulled into the circle surrounded by the big kids and fell when they pulled me in but did not get hurt, but this could have been really bad if I fell. I also feel this could have been prevented if everyone was more careful when pulling us little kids into the circle. During rehearsals no one was hurt but they could have because of the blocks were being thrown around, therefore I felt everyone was very careful and being careful and alert at all times. Everyone also made sure they were wearing the right clothing in order not to hurt themselves, through taking off any jewellery and being not wearing any clothing that does not have any give. In my opinion we should have done more vocal warm ups as group because every lesson I felt my voice could have been better if I had warmed it properly but the warming for dance was alright because always made sure I stretched before the rehearsals.
I felt like throughout this experience my self discipline was very good because I made sure I was always there to make sure I was not missing anything and made sure even when we were not doing a proper warm up, that I would always warm up before.
The peer feedback that I had was very useful. They basically said that the acting we did was really good and made it seem like we were actually portraying this character. Although they said we needed to be louder and work on our formation.
The skills that I feel I need to improve on for the future are:
-Projection when singing as I was very quiet
-I need to make sure I know all the dance moves because some of the dance moves in the performance I was unsure about.
-I also need to improve my interactions with the other performers because it makes the atmosphere in which they perform better.
Monday, 11 March 2019
Sunday, 10 March 2019
Week 7:
This week is show week therefore it is important that we work very hard in the first two days in order to put on a good performance.
At the beginning of the week we were able to have the pianist playing for us so that we were used to how he plays and so he gets used to the way in which we perform. First we warmed our voices, to make sure that when we sing we do not hurt our voices, we warmed up our voices through singing "la's" and going up the C major scale. I thought this was very useful because I was able to make sure my vocal range was the same as it always is. Firstly, we went through the song "Nothing Like a Dame" which was very useful because we were able to perform with the piano, although everyone really struggled because the pianist decided that we were singing the song in the wrong key and everyone had to learn it a different way in order to make sure it was good enough for him. After quite a few practices and a lot of people trying really hard to adapt to the new requirements, we were able to get it. We then started the "School Song" performance which was quite hard because the piano was very different to the track we were performing and singing to before so people had to make sure they were going in time with the piano when they sang and when they danced. We moved on to "Season's Of Love" next which was really good because there was not many chances to the piano part and everyone performed just as good as we did on the Friday. Finally, we practiced doing the Wilkommen performance which went quite well because we practised with the piano and everyone sang alright, although we needed to practice the dance next lesson because we all struggled to remember quite a lot of the dance. In my opinion, the rehearsing we did today was very useful and helped everyone prepare for the final rehearsals and performances the next day.
Today was performance day and everyone had to be on their top game in order to make everything perfect for the performance in the evening. At the beginning of the lesson we warmed up with a run through the song "Nothing Like a Dame" to make sure everyone was still alright with the change we made the day before. This went really well and everyone was in key to what the pianist wanted but me and another girl decided to sing the lower key because we thought it would have more range as the only people doing the lower key were the boys and there are only two of them. We then did some stretches to make sure that we did not injure ourselves whilst moving around. After that warm we decided to run the whole showcase from start to finish without wearing costumes and stopping in breaks. First was "Wilkommen" which went quite bad to start with because everyone had forgot the moves that we had changed which meant we knew we had to go back over it later on when we had more time. We then did "Nothing Like a dame" which went really well even though the day before it did not go as well. The next performance was the "West Side Story" dance which was not as good as we had done in the past because a lot of people were missing when we revoked at it recently so did not know what they were doing. This caused a lot of problems therefore we knew we had to go back to that in our break later on. Next we decided do the Chicago performance which I was not in, therefore I practiced my "Wilkommen" performance while they did this and everything went really well. Then there was the "Seasons of Love" performance that we needed to do but this went really well and we did not have any problems. We then did our "School Song" Performances which in my opinion were the best performances that we did. When we went back to "Wilkommen" we realised that we needed to have more characterisation in the performances and that we needed to be more in time. After sorting this out, we practiced the "West Side Story" which went really well after we practiced a few times. We then did a full run through of all the performances in costume and in my opinion it was the best run through we had done with everyone staying in character and remembering all the moves in the dances. I think today was very useful and that now we are ready for the main performance.
