Evaluation of Overdrive:

My class did a re-creation of the Overdrive dance (Choreographed by Richard Alston) which is a contemporary dance that is based on simple yet challenging moves that involve angles and direction.

In general I'm quite happy about the performance since our group was quite good at timing in comparison to our rehearsals. We also added in loads of energy which made the performance look better.
One of my weaknesses was that I wasn't fully extending my moves which made it look like i wasn't bothered to do the dance. One example is when we do the butterfly, my head and spine didn't go as low as it should be like everyone Else's which made me look really odd. Another weakness is that sometimes I wouldn't be on time with everyone else so I'd do the moves either slower or quicker then my group mates. In addition I also got the choreography wrong when we were in my groups because I got distracted by something which made me lose my focus and do moves that weren't in the right order.

My main strength I think was that in the section 1 & 2 I had good focus since I knew what moves came along next and what I was doing. Furthermore, I can also see that i was focused since I got all my directions and most angles right which was really important in this piece since the dance is all about angles and planes.

Rehearsal skills:
In my opinion my approach to class is quite good as well as my discipline, since I always come prepared and ready to do whatever tasks I am set. In my opinion my best lesson was when I had to create my own section of overdrive since I enjoy creating my own dance sequences. I also enjoyed it because I got to perform it in the dance show when I was in a group of four. In class, I would need to improve on putting in more energy to everything I do, so when it comes to the show I'm ready to give in as much energy in as usual. Apart from the time that I am given in class, I should've rehearsed more outside of these classes so I would've been more confident in performing. Even though I only practised in the lessons that I was given, I think that my movement memory was quite good because I knew what I was doing. I think that the reason why I didn't rehearse outside of lessons is because I knew the movements.

Response to direction:
I think that I apply most of the feedback that I get from my teacher as well as my class mates. It really helps me since I get to see what I'm doing wrong and it helps me improve it so I do the dance/techniques correctly. In addition, I can also set targets for my self, after I get feedback from my teacher and my class mates which is a bit more personal so I would focus on doing the targets as well. The targets that I get or the ones that I set myself , I write them down in my notes so later on I can blog them. Next time to help my development I will definitely practise my dance routines outside of the given lessons. I will also write more about the work that I do in class and what I need to improve on in class which will help me with me developing my skills and improving the quality of my dance performance.

Use of technique:
One of the moments where I danced well was the Section 2: The very first phrase when we're facing the back. There was a part in my group where I had done some moves twice because I got distracted. Soon after I tried to get back into the original choreography and finished it off.

Use of physical skills:
The movements that I found easy were the section 2. I think this because I enjoyed that section the most out of the whole dance so I found it easier. For the rehearsals I had to go over my routine from the group section to make sure I know all the moves. I think that my alignment was quite good as well as my arms. The turn out weren't that good overall so that's one thing that I need to work on which is controlling my legs so they're in a turn out. The spacing of my little group was kind of good since we arranged where each one of us are going to travel and move around with so we found it easier. In my opinion I did the best as I could but not on some of the moves E.G the high kicks which I found hard since I'm not flexible enough.

Personal interpretation:
The music helped me with the counts since I used the beat of the music to move around when I needed to. I felt quite weird during the dance since it was more about the simple movement than emotions which was shown by the change in direction and sharp angles. In my opinion most of the most needed to be done sharp and properly and not relaxed. Specific phrases were for example, the bit where do a step-ball-change to the left and then turn around to run into a shape which would only look good if our moves were sharp and our arms extended.

Performing skills:
I think the dance was quite clear since it was simple and we had repetition of sections in it such as section 1 at the beginning and at the end. To make it more effective I could've made my moves more bold, so extend my legs and arms to the fullest. I think I did look confident in most of the performance apart from the little group section. I wanted to convey the idea of being really serious and collected because that's what the dance seems like.

Reflection:
Id probably advise myself not to worry so much about the dance and enjoy myself so that would also affect the audience.
3 Targets:
-Don't stress over the dance because you might perform it worse so just enjoy it.
-Rehearse the dance outside of given lessons.
-Put in more energy to the dance so it looks more fun and energetic.