Street Dance Evaluation UNIT 38/7&40

Rehearsal Process:

I was always punctual to all my lessons that I could attend to for Street dance, when I was absent it was only due to my physiotherapy sessions. During my absences I always took it into account and made sure to ask my classmate (Marta) for videos of the choreography that they've done so she'd send it to me so I could practice the dance routines at home and my absolutely ready for the next lesson that I'd be attending to; this enabled me to never really fall behind in class work/dance routines. Although I injured my knee earlier on in the year (October) I continuously worked hard and gave it my all with my exercises and warm ups to allow me to be fit and be prepared for my end of year performance.

I believe I had great focus upon the teaching Inez gave to me, as I am a lover of Urban dance, I've done dance lessons from the age of four and had training from Brit School. So therefore focus is something that comes naturally to me. On this unit I had the ability to concentrate on the movements I done as I had to keep being aware of my injury. Most of the movements in break dancing requires a large sense of concentration especially while doing the 'poses' such as the windmill spin, shoulder freeze and the helicopter as you need to maintain a strong, straight torso.

I had to put some self discipline  and commitment towards the unit on the dance style Capoeira as it was a dance style that I've never come across before. Doing some research on the history behind it, helped me massively as it allowed me to get a full picture and wider understanding on why/how it was originated and also on the idea behind it. I found out that this Brazilian art was originated in Angola where I am originally from but I had no clue about the style of dancing, so from this point on I learnt how to clearly adapt to something new and different.

I do strongly fee I work very well with other people in my class, I let other people give criticism and ideas on my work. In my opinion I think it is essential to get that from others as people view things differently then you. In the RDMC battle dance routine I used Rafa to continuously video me each week so I could see the improvements that I am making or being aware on what isn't working in my in and out two counts of eight.

The rehearsal preparation was quite intense as others were only attending the second lesson which wasn't acceptable as we have double lessons with Inez. A pupil turning up late slightly lets the team down as we'd need to start all over again for them. I was in a Capoeira duet with Daria and then Cagla was thrown in last minuet within' our group which became a trio. This was a challenge that I needed to take as I needed to remove some dance moves we created which couldn't be performed as a trio and also on top of that It was in my duty to teach her our sequence.

The Choreography:

Our choreography was a mixture of Urban dance styles which was, break dancing, street dance, Capoeira and freestyle.

FINAL AUDITION Unit 18: Audition for Actors

Final Audition




SONGS:

The Colour Purple - I'm here (by Brenda Russell)

Jesus Christ Superstar - I don't know how to love him  (by Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Dream Girls - Listen   (by Henry Krieger)


MONOLOGUES:

Richard Fisher's Funeral  (by Kellie Powell) 

Goodbye World (Paula Vogel)



I have chosen my song 'Listen' from the musical Dream Girls as the song expresses the willingness of wanting to achieve a goal, the urge of escaping and being prepared to face the world and having their voice being heard. Which I believe will be suitable for the audition which I could compare to the musical 'Rock of Ages' as the musical itself has a ambitious young lady called Sherrie Christian who has Drew falling in love with and  hoping to become big in the acting industry. In which I can use the contrast of character Deena as she gets helped by Curtis a record executive to make her a house hold name and eventually falls madly in love with her.

The song itself invites you through a emotional journey with her, 'Listen' being the first word in the song does show you sympathy and remorse towards the character, that is why I like the song personally. The hooks and the bridges helps to elevate the mood and spirit of the song, making you as the audience feeling as if there is a way at the other side; you could chase your dreams and make it only if you preserver

Portfolios [Research] UNIT:5

PORTFOLIOS:

CHARLOTTE
PROPS


I have researched my character who is Charlotte, she is part of the cheer leading squad who are the popular ones in school.

Charlotte is the wise one out of all of them and sees right through Lucy's intentions and straight away tries to inform Kendra about them, however Lucy quickly tells a lie and claims that Charlotte is just 'Jealous'.

The world of the play Charlotte and Molly get excited over everything and anything.Charlotte's end goal in the play is to make Kendra realize how much of a fake friend Lucy is.

Unit:42 Bones ASSIGNMENT 1

 The Bone Structures...

Did you know there is 206 bones in our skeletal system?

26 bones in the human foot?