This week is show week therefore it is important that we work very hard in the first two days in order to put on a good performance.
At the beginning of the week we were able to have the pianist playing for us so that we were used to how he plays and so he gets used to the way in which we perform. First we warmed our voices, to make sure that when we sing we do not hurt our voices, we warmed up our voices through singing "la's" and going up the C major scale. I thought this was very useful because I was able to make sure my vocal range was the same as it always is. Firstly, we went through the song "Nothing Like a Dame" which was very useful because we were able to perform with the piano, although everyone really struggled because the pianist decided that we were singing the song in the wrong key and everyone had to learn it a different way in order to make sure it was good enough for him. After quite a few practices and a lot of people trying really hard to adapt to the new requirements, we were able to get it. We then started the "School Song" performance which was quite hard because the piano was very different to the track we were performing and singing to before so people had to make sure they were going in time with the piano when they sang and when they danced. We moved on to "Season's Of Love" next which was really good because there was not many chances to the piano part and everyone performed just as good as we did on the Friday. Finally, we practiced doing the Wilkommen performance which went quite well because we practised with the piano and everyone sang alright, although we needed to practice the dance next lesson because we all struggled to remember quite a lot of the dance. In my opinion, the rehearsing we did today was very useful and helped everyone prepare for the final rehearsals and performances the next day.
Today was performance day and everyone had to be on their top game in order to make everything perfect for the performance in the evening. At the beginning of the lesson we warmed up with a run through the song "Nothing Like a Dame" to make sure everyone was still alright with the change we made the day before. This went really well and everyone was in key to what the pianist wanted but me and another girl decided to sing the lower key because we thought it would have more range as the only people doing the lower key were the boys and there are only two of them. We then did some stretches to make sure that we did not injure ourselves whilst moving around. After that warm we decided to run the whole showcase from start to finish without wearing costumes and stopping in breaks. First was "Wilkommen" which went quite bad to start with because everyone had forgot the moves that we had changed which meant we knew we had to go back over it later on when we had more time. We then did "Nothing Like a dame" which went really well even though the day before it did not go as well. The next performance was the "West Side Story" dance which was not as good as we had done in the past because a lot of people were missing when we revoked at it recently so did not know what they were doing. This caused a lot of problems therefore we knew we had to go back to that in our break later on. Next we decided do the Chicago performance which I was not in, therefore I practiced my "Wilkommen" performance while they did this and everything went really well. Then there was the "Seasons of Love" performance that we needed to do but this went really well and we did not have any problems. We then did our "School Song" Performances which in my opinion were the best performances that we did. When we went back to "Wilkommen" we realised that we needed to have more characterisation in the performances and that we needed to be more in time. After sorting this out, we practiced the "West Side Story" which went really well after we practiced a few times. We then did a full run through of all the performances in costume and in my opinion it was the best run through we had done with everyone staying in character and remembering all the moves in the dances. I think today was very useful and that now we are ready for the main performance.
Saturday, 9 March 2019
Week 6:
Next week is performance week therefore the whole class has to work on the main performance we are working on which is Matilda and the other songs and performances we have been working on since the beginning of term.
