Dance Performance evaluation: Dance Tek Warriors.

Dance Tek warriors is a dance piece which consists of 7 dancers. The whole dance is based on a famous PlayStation game called Tekken. It is also highly inspired by Martial arts such as Capoeira. All of the dancers are portraying the roles of the warriors that are fighting against each other and at times, by themselves. There are different segments of the dance in which different warriors portray their own idea of the warrior theme. Some sections of the dance are more based towards one style of dance such as hip-hop, and some more towards martial arts.

In this unit my group re-created the Dance Tek warriors.
Rehearsal process:

The rehearsals went well considering that my group had a good connection so we would always communicate with each other about the dance and discuss anything that we have to change or develop. My self-discipline was good since I was always in role and was focused on rehearsing the dance to make sure that it looked the best it could. In my opinion, my attendance and punctually was really good since I didn’t miss that much important rehearsal lessons which would have an effect on my dance work. My relationship with the dancers in my group was really good since we always talked together and discussed anything that needed work and tried out new ideas using each other such as lifts. The time management was good because we gave each other enough time to go over any parts of the dance that we needed to work on and managed the time well enough to know everything that we’re doing. My group did a particularly good job since we were behaving professionally: we would rehearse for as much as time we had and when it was our turn to go on stage we were all prepared and we knew exactly what we were doing. This might be because we spent a lot of time rehearsing all together and correcting whatever we had to before the show.

My group developed the Dance Tek Warriors dance by adding in some moves that would fit in with the Tekken theme. This showed that we understood what the theme is and how we can use our own moves to create something similar. If some of the moves that we tried out didn’t work, we would go over the dance and think of better ways we could portray the Dance Tek warriors theme. We got a lot of hip hop moves since we all look really good in the style so it made the dance look even better.

Final Performance:

My group was opening the Dance show and it went really good. Our energy was great so it had a huge effect on the performance. One of my strengths was that I was really focused and I knew what I was doing. I didn’t forget any moves which shows that my movement memory was good. My arm extension was good and I can see that I’ve improved on it because before I would always have floppy arms and not extend them properly. I also had good movements in the improvisation section since my moves represented the warriors and how they would move and what they would do in a fight. In addition, another strength is my control of the moves, i would always know where my arms are going or my legs.

One of my main weaknesses was my timing. Sometimes I would too fast into the next movement then everyone else, or slow down when everyone else is on time. This makes a huge impact on the performance because if everyone is in time and I’m the only one with bad timing, it can be really noticeable.  Another weakness of mine is my facial expression. Throughout the whole dance performance I seem to have the same facial expression: Blank. This makes me look as if I can’t be bothered with the dance and that I’m not putting in effort. In addition, I have weak legs which can be seen in the performance when I do leg swings or kicks. My leg doesn’t swing high enough, like the other dancers. This can also be seen when we do a move that looks like a squat. I didn’t go low enough like the rest of the dancers which shows that I need to work on my strength in my legs. I tend to look down to the floor a lot when I’m dancing. This is because I’m thinking too much about what’s next rather than actually performing. Another weakness is that I’m not projecting enough. My moves were too small to be seen, and Dance Tek warriors is all about power and bold moves which shows that I didn’t have enough projection. Lastly, another weakness is that in my improvisation I repeat my moves. If I like the move and I think that it’s good I will use to all the time which is a bad thing because if I’m doing the same moves over again, it doesn’t look good.

Targets:

Mainly, I need to work on my timing. I will do this by rehearsing more with the dancers all together and really focus on being in time with all of them. I also need to work on my facial expressions and looking down at the floor. I will do this by doing varies of acting exercises which involve changing character. This will help me get into the character (for example a warrior) next time I perform. I need to work on my legs so I can kick higher and hold stronger poses. I will do this by doing leg exercises to strengthen them and by stretching so I am more flexible. 

Blogging my progress

The Barbican box: 

Lately we have been using the Barbican Box which contains props such as a military hat, a camera recorder, a cloth , an umbrella, paper money and a white mask. We've been using the pops to create short freeze frame stories. The props helped me create the freeze frame since I could imagine the scenarios with the prop and how I could use it.