The human hand, including wrist, contains 54 bones...

The femur/thighbone, is the longest and the most strongest bone of the human skeleton.


There is is 6 different parts in our bones;

1. Compact Bone
2. Cartilage
3. Spongy Bone
4. Marrow
5. Blood Vessels 
6. Periosteum

• The most fragile bone in the humans body is the Toe Bone, as it breaks easily.

• The most commonly broken bone is the ankle, this injury happens to most of the dancers, both ankle fractures and sprained and broken ankles are often accompanied by then tendon damage.

• The most common form of bone surgery is the 'Arthroscopic Surgery' which I'll be having in August as I've got a Meniscus Knee Tear. Arthroscopic procedures on the knee increased 49% between 1996 and 2006.

There is 3 types of bones.

1. Long Bone

2. Short Bone

3. Flat Bone

The spine is a very important aspect to the human's body as it helps to hold and spread the stress caused through weight bearing. It is also massively important as the spine allows the body to be held together as our spine is made out of 33 vertebrates.









KEY MUSCLES:



SKELETAL                 

VISCERAL

CARDIAC

• The number of muscles in our body varies around 640-850

Movements of Muscles in the Body

Right now, as you read these words, your body is using muscles. Those muscles are helping your eyes scan across the page, they're helping to hold you upright, and, when you get hungry, they'll help you walk to the refrigerator to get something to eat. These muscles are called skeletal muscles, and they are the major muscles used by the human body for the purpose of locomotion.

Before we begin our investigation, let's first acknowledge that there are hundreds of muscles contained in the human body. Our investigation focuses on the 13 major (or big) muscle groups used for movement.

Upper Body Muscle Groups

The first of these groups is collectively known as the abdominal muscles. Abdominal muscles, or abs, are found overtop your stomach. You'll notice that these muscles form the midsection of the body's front side. Their primary purpose is for sitting up and supporting your posture.

To either side of your abdominal muscles are your obliques. The oblique muscles are used for twisting and turning your torso. Behind them are your erector spinae, or lower back muscles. These muscles assist with posture and lifting items. Together, the erector spinae, obliques, and abdominal muscles form your body's core or midsection.

Above your abdominal muscles, you'll find the muscles of your chest. These are known as pectoral muscles. Pectoral muscles are used for movements such as pushups, pushing open a door, or other similar motions. On either side of your pectoral muscles reside the deltoids, or shoulder muscles. These muscles are responsible for overhead lifting and rotating your arms. The deltoids form a sort of cap over your shoulder and encompass the front, side, and back of the shoulder. In back, the deltoids yield to the trapezius. The trapezius muscles are the large muscles in the upper- and mid-back. They help you move your head and aid the upper back when lifting heavy objects.

Directly below the trapezius muscles are your latissimus dorsi, or lats. These muscles form the side of your back and are responsible for posture and pulling motions, such as opening a door or rowing a boat. Collectively your deltoids, trapezius, lats, and erector spinae represent the major muscle groups of your back, just as the abdominal, deltoid, and pectoral muscles represent the major muscle groups of your front.

LINK

Joint STRUCTURES: 

• In our body we have 6 types of joints.
• The joints allow our bones to move in different ways.

which includes...

FLEXION = BENDING

EXTENSION = STRAIGHTENING

ABDUCTION = MOTION AWAY FROM THE CENTRE LINE

ADDUCTION = MOTION TOWARDS THE CENTRE LINE

ROTATION = MOTION AROUND THE JOINTS AXIS LINE

CIRCUMDUCTION = THE COMBINATION OF INVOLVING CIRCULATION MOTION

THE FOUR MAIN JOINTS: FIBROUS JOINT
                                     BALL AND SOCKET JOINT
                                     PIVOT JOINTS
                                     HINGE JOINTS

A joint normally occurs at the firm point of articulation,in other words the point that two bones meet in the skeleton... 

- The ball and socket joint is situated where the large, round head of the bone fits into the cup of another bone. This found in the way the femur fits into the bone, you can also identify this  in how the humerus fits into the scapula as that makes up the part of the shoulder bone. The ball and socket joints is important as it allows the greatest range of motion within' the humans body.

- The hinge joint permits the forward and backwards motion, these joints can been seen in the knee or in the fingers.