At the beginning of the week we worked on the singing mainly in our other performances that we have not looked at since we started Matilda and some since September, this meant we had to takes a lot of time to get as good at the pieces as we were before. First we warmed up by first stretching to make sure our bodies were in the right position and state to singing and dance. We then warmed up our voice through singing notes in the C Major scale which helped us to hit the notes we need to in all our songs. First we sang and performed "Nothin like a dame" which is in "South Pacific" and our first attempted was not very good and we needed to work on our moves in the dance bit when everyone is in lines, the acting we are doing throughout the performance and project our voices more through singing diafram. Our second attempted was a lot better than our first attempt because we made sure we used the parts we needed to work on and made it so they were now positives, although we still need to work on our accents because everyone sounded too British and we needed to work on our facial expressions. Our teacher then told us to work on or accents while we were at home. We then started to work on "Seasons Of Love" which was a really easy song to pick up as we used to sing it a lot and it is mainly singing therefore it does not have any dancing in it. I feel we could have shown more emotion in the song though because everyone was very still faced. Lastly we worked on our Matilda performance because this was the main performance that everyone was getting marked on. The first performance was the other group which was helpful because it helped everyone in my group remember the dance move and song after such a long half term break in between. The first performance we did was quite messy because people forgot what blocks they were picking up and how the dance went but the second performance was much better as we had time to think and remember the moves. Today was useful because we concentrated on other things that we needed to practice and not just "School Song"
Later on in the week we continued to work on the same things we worked on at the beginning of the week. First we warmed up by stretching and doing a pulse racer this helps because it prevents anyone from having an injury. We then started by figuring out all of the different parts that everyone was doing in the show case. After deciding we needed to practise the Matilda song "School Song" so that we have enough practice before the performance and to make sure everything it perfect. After a few practices we realised that everything was to the best of our abilities and started to break off into groups to practice our performances for the showcase. I went into the group that practiced "West Side Story", at the beginning no one remembered how the moves went' therefore we had to go back and learn the dance moves again. When we started learning the moved everything came back to me and the dance was easier to pick up again. In "West Side Story" there is a fight scene which is very intermit with a partner and means that everyone needs to aware of the things going on around them, therefore we had to be put into areas where everyone can have spacial awareness. Everyone picked this up quite quick therefore me and the two other girls who were performing "Wilkommen" from Cabaret decided to start learning the dance we were going to be performing on the night. As we only had a little time it was hard to pick up so we had a brief discussion and figured out the things we would do in our next lesson when we were going to actually go through the whole dance. I feel that today was very useful and it helped everyone performing understand exactly what we were going to do and how we were going to do it.
At the end of the week everyone had their costumes for "School Song" and were ready to practice the dance. First we warmed up with a number warm up which went up and down the C major scale. This was useful but i decided to sing some "la's" because i didn't feel my voice was fully warmed up through doing this. I then did some stretches to make sure i did not pull a muscle while I was performing. My group decided to perform the song first and considering we had not performed in a couple of days, it went really well and everyone was in character. Although there was one big problem that was going to effect our performance on the day, that was that one of the dancers in the little kids had done something to her foot which meant she had to be sitting down for most of the performance. We decided to change the "block scene" and have someone else pick up the block she was carrying and we moved everything to the left so that meant everyone had to remember this transition when doing the dance. Although there was a few mess ups with the blocks and various dance moves which was because of the transition, everything went to plan and everyone seemed to get through it. We then practiced "Seasons Of Love" which was really good because everyone sounded good together but everyone was standing still and motionless so we decided to add some clicking into the dance moves and make sure everyone was smiling. Overall I feel like today went very well and we got a lot done as a group.
Overall I feel this week was very productive and that it really helped in order to prepare for next week's performance.
Next week is performance week therefore the whole class has to work on the main performance we are working on which is Matilda and the other songs and performances we have been working on since the beginning of term.
