U10 – Progression

Most of my work for unit 10 can be found in my paper-based portfolio.

19.09.16 – Unit 10 Progression, Year 2

Tonight I had a presentation evening in front of the year 2’s and their parents. I was really encouraged by the end of the night and it was great experience for me.

I was really nervous and I could feel myself getting tense so I did the exercise where you scrunch everything up from your chest to your head and then relax and you can tell the difference between the two.

When I got up to perform I was shaking, then I thought to myself that those who were watching are watching because they want to, not because they are forced. What is the worst that could happen? I could have forgotten my words or messed up but thats nothing huge, I’d just learn from that and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

I think that overall it went okay, I was so nervous that my tongue got stuck to the roof of my mouth and therefore the notes at the end of the piece sounded strained because I was thinking so much about detaching my tongue to my mouth. However, having singing lessons outside of college hours has really helped me with my pronunciation and confidence and I think tonight I have proved that. I had some really lovely feedback from my peers, tutors and family.

Looking back at the video clip I think that I did better that I thought I was doing. I felt as though I was walking around awkwardly but it looks natural on the clip and I think it would be what Julie would do in the show. Reaching the high notes is so much easier for me now than it was at the start of the year. Singing lessons for me have come a long way and they will help me until I go to drama school and learn more techniques and methods to sing without straining and reaching high notes without the worry of cracking your voice.

Audition prep – 30.09.16

Today in audition prep we were in T.007 and our teacher was Lynn. We were looking at different pieces that we had in our portfolio’s and handed them around the room so the year 1’s would have a chance to identify what they need to do for theirs. I decided that my monologue pieces are all dramatic and there isn’t much variation so therefore I will be picking different monologues as quickly as possible because my audition dates should be coming through the post soon.

We then talked about Shakespeare. As a whole, most of us misunderstood where to put the pronunciation so Lynn decided that we should focus the lesson on understanding Shakespeare. Firstly, we looked at Emphasis. The sentences that she used to explain this includes ‘I don’t like butter…’ You change the meaning depending on where you put the emphasis. I don’t like butter. I DON’T like butter. I don’t LIKE butter. I don’t like BUTTER.

We then looked at finding the subjects of the sentence. For example, “The boy kicks the dog”. The subject is doing the action, therefore the boy is the subject. Verb = Kicks. Object = Dog

So taking a section of Shakespeare Text:

“I know you all and will awhile uphold the unyoked humour of your idleness.”

The subject of this sentence is ‘I’. me.

The verb of this sentence is ‘know you’.

The object of this sentence is ‘you all’.

The meanings of some phrases/words.

Awhile – a little while

Uphold – next verb

The unyoked humour of your idleness – object

Yoke – meaning ‘milk maid’ wooden ties something together

Unyoke – Wild, Free, not held down

This is a yoke:

Use ‘nofearshakespeare’ to help with understanding of what the words and phrases means.

Think about it like, “where would I put the emphasis in modern English?”

INFLEXION – how it goes up and down

EMPHASIS – strong beat. ‘like’, ‘don’t’

Audition prep – 23.09.16

This morning we had audition preparation in the Dance Studio with Lynn and Sarah. To start with we were told that we would be learning a musical theatre dance. Sarah chose to do a piece from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ the song ‘Me Ol’bamboo’.

We then had Sarah who demonstrated what we were about to learn for an audition practise and then she taught us the routine quickly and efficiently. I felt a little rushed but considering what I had been like at the start of the first year I think I have come a really long way because I can pick up routines really quickly. Once we learnt the routine after about 10-15 minutes of learning it, we were split into 5 groups to present in front of the class. I really enjoyed performing in front of them all and by watching everyone else I learnt what I had to improve on and things that I preferred doing myself.

Looking back at what I had done today for the audition prep I think I could have been a bit more focused with what I had set out to do. I feel as though I was a little giddy because we were mixing with the year ones and I felt as though I had to show how good I was and I just got lost so many times learning the dance piece that I was embarrassed and was a little too hyped.

Here is the dance piece that we learnt. I wasn’t performing this at all when I am showing this on video, I was just remembering what we had done so I could remember how to do different styles. The song that we used was ‘Me Ol’bamboo’ from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Here is the video that shows me remembering the piece that we were taught 3 hours after the audition prep.

The second time that Sarah did this for the other group I asked to stay and watch her teaching technique so I can use it for the knowledge that I needed for my Task 2 presentation.

I think it has really helped me to identify what I need to do when I am teaching the class. Here are a few things that really stood out for me and I need to make sure that I do when I am teaching:

• Loud, Clear Voice
• Precise but simple instructions
• Revisiting the steps over again until everyone get the move and understands what is happening next
• Don’t make the dance piece too difficult to teach
• Slow and fast movements at different stages of the piece

Audition prep – 16.09.16

This morning I had audition prep with Sarah, Lynn and Han. I thought we would be doing a monologue so I had prepared a Shakespeare piece. I had Emelia’s monologue. Act 5 Scene 1 from The Comedy Of Errors. I had been rehearsing it for the past two days to make sure that it would be presentable and so I could think through the stage directions and what emotions she should be feeling, who she is talking to and about… Etc.

So we talked about writers and playwrites. Lynn listed a few that were new plays that would be good for us to look into getting. Here is a few written down on a Facebook screenshot that shows a few that we talked about:

The reason why we were looking into these playwrites was because at some drama schools, there are restrictions as to the dates of your pieces, be it monologues or songs.

Next, we split up into groups. I was with all Year 2 Dancers and Mt’s and Year 1 Dancers. We were with Sarah in the dance studio and she did an ‘audition prep’ of her own. She said that she would teach us a part of a dance and then see it straight away in little groups and if anyone forgets it, they would be cut immediately. Tom was cut first from the dance because he forgot the choreography.

I got through the first round. The second round was in smaller groups and there was more choreography to learn. So I performed with my face and body language throughout the time I had to do it back to Sarah. I got through the second round.

There were 6/7 people left in this round and they only needed 3 people. The pressure was on. For this round we used all of the choreography learnt beforehand but then we were to freestyle for a minute in the chorus section of the song. It was really intimidating having everyone stare at you. I didn’t go through this round unfortunately because I was doing an ‘uncomfortable face’. Sarah told me that she could tell that Iwas uncomfortable  and  I was showing that through my facial expressions.. Almost mocking the piece because I was so not used to improvising on the spot in Jazz.

So overall, I think I did considerably well just next time I need to forget about everyone else and just go for it without feeling out of place or uncomfortable.

 

Summer Work – 9.09.16

Modern Monologue – Gordon Steel

Play ‘Like a Virgin’

I think that personally I did a good job considering I didn’t realise that we would be showing our monologues in the morning. I do know the monologue but I was so nervous and I was picked first to do mine that I chose to take the monologue up with me. You can tell on the video that there are parts where I am more confident that others but on a whole I think I did pretty well.

Looking back I could have improved by thinking about how the character would feel after being told that she only has 4 weeks to live. What questions do I think she would have going around her head? Will dying hurt? Whats going to happen to me? How will my mum cope without having me there? What will Maxine think? Will she be about to cope without me? Maybe she secretly doesn’t like me and she wants me to die so she can have my records? Why was I born, only to die? Why me? How is that fair?

After practising with another person, it has helped me to think about staging. However, I need to keep doing this. Doing  it once isn’t going to help me at all. Trying different methods and emphasis’ on different words maybe help the audience to understand the emotions and atmosphere in the piece.