Women's Right's:

We also used research material such as articles and images to choose what topic we want out show to be about. We came to the conclusion that we want to do Womens Rights which led us onto doing more research on the topic. I've found some interesting stories about women and their situations that are present, which helped me understand more what our show needs to be about. Going more into detail, my group chose domestic abuse which shows what rights women do and don't have. We show how some women are treated by men e.g: Punches, slapping and aggressive moves such as hair pulling.
In one of the lessons we did freeze frames which were linked in with Women's Right's. Whilst doing the freeze frames, I felt really powerful since I was the man that had control and power over the women.

After those lessons we have been working with Joyce which is performer that works with Complicite productions. She has done many exercises with us such as mr hit and ball games which got me thinking and more into an active mode. Later on she worked with us on freeze frames including the Barbican box. She did it in a way which we had to use number orders to create the scene. This helped me with creating the freeze frames since i could focus on the spacing more and how I can use the whole stage using myself and the props.
Here's a video of what my group has created in 2 lessons of Domestic abuse:

http://www.actorama.com/ms/919/Chance-Perez/The-Children-Of-Earth

http://www.bottletreeinc.com/monologues/pretty_pieces_stream.pdf

http://notmyshoes.net/monologues/jane.html

http://notmyshoes.net/monologues/kim.html

Research on women rights: 

https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/

Assignment.

Chicago:

Chicago is an american musical that was written and choreographed by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, which was one of the most famous jazz dance choreographers. The original broadway production first premiered on June 3rd, 1975. The show starred Chita Rivera as Velma, Gwen Verdon as Roxie and Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn. The musical won a numerous of awards such as six Drama Desk awards and six Tony awards.

Based on a 1920s play by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, the musical is based off real cryminals in chicago during that time.
The main character is called Roxie hart:

Shes a wannabe star who murders her lover and is arrested. The jail that she is sent to is called the Cook County jail. There, Roxie meets her idol, the famed murderers and nightclub performer Velma kelly. Those characters and the storyline are based on real-life events e.g the crimes that they have committed. The theme of this musical is women, sex and murder. All of the characters in the movie have their own story about the crime they have committed. The characterization is really bold, upfront and sexy. All of the characters express themselves in different ways such as dance movements but also different clothes and accessories. Most of the time, during their performances and solos , their costumes are very revealing and sexual such as fishnet tights or revealing tops.

The musical has a timeless quality which means that the issues that are portrayed in the musical, can reflect the society at any time. This is due to the theme of celebrity criminals, and how they get away with murder. This shows the social issues during the time which makes it an even more interesting musical.

Chicago: a music Vaudeville - Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. Vaudeville and Jazz music were very popular components of the 1920s music. Thos is why the musical socially reflects relevent issues.
When comparing the 1920s and 1970s you can see that even though Chicago was created in the 1970s, it's music was taken from the 1920s. The vaudeville and jazz music weren't popular in the 70s therefore the music was more socially understood of what issues occured at the time.
Chicagos idea of the "show" and celebrity criminal reflect the historical events which can be connected between the 1920s past and the 1970s era.
Another theme in the musical is marrige. The main character Roxie divorces her husband Amos, and cheats on him. During the 1970s ideas about marrige were changing and developing, therefore divorce and remarrigr was more popular. In the musical, Roxie and Amos end up remarrying eachother at the end of the show.
In addition to the history, feminism started to come along in the 1970s. Those were women that viewed themselves equal to men. They wanted to show that they dont need a man and thats what Roxie, velma and other murderes want to demonstrate. For example, In one of the musicals best known songs "Cell block tango" the women sing about how they killed their men and how they are better without them, which shows their independance.
In my opinion it's really effective because they tell their stories as if they didn't actually commit the crimes which links in with how the actual characters in real life might of thought about the crimes that they have committed. The songs are also really effective because they use dance as well as a speech to say what happened which makes it enjoyable to watch. Thats where Fred Ebb and Bob fosse got their inspiration from: The women that committed the crimes. They have put it in a good context in the musical since it reflects the justice system in the 1920's , about how the jail system really worked at that time in america and how women deal with their assaults.