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.