Full day of rehearsal and show day 17/12/14

Today we went through the first scene and planned all of the lighting and music queues. For the first scene it was decided that when our areas were not lit that we would be in a freeze frame. I think that this worked well as it did not draw attention away from the scenes that were happening, and told the audience where the action was taking place.

After this we then managed to get in a full run through of the play, this entailed in starting inside with all props, set lights and music. We then rehearsed it with the audience exiting and which way we would all go into the performance space outside. Over all the run outside went well and made me more confident of my lines and what I was to be doing, without stopping. The only problem that arose for me was my props and where and when I needed them. This then slowed down the run, however to get around this before the shows I made my self a props set list. on this list it told me where all of my props needed to be before we started and where or who I needed to give them to after I had used them. Most of my props started off behind the bakery bar in my bag which I collect half way through scene 1. I also planned with Paris (Mystery Man) that we would place the money sack in a bush backstage on exit 5 at the start of the show, so that it was already there at the start of scene 4. During this rehearsal I also saw a problem in my bag. which my character wears in every scene, and was not sure what to do with it during songs and dances. It was then decided that I would keep it on and then see how this worked out during the first shows.

Working out the technical elements 11/12/14

In todays lesson we worked out a lot of the technical elements within the play, mainly thinking about entrances and exits. All of my exits and entrance points worked well with each other, and it made it clear to the story what my character was doing. The only entrance that was a problem is when I exit from 'It takes two' and then come in straight for 'Stay with me'. I did not have enough time to get from exit point 1 which is through the audience and then come round onto stage on entrance 4 which is at the back of the stage. I then changed it that I came straight back in on entrance 1, just at a later time than I use to. I feel that coming in slower made the song change as it looked a lot more flowing and dreamy, rather than the sharp movements that we would sometimes do.

For the 'Stay with me dance' we were told that it was to be slower as this is how it is sang. To make my movements seem slower and more fluent, I came up with a separate story for my character to fit along side the lyrics, This was all about how The Baker wants his wife to stay with him and how he is sorry for how he treated her. I could tell that this was effective as at the end of the song  we partner up and have a small interaction with our partners, mine being the Bakers Wife. we then changed it to us coming together then slowly drifting away. We could tell that this was effective due to the other characters responses as we all began to work off each other.

I feel that during this rehearsal is when I first felt like the show came together as a whole, as people gave all of their energy and started to respond of others and the musical a compliment.

Production Roles - Costume

For my production role i am part of the costume team, we have taken some inspiration from past productions of Into The Woods. and have also mindmaped ideas for our selfs.

The Wolf
For the wolf we have steared away from the past productions, and thought of something brand new. Instead of having a classic, fancy dress looking wolf, we have made him alot more upper class, by wearing a suit, top hat
and cane. this brings in the character of a sly, creepy and a character that can talk his way around everything,

To still make it recognisable to an audience that this character is still representing the Big Bad Wolf from the well known fairytale, we have added in an indication for the fur, with the furry material, adding it from coming out of the split seams, and down the sided of the trousers. We also added ears to the top hat for the comical value of the character, being abit clumsy and sleesy.

 

 

The Witch

 

For the witch I kept it very simple, having just a plain black cape, to make her look mysterious and old. Under this she would wear a bright red dress for when she transformed to the beautiful witch. This is a big contrast from the dull boring costume that she had before. I don't think that the costume needed to be easily recognisable as a witch as the character is very recognisable due to characterisation.

 

 

 

The Narrator

 

For the narrator I wanted to keep it very formal and assertive. I did this by having a black piny dress with a white shirt. This kept them very neutral so that they don't steer away from other character that bring the story to life.

 

 

 

Little Red Riding Hood

 

 

For this costume I had to keep quite close to tradition, sticking with the main colour as red was very important. I tried to keep it very child like with the skirt and t-shirt tucked in. I think this highlights the sweet, innocent and vulnerable characteristics of the character, while still having the main colour of red so that the audience can make the connection between the character. This colour also represents danger and leads up to what may be happening from within the story.

 



 

 

The Prince's

 

For the princes I stuck with very royal colours, Reds and Blues with gold accessories. This seems very grand. and then the two princes, with different colours then can be linked to their princesses. In a tight time scale i would just make the sashes for the princes as it still shows their royal statuses and is an easy costume to take on and off.

