Urban 2/12/13

Today we discussed what is professionalism, this helped to understand the right techniques to work in this environment. 

We then discussed performance skills recapping what Chloe had discussed previous jazz lesson , the main aim was to focus on 'focus' while rehearsing. 

Once we had warmed up we went through the technical stamina, I needed to make sure that all the performance skills were interpreted. I felt my stamina is positively increasing at all times recalling this routine. 

We then ran through the urban routine, making sure all pattern work was corrected. On the last section , Kat went through the positioning and explained that the dynamics was to safe , therefore I needed to make sure the dynamics were much bigger. After that we went through the wacking , I was disappointed I was not picked for this section due to liking the style in advance , however I felt I did not perform it to a high standard and forget the movement when i hadn't done this before. However I did not let this get me down and practiced the end section , while Kat worked in the wacking placing it! 

All the sections were rehearsed and placed therefore this ment that we had finally finished the urban piece. 

Strengths; finally finishing the urban piece keeping my focus 

Remembered the new section Kat taught us in Thursday. And got this drilled. Interpreting technique and other performance skill in the technical stamina 

Weaknesses ; making silly movement mistakes , lacking confidants and therefore not being parts of sections.

I need to keep drilling these sections making all my dynamics on point. 

End section

Kat gave us the Oporttunity to rehearse in our chosen groups the end section so she could place, I felt much more stronger at the start than the second part. I also feel I work better at the front due to then working independantly on my own so that I do not need to have the support from others. I have found that this is the case so need to be performing near the front at all times to not get the comfort of distraction from others. 

I was put into the first section due to being much more comfortable performing this section . 

 

Strengths: being placed into the first section, having commitment and focus therefore I was able to not rely on anybody due to knowing it 

Weakness; 100% focus at all time, not relying on others movement memory, work independantly on my own . 

Wacking

Whole learning the wacking I had experienced workshops on this style before, therefore knew the technique & standaRds on how it should be performed. 

Kat taught us the wacking section. The moves I found were not complicated up until the end , were it did not feel natural to perform the moves. I found it difficult due to how fast it was. Yet some dancers had positive minds and wanted to me in this section for the show.

I really hope Im in this part due to having focus when performing this routine to make sure my movement is correct. However now getting the understanding of the moves without any confusion. I now feel I have got the moves, so just need to work on dynamics aswell as the characterisation due to the style being dead girly. 

I feel the girls work well as a group and everyone was commited to learn the wacking and stay behind a few times after class to rehearse. As its still the time management! Making sure everyone enters on at the same time aswell as finishing. 

On 2 December Kat is going to place the wacking. 

Rehearsals

Recapped on the sections that had been completed already, aswell as being positioned. On the urban I was selected to perform the start of the breaking section. I was pleased with this and needed to make sure that I drill this section non stop. 

We learnt the wacking section, this was mixed emotions. I learnt wacking before, so know how it should look/ be performed. However , the speed of this is very fast and due to this, it interfers with my technique.

Kat told me how I needed to roll my arms more so that is is cm away from touching my back of shoulders, I took this into consideration. However when I think about the moves to much I then forget about technique so I need to get out this habit. 

I feel pleased that the urban is coming along more than last week. I am happy with what sections I am in. Therefore I just need to rehearse 100% at all times to get to an outstanding level ready for the show. 

25/12 - urban show dance

Today we learnt the rest of urban, the commercial style for a section. The dance was based on a will smith song , which is based at a New Years party. Changing era, during learning the commercial, I found it difficult to focus due to having bad pains on the side of my leg,, however I tried & got placed into the first section. I was happy with this as felt much more confident on that section. Drilling the sections so Kat could decide placements helped me alot due to drilling & it getting memorised into my brain. I  have the choreography for this section I know need to work on technique. 

Recapped the wacking , I find the wacking fast and feel that there is potential for myself to pull this off, I need to stop focusing on others and perform how I think it is performed until Kat Subscribes different. 

Strengths ; remembered the choreography and due to this we could just drill the start section. 

Getting placed therefore boosts up my self confidence. 

Remembered the placements that had been set already & therefore could drill full out. 

Weaknesses ; still not got the full piece of wacking yet, need to work as a team and interpret sexiness from girls 

Loosing concentration near the end. Need to make sure that I have the same amount of energy throughout ! 

Overall I really like the urban piece, due to this I feel comfortable performing this choreography ANd therefore have a positive mind when learning more 

Locking routine

Today Kat taught us a locking routine, I had mixed expressions and motions . I had been taught locking before so had an overlook of what / how it is performed. 

I found at the start the locking routine, started well I could perform the moves , and understood clearly. 

However when the second section came along it got alot more complicated! The main issue for this was co-ordination , I kept getting confused on which leg was popping out and what arm. However I felt when I performed it slowly going over the movement I got it , yet when dynamics came into hand becoming much more faster I struggled. Kat explained if I can just get the arms and legs in co - ordination and drill this until perfect then I can move onto the development but it is important to get the Basics first! 

Strengths ;

I did not give up, I did not say ' I can't do this' positive attitude throughout 

I added character to the performance and this came naturally to expressing an over welmed expression, happy, joly smiling! 

Good wrist control throughout. Performing this with dynamics of sharpness, with alot of force. 

Weaknesses; 

Coordination on the leg movement, need to make sure it is alternative from the arms and legs

Make sure it is relaxed & not up right fully, good posture but making sure legs are slightly bent 

I really enjoyed learning the locking routine due to so many Actions that can be made throughout this dance. Due to a performance I watched today on YouTube , and seeing the level of characterisation that can be improvised into locking , has made me think deeply of interpretating this into my solo dance, as my main strength when dancing is the level of characterisation that I put into my performance and I think I can express and interpret this a lot . 