- Whereas the pivot joint creates a rotating motion which is the movement of the head from side to side. 

• The exercises that works the most muscles are the bench press, squat, deadlift workout. These exercises work the most muscle mass and always seems to challenge your body to the extreme. 

• Workouts to strengthen your bones is Yoga which is highly recommended,a study reported by the Yoga Journal, they've found an increase in bone mineral density in the spine mainly by women who do yoga regularly.

• To keep your knees, hips, shoulders in healthy working order which is essential for a dancer is to daily exercise, strengthen and stabilize your joints which will prevent pain and injury in the future. One leg stance balance is good for the adults who had a sports injury in the past. This exercise will help keep your knee stable while walking and performing.

While performing... the nervous system is the Central nervous system which is responsible for issuing nerve impulses and also analyzing sensor data, which includes the brain and spinal cord. The Peripheral nervous system which is mainly responsible for carrying nerve impulses to and from the body. The Autonomic nervous system is composed of the Central and Peripheral system which is responsible for regulating and coordinating the functions of the vital organs in the body.

WEEK 3: Weekly Summaries: THIRTEEN

Weekly Summaries

This week our choreographer Marta started showing us cheerleaders/cast the dance routines she's choreographed for each numbers.

The video above is the dance routine to the most exciting song 'Opportunity. I enjoyed learning this piece the most as dancers which is ourselves were able to put our own ideas as well and demonstrated the different talents we have. 

This might be a very easy song to perform to, however I've learnt that it is very important in the piece to keep the energy alive at all times as each movements goes with the beat, which sometimes falls into everything being quite repetitive and boring at times.

So the feedback we got from our teacher/director Ike which I personally took for myself also, is the keep the audience engaging, we should overly exaggerate being always happy and excited about everything.

Imagining how puppies act in the daily basis which really helped me as an character to adapt into they way they move, the way the feel inside. This was quite weir for me at the very start to study a puppy but now i understand why I needed to as it has helped me massively

WEEK 2: Weekly Summaries: THIRTEEN

Weekly Summaries: THIRTEEN

Today we started learning the finale song, 'A little more homework' which I've found got challenging as the songs rhythm goes in hemiola  and in music it means that is in the ratio of 3:2. That is the the reason why everyone in the cast is struggling as we ain't use to singing songs like this, although the lyrics are very easy but the beat isn't.

TOP PART: PATRICE, LUCY, CHARLOTTE & MOLLY

BOTTOM PART: EDDIE, KENDRA, ARCHIE, MALCOLM

In this musical being placed on the top part has been a slight change to my singing career let me just say, as I've always been place at the bottom. So this was definitely something to get use to, I've learnt to liking to take on challenges and trying out new this because you'd never know where you other strengths lays at.

So I could truly say that from singing this song, it has definitely opened me up more as a singer, as in being able to come out of my shell and not being stuck in my comfort zone all the time.

UNIT:101

Dear Diary,

Lately I have been finding it really difficult to sing the 'Little More Homework' song from the musical Thirteen as it requires a lot of repetition and no spacing to breathe in between words.

From the early stages off my life I didn't know how to control my breathing through singing long phrases so it always resulted to cutting downs words in songs, in which I remember being called a singing robot by my singing teacher when I was really young. 

So right now I've started to notice that it is a major issue that I need to work on, as it causes me to panic so much while singing. I started thinking that the only way to get better with my breathing through singing to do specific exercise for that problem that I am facing.

I decided to follow on a breathing exercise regime to help me get better into nailing this only solo song section that I have in the musical Thirteen.

A way to get better is to notice how you normally breathe during the day, which includes talking or working out in the gym. Once you are able to figure it out you should come to terms on how to master your breathing, this can only happen I believe is to being determined and spending extra spare time practicing.

The very first thing for me was standing straight while singing which includes having a strong posture, which enables the sound to efficiently travel through your diagram out from your mouth.

I've learnt that a way to test that you are breathing correctly is to breathe deeply and hold it while looking in the mirror. Breathing and your shoulders elevating is a no no, it should be your torso expanding in a widely. So as weeks went by I started to test this technique by placing both of my hands underneath my chest, right above my stomach. Which I started experiencing a more pleasant time breathing through a song, as I felt more in control of everything.