 

 

 

The Bakers Wife

 

For the Bakers Wife I have stuck to traditions, I researched olden bakerys and they would usually wear their casual clothes yet with their aprons over the top. I made this more child friendly by adding the bright colours

 

 

 







Focus on acting techniques within 'Into The Woods' 9/12/14

In today's lesson we focused on the little bits of the performance that needed work to do with our acting techniques and characterisation.

I looked into how my character has travelled throughout the play, looking particularly at what my character has been doing before scenes to come. For example at the start of scene 4 my character enters the scene having been to get another cow to give to the Witch. My character may have had quite a tough time in getting this cow, or it may have been a case of just finding another cow within the village. I show my characters struggle through the line "Iv'e the cow". I played around with vocal techniques such as pitch and pace. by saying this line very slow and low in pitch towards the end, it makes the tone of my character seem very fed up, tired and like he had given up. This tells an audience that he has been through a lot to get to where he is just from changing on line and how it is said.

Another example where i looked into my characters feeling that were not obvious in the text is when The Baker and Jack first meet. The Baker tries to deceive Jack in believing that the beans are magic. I slowed down every line, making my pitch higher at the end to show that it was a lie. This made it seem really interesting what my character was saying. I could tell that this was effective due to others reactions in character, Jack opened his eyes wide to show him falling for the trap that The Baker was setting him up for.

Variety Performance Report

Historical Context of Variety

American Vaudeville-
Vaudeville

18/11/2014

In todays lesson, as we had finished developing the scenes, we began work on some of the bits that needed more attension. such as scene 2 and the start of 3, we did our first rehearsal outside in the performance area. This took more time, as some of the entrances and exits had to be swapped to make it fit in the area. Such as where my character first entered the woods, and spots LRRH and the Wolf. As when we blocked this in the studio i entered and hid behind as tree, however in our new area there is nothing to use, so i had to change my que line to a later time, and just walk in and merge from the trees/bushes

I felt that by entering at a later date and using the scenary such as the trees, i could really creap in on them and be able to catch LRRH by suprise.

We also did a technical run after college, this involved putting up the seating rig and working out where different parts of the set were going, once we had put up the seating rig, we noticed that we had a lot more space at the front of the stage, we took advantage of this in the scene for It Takes Two, as we now come alot closer to the audience as i sweap bryleah down and around the stage. I  was also given the take of building the rapunzel tower, this is made up from staging blocks stacked then going down at the back in a stair like fashion.

11/11/14 Developing scene four and open evening rehearsals.

We began to do more in detail work on scene 4 today, I feel that this scene is very significant to the show, as this is where it all comes together, The Baker and his wife get a new cow and the slipper and give all of the objects to the Witch so that the curse can be lifted.

in the first unit of scene 4 my characters objective is to move on and start searching for a new cow, my character seems very controlling by ordering the Bakers Wife into going to find another cow and gives her a bean and tells her to "Tell them its magic". I delivered these lines with enthusiasm as my character knows that there is not much time left to get the items, My character then turns very cold, when it is suggested that he goes to find a new cow as he feels that the roles have been reversed and that he doesn't have much of the control in the relationship any more. This is where the it becomes clear to an audience that the Baker cares so much for his family and having a happy life, that he would even turn on his wife, and say something that is very personal to her. By doing extra work on these lines, I tried to say the line " Then resign yourself to a childless life". In lots of different way, by changing the pace and volume, I felt that I worked best saying it fast and loud as if my character didn't mean to say to his wife, and that I just slipped out at the spur of the moment. As I didn't feel it right to say it slow and quiet in a dark and mean way, as my character is mean he just wants a family and what is best for his wife, not to hurt or push her away.

After this scene my character is in the dance in the background of Stay With Me. In this dance we have to keep our movements slow and flowing, as we want to look mesmerising and not draw attention away from the Witch and Rapunzel. However still keeping our characterisation from the other scenes, where we are scared of the woods and what may lay ahead.

Homework

Assignment Brief

It Take Two duet with Kim

When we first rehearsed this song we just sang it to get used to the lyrics, the first few lines I did I say fairly low, which I felt comfort with, then to push me even further, Kim pushed me to sing it higher like the man in the soundtrack.

There is one part in the song where the two parts harmonise on the line "and once were past, lets hope the changes last". I found it difficult to get the notes right, so to understand where to go up and down Kim got me to draw in arrows next to the words where to change note. I could then follow this when singing. However I still had difficulties with the harmonising so it was suggested that we switch the parts round so that I felt more comfortable with it. With some more rehearsal I will hopefully get to know the part and then look into adding some characterisation.