30th september 2013

In Todays class the Learning objectives were:
Develop on Blogs due to technical problems on accessing them.
Develop health and safety presentation
peer observation - Learning Mike's and Brodies workshop
Recap Urban Dance

On the Health and safety presention there is a section where I will need to analyse about Diet, and eating healthy, so today I learnt all the food groups that intergrate into the food plate/ pyramid.

17th September 2013

Styles of urban dance 

Street 

Lyrical 

Locking - 1970's James Brian 

Popping 

Krumping 

House 

Commercial 

Old Skool hip-hop - 80's - 90's 

Boys per men - fad dancers 

Nu Skool hip - hop 

Whacking 

Freestyle - own interpretation 

 

What is a tempo ?

Every. Best per minute 

Today in class I learnt a lot of different urban styles I did not realise there was this many or a variety of styles came upon this category. There was a few styles that I had never heard of before and therefore I will look up these styles to widen my range.

Health and safety presentation (draft)

My presentation will be presented with Billie. We will dicuss and provide research on health and safety for a performer. 

It is important that we warm up before a class and cool down because when warming up this will increase the blood flow making the muscles warm up. Also warming up will stop the percentage of joint/ muscle injury. 

When warming up you start gentle and slow and then gradually get more faster and intense performing this will gradually will increase the body's temperature and therefore will make contractions & force much more powerfully performed. 

During being part of a dance crew I was made to wear a lot of layers of clothing. My dance teacher explained the more clothing you have will limit your performance and therefore you will need to put a lot more force & effort into the movements, yet when it comes to the performance day/ night you wear hardly any clothing and will find it highly more easier & the level of performance will be fantastic due to having no restrictions. 

This therefore worked and I always did this during rehearsals for a show or competition.

Exercise description: 

There are many simple exercises that will get you warmed up . 

Walking that could then lead into jogging & running , this will get the temperature of the body increasing vary.

Dynamic stretches to reduce muscle stiffness. 

Specific stretches for the different parts of the body you are going to be using. Eg. If you are going to be using your legs for ballet then intense stretches on the legs are needed before this commences.

Whole rehearsing you should have a positive attitude at all times !! Also a 'I want to learn ' as if this is not the attitude while rehearsing then the atmosphere will be very dull & will effect your own personal learning but also the other peers 

Everyone is learning. No body is perfect and therefore you should respect each individual performer how you want to be treated. So showing respect, dignity & a positive approach invade they need help or advice then smiling and being polite is a must! Yourself and the teacher should have a strong bond, treating each other with respect on how each wants to be treated, we are all wanting to learn , so therefore we look up to the teacher showing respect & listen at all times.

An appropriate environment in which I could dance in would be , no obstacles to restrict my space. We do not have strung floor yet If we did then respect this  and use it always in the correct manner.

When dancing all day it can get very hot, so the correct temperature for the dance studio should be always correct. The temperature is between 18-21 degrees .

No food or drink should ever be consumed in a dance studio, by obeying these rules will therefore enhance no spillages.

Being fully alert in the dance studio is very important due to yourself not being the only performer in there, you need to be aware of each other but also being fair on the levels of room you have each to rehearse / perform.

Clothing & footwear is essential! Having the correct footwear is important , due to different styles of dancing you will all be aware of the different footwear used, eg,

Tap dance - tap shoes 

Ballet - ballet shoes 

Contempary - jazz shoes 

Jazz - jazz shoes 

Street dance - trainers 

You must never wear jewellery during practical , this is not just for your own personal safety but also others , wearing rings & necklaces while performing a lift can be dangerous, as the performer could move there arm & rip it accidentally out. There are many dangers and stories of performers wearing jewellery while doing any performance. 

Hair must be up , neat and tidy in a bun , this is to stop any distraction for yourself but also individually not hideing under your hair when performing as this can restrict the visibility of judges seeing your presentation & facial expressions.

At all times you should walk into the studio wanting and ready to learn . 

100% commitment is recommended at all times, making sure the level of concentration is on point , by showing your committed & wanting to learn. 100% focus is needed at all times, by having this it will help through development and experience. 

Diet :

At all times you should be eating a healthy well balanced diet. 

There are a range of health issues if to much fatty/ unhealthy foods are consumed, 

( look into this more detail) 

Slow release food is important expecislly to start up your day of dancing. Porridge, weetabix, bananas are a good well known source of slow release energy. 

Urban Dance;

I struggled on some movements of performance, yet this was because of simple foot techniques that I kept miss placing. Yet due to this I kept puttting the commitement into this and carried on learning thye next part. Once all performers kept repeating the dance I personally felt much more positive when i performed the choreography. I then got into a small group and performed the Dance infront of the class, this helped as I could visualise each performers techniques, to make sure that I was performing the choreography correctly but also see how each performer made it there own style and used different dynamcis. I performed the dance twice, one with Kat dancing alongside us but also then on are own in the group, this helped alot due to not reliying on Kat and watching her as a guide.

I had never been taught Urban before so I personally found this very interesting due to all the moves being new to me. This therefore was already widering my range of styles and technique that I can use in the near future for choreography and auditions.

I learnt alot of new vocabalary in todays lesson. These were names I had never heard of before and therefore the names were unusual so I found them easy to remember.

The names that I learnt interacted with each movement these were;

Cabbage patch move -

Bart simpson - The Bart Simpson was very sharp, making sure that you hit the beat. The move was all in the arms, hitting the beat when the arms elevated to the top.

Smurf - The Dynamics for the Smurf was very gentle, pushing each arm individuallly to the front, in  a slow motion groove.