At the beginning of the week we worked on the singing mainly in our other performances that we have not looked at since we started Matilda and some since September, this meant we had to takes a lot of time to get as good at the pieces as we were before. First we warmed up by first stretching to make sure our bodies were in the right position and state to singing and dance. We then warmed up our voice through singing notes in the C Major scale which helped us to hit the notes we need to in all our songs. First we sang and performed "Nothin like a dame" which is in "South Pacific" and our first attempted was not very good and we needed to work on our moves in the dance bit when everyone is in lines, the acting we are doing throughout the performance and project our voices more through singing diafram. Our second attempted was a lot better than our first attempt because we made sure we used the parts we needed to work on and made it so they were now positives, although we still need to work on our accents because everyone sounded too British and we needed to work on our facial expressions. Our teacher then told us to work on or accents while we were at home. We then started to work on "Seasons Of Love" which was a really easy song to pick up as we used to sing it a lot and it is mainly singing therefore it does not have any dancing in it. I feel we could have shown more emotion in the song though because everyone was very still faced. Lastly we worked on our Matilda performance because this was the main performance that everyone was getting marked on. The first performance was the other group which was helpful because it helped everyone in my group remember the dance move and song after such a long half term break in between. The first performance we did was quite messy because people forgot what blocks they were picking up and how the dance went but the second performance was much better as we had time to think and remember the moves. Today was useful because we concentrated on other things that we needed to practice and not just "School Song"
Later on in the week we continued to work on the same things we worked on at the beginning of the week. First we warmed up by stretching and doing a pulse racer this helps because it prevents anyone from having an injury. We then started by figuring out all of the different parts that everyone was doing in the show case. After deciding we needed to practise the Matilda song "School Song" so that we have enough practice before the performance and to make sure everything it perfect. After a few practices we realised that everything was to the best of our abilities and started to break off into groups to practice our performances for the showcase. I went into the group that practiced "West Side Story", at the beginning no one remembered how the moves went' therefore we had to go back and learn the dance moves again. When we started learning the moved everything came back to me and the dance was easier to pick up again. In "West Side Story" there is a fight scene which is very intermit with a partner and means that everyone needs to aware of the things going on around them, therefore we had to be put into areas where everyone can have spacial awareness. Everyone picked this up quite quick therefore me and the two other girls who were performing "Wilkommen" from Cabaret decided to start learning the dance we were going to be performing on the night. As we only had a little time it was hard to pick up so we had a brief discussion and figured out the things we would do in our next lesson when we were going to actually go through the whole dance. I feel that today was very useful and it helped everyone performing understand exactly what we were going to do and how we were going to do it.
At the end of the week everyone had their costumes for "School Song" and were ready to practice the dance. First we warmed up with a number warm up which went up and down the C major scale. This was useful but i decided to sing some "la's" because i didn't feel my voice was fully warmed up through doing this. I then did some stretches to make sure i did not pull a muscle while I was performing. My group decided to perform the song first and considering we had not performed in a couple of days, it went really well and everyone was in character. Although there was one big problem that was going to effect our performance on the day, that was that one of the dancers in the little kids had done something to her foot which meant she had to be sitting down for most of the performance. We decided to change the "block scene" and have someone else pick up the block she was carrying and we moved everything to the left so that meant everyone had to remember this transition when doing the dance. Although there was a few mess ups with the blocks and various dance moves which was because of the transition, everything went to plan and everyone seemed to get through it. We then practiced "Seasons Of Love" which was really good because everyone sounded good together but everyone was standing still and motionless so we decided to add some clicking into the dance moves and make sure everyone was smiling. Overall I feel like today went very well and we got a lot done as a group.
Overall I feel this week was very productive and that it really helped in order to prepare for next week's performance.
Thursday, 7 March 2019
Week 5:
This week we were concentrating on watching the Matilda “School Song” and coming up with targets to help us in the future and develop the skills we need for our actual performance.
First we watched my group which was useful because I got to think about how my performance was compared to the other group. My solo went very well because I projected my singing very well and my voice sounded a lot like a child which made the character more believable. Although I think I need to work on my facial expressions because I was not very expressive at the beginning. As the performance went on I started to realised that our group projection needed work because we did not sound loud enough and express ourselves in the way our characters do. Although it was rough and the formation was a little messy, I thought it was very well put together. Overall I feel that the experience of evaluating how I performed and the way in which I performed was very useful because it made me realise what I need to work on as a performer and how to make myself have a better stage presence.
This week we were concentrating on watching the Matilda “School Song” and coming up with targets to help us in the future and develop the skills we need for our actual performance.
First we watched my group which was useful because I got to think about how my performance was compared to the other group. My solo went very well because I projected my singing very well and my voice sounded a lot like a child which made the character more believable. Although I think I need to work on my facial expressions because I was not very expressive at the beginning. As the performance went on I started to realised that our group projection needed work because we did not sound loud enough and express ourselves in the way our characters do. Although it was rough and the formation was a little messy, I thought it was very well put together. Overall I feel that the experience of evaluating how I performed and the way in which I performed was very useful because it made me realise what I need to work on as a performer and how to make myself have a better stage presence.
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