It Takes Two Dance with Kat

For this song we got a lot of inspiration from the rumba, which is a Latin dance which is linked to romance and love.

In the bit where of the song where Bryleah (Bakers Wife) is singing we mainly stick to the basic rumba foot steps in a generic hold. This gives it a slow, loving feel and looks very sweet. When doing this I have a lot of focus on my arms and have extension which reaching my arms over. When I start to sing I have Bryleah in a hold and then slide down onto one knee. During my singing it is very slow and ends with us walking around the area. We are to use facial expression to show our love between each other.

My main goal to improve this dance is to get the story between the two characters right, I feel that Bryleah has the right level of tension and love between the couple, and she really shows this through her face and her eye contact. I will go through the song and pin point parts where I will have strong eye contact with her to raise the tension and then break it off and then come back to it. I think that this performance skill will help to tell the story of the two characters and why they care so much about each other. In one weeks time I will be showing this dance to the rest of the class, and by then I hope to get the right feeling in the dance and show the passion between the couple through my use of facial exspression.

17th October 2014 Opening song dance

In todays lesson with Kat we were taught the opening dance. We were taught the main marching sequence which is revolved around marching in a box, and then we had to devise our own 8 beat sequence to add into it. We then put this all together to the music and worked out all of the transitions. For the marching sequence we have to have strong extension and sharp punchy moves to fit with the fast beats of the music.

There is one bit with in the song where the Baker and Cinderella have a line together "There's something in the glade there". We had originally choreographed to have a lift on this line yet it was said that it didn't really fit in with our characterisation of two scared characters.

For the 8 beats I had chosen to do a fast piece with different levels, however during the song I have a solo line when it is this part so I had to change it to something different so that I am in the right position to sing my lines.

My target for my opening song is to work on my musicality with the song, I think by making my movements in time with the song will give me the chance to bring my character to life. I think that this will help bring my character fear of the woods to life. I will go over the dance at  home in my own time and go over the dance and add little trait to show my characters fear. I hope to have this complete before the next run of the opening scene, so I can use the other characters in the scene to bump up my characterisation.

Dance Performance final 26th September 2014

My Final Dance

For our first dance assessment we devised and performed our own interpretation of DV8 Enter Achilles. This style of dance is contemporary, using physical theatre to give the piece a non-naturalistic theme. Our piece is about 'Lads' getting ready to go out to a bar and then their mannerisms whilst they are drunk. We performed this in the dance studio in front of the class.

 The start of our piece focused more on the characters meeting up and greeting each other. To show this as I entered I waved my hand up in the air to say hello to other characters. To still show my characterisation of a drunken man I really flopped my arm around whilst having my knees bent to keep my core closer to the ground. As it went on when we had all entered we went into the main dance this features a sequence of moves, such as we started off by swaying side to side and raising our glass. We repeated this move a few times at the start of the piece. To show our characterisation had my knees bent and swayed a lot, sometimes not to the rhythm of the music. Another move that featured was when we all dropped down onto one knee in unison. we then all jumped up onto our feet using our right hands as pivots. This move is what brought a non-naturalistic theme to our piece as this is not what you would expect to see with these types of characters.

One of my strengths of my performance was that I had good focus and good extension of my limbs. I did this by by keeping my arms as straight as possible, like when I raised my glass up I pushed my arms as far as they would go and then kept my focus onto the cup by pointing my eye contact towards them, as this is the focus of the piece. I belive that this is one of my strength as during the performance I could feel that I was pushing my extension as far as I could. Another one of my strengths would be my timing, I felt confident with when I should be doing things in the piece. When going into the main dance from the entrance sequence I knew the timings well and didn't rely on the rest of the group when to go into the next moves. One of my strengths when it comes to my interpretive skills I felt confident about my characterisation of the scene. I kept in character throughout, by keeping my knees bent and stumbling around as if I was drunk. I feel that my characterisation really helped the audience understand what was happening within the piece.

However one of my weaker points within my performance was my flexibility in my physical skills, When performing I felt that my basic dance skills, like when getting up from being down on one knee could of been done a lot smoother. I felt this could be done with a lot more confidence and fluency. With my interpretive skills I think that I could have improved on my facial expressions, during my performance my facial expression did not fit my character very well, it was very clear through my face that I was concentrating to much on the moves and what I would be doing next, if I was to do this again I would pay more attention on what my face is doing, by thinking about eye contact with other characters.

Overall, in order to improve my performance I will think about my confidence in the moves that I am doing and believing that I know what I am doing, I could already see a improvement in this from my first performance. For the next performance that I do I will pay a lot more attention in what I am doing and focus on my characterisation rather than the moves. Another target for my self is to be more adventurous with the moves that I choose to do. For this last performance I kept my moves very simple and not really stretching myself with what I did. To improve further I think that I need to challenge myself more by being rehearsing more to get my performance to a higher level, I will use my spare time to make my performance level higher, I will hopefully see an improvement in this soon.

 

dance skill definition

Physical 

• Posture - Having a good structure not to cause strain or hurt 
• Flexibility - The ability to bend without breakage or strain
• Balance - The ability to hold a position without struggle or wobble
• Strength - The ability to do things that require a lots
• Stamina - To keep doing something for a length of time and keep it up 
• Co-ordination - To be able to do two or more things at once with holding focus
• Extension -
• Alignment - showing clear lines in what you do and showing a well choreographed piece

Interpretative 

• Focus - how intense you make a piece by looking and concentrating on something or making it loose and messy.
• Facial Expression - Showing your emotion through your face to bring characterisation to a dance
• Projection - How you project a story or emotion through a dance
• Musicality - How well you keep in time to the music and do different moves on every beat.

Developing scene 3 and after college rehearsals. 6th November 2014

In todays rehearsal we started to work on scene three yet didn't get very far as we assigned production roles. I was given the role of costume, along side Jess and Izzy. We are going to start looking into the costumes of past productions and then think of new ideas using inspiration.

In scene three my character runs into Bakers Wife in the woods. my character tells her that he will make things right and then they "can just go about our life. No more hunting about in the woods for strange objects. No more Witches and dim-witted boys and hungry little girls". I feel that this really tells the audience about how he just wants to make things right for her so that she can have a nice life. I really like this line as it really shows how much he cares for her and how much their family and relationship means to him.

This scene also contains the Baker and his Wives duet "It Takes Two". this is when the start to look up at things as they find more items for the Witch, later to find out that one is soon to die. In rehearsal we didn't spend to long on doing this song in setting it as we are going to work on it with Kat and get a dance into it. Our director told us some general ideas on what to do like basic ballroom hold and spinning as it creates a romantic loving feel and show their true love for one another. We then relayed this over to Kat to put into the choreography.

After college we carried on with scene doing other parts, however I was not in any of these bit so I spoke to Jess and Izzy about possible ideas for costume.

Developing scene 2 4th November 2014

In todays lesson we looked further into scene 2. In this scene this is the first time that the characters are in the woods. My character is first scene by Little Red Riding Hood and goes to get the cape. The baker steals the cape from her shoulders, then feels to guilty that he takes it back. I really worked on showing the guilt through my non verbal communication, by giving eye contact to the audience and biting my lip. Although it is instructed in the script for my character to run on to give the cape back to stop the crying, I felt to show the guilt I would walk on slower, so I came in slowly and made eye contact with the audience then ran over to LRRH.

My character also comes across Jack. This is where we find the cow and offer Jack the "magic" beans for it. This is where is comes first clear to the audience how much this means to my character and how he wants to do this by himself and not with his wife's help.

The audience would see my character as being quite mean and just wanting to take all of the glory by doing everything himself. But it comes clearer later on in the scene. My Director said that I should soften the line "Go Home, I will carry this out in my own fashion". As by shouting made my character seem harsh and controlling yet we want the audience to start to understand my characters true intensions.

Towards the end of the scene the Baker kills the wolf and then Granny gets confused and thinks that I am a hunter rather than the Baker. I then have a line "I am a baker". I rehearsed this line by saying it loud with pride yet the director said to say it a lot more shy as I don't have much pride in my job and feel a bit worthless.

Developing Scene 1 30th October 2014

In todays lesson we began looking into scene one again yet in a lot more depth and accuracy. As we had already done the blocking we knew where we were going to enter, exit and stand. So now we could look into conveying the meaning of the words and start to think about how we were to say them.

We started of by focusing on the opening sequence, and getting all of the timings right. When we first did our blocking me and Bryleah (Bakers Wife) mimed making the bread and taking it to the ovens. However when we revisited this in developing I felt that it looked very repetitive and dragged on a bit. So we changed it up by making some bread, mopping the floors and cleaning the surfaces. In rehearsal I find it hard to get into this sequence as we don't have any props yet and the work bench is not there. Yet with the props and set I think I could really get into the character of the Baker being this friendly, loving, hard working man.

Later on in the scene my peers felt that when the Witch came in that The Baker and his Wife were together to much and that the Baker should break away from her and get closer to the Witch. I did this on the line "I had a brother". On this line I walk towards the Witch to help show the interest of my character that I may have possible family.

Dance Performance final 26th September 2014

Dance Performance final 26th September 2014

My Final Dance

For our first dance assessment we devised and performed our own interpretation of DV8 Enter Achilles. This style of dance is contemporary, using physical theatre to give the piece a non-naturalistic theme. Our piece is about 'Lads' getting ready to go out to a bar and then their mannerisms whilst they are drunk. We performed this in the dance studio in front of the class.

 The start of our piece focused more on the characters meeting up and greeting each other. To show this as I entered I waved my hand up in the air to say hello to other characters. To still show my characterisation of a drunken man I really flopped my arm around whilst having my knees bent to keep my core closer to the ground. As it went on when we had all entered we went into the main dance this features a sequence of moves, such as we started off by swaying side to side and raising our glass. We repeated this move a few times at the start of the piece. To show our characterisation had my knees bent and swayed a lot, sometimes not to the rhythm of the music. Another move that featured was when we all dropped down onto one knee in unison. we then all jumped up onto our feet using our right hands as pivots. This move is what brought a non-naturalistic theme to our piece as this is not what you would expect to see with these types of characters.

One of my strengths of my performance was that I had good focus and good extension of my limbs. I did this by by keeping my arms as straight as possible, like when I raised my glass up I pushed my arms as far as they would go and then kept my focus onto the cup by pointing my eye contact towards them, as this is the focus of the piece. I belive that this is one of my strength as during the performance I could feel that I was pushing my extension as far as I could. Another one of my strengths would be my timing, I felt confident with when I should be doing things in the piece. When going into the main dance from the entrance sequence I knew the timings well and didn't rely on the rest of the group when to go into the next moves. One of my strengths when it comes to my interpretive skills I felt confident about my characterisation of the scene. I kept in character throughout, by keeping my knees bent and stumbling around as if I was drunk. I feel that my characterisation really helped the audience understand what was happening within the piece.

However one of my weaker points within my performance was my flexibility in my physical skills, When performing I felt that my basic dance skills, like when getting up from being down on one knee could of been done a lot smoother. I felt this could be done with a lot more confidence and fluency. With my interpretive skills I think that I could have improved on my facial expressions, during my performance my facial expression did not fit my character very well, it was very clear through my face that I was concentrating to much on the moves and what I would be doing next, if I was to do this again I would pay more attention on what my face is doing, by thinking about eye contact with other characters.

Overall, in order to improve my performance I will think about my confidence in the moves that I am doing and believing that I know what I am doing, I could already see a improvement in this from my first performance. For the next performance that I do I will pay a lot more attention in what I am doing and focus on my characterisation rather than the moves. Another target for my self is to be more adventurous with the moves that I choose to do. For this last performance I kept my moves very simple and not really stretching myself with what I did. To improve further I think that I need to challenge myself more by being rehearsing more to get my performance to a higher level, I will use my spare time to make my performance level higher, I will hopefully see an improvement in this soon.

Blocking Scene 5

My character is only in scene 5 for the end song. I enter for DSL with my wife who is pregnant. We then come into the semi circle arcing round the audience to sing the final song. During this song we have kept the choreography simple with just us all standing with some simple gestures and hand movements.

Blocking scene 4 Into the woods

In scene 4 the baker is starting to get in a panic as the cow has just died and the baker is starting to let bakers wife help him with finding the things. This is also where the we give the Witch all of the objects so that we can have a child.

We focused a lot on the stage directions within this scene, as we had to get the timings right of giving the Witch the items. I was given the role of going and getting the corn to give to her once the hair doesn't work.

At the end of this scene my character finds out that mystery man is his father but then he dies as the potion is made.

I added some vocal details on how to deliver my lines with the right tension and upset even though my character is just about to get a child. i cross over to my father as he is on the right of the stage where i am on the back left with the Witch doing the potion. As my character is not in scene 4 much i worked on my lines and started to think of some ideas to do for the It Takes Two dance with Bryleah (Bakers Wife).

Understanding my character of the Baker from Into the Woods

The Baker-

Deviant art (2008) [Online] Available from:

http://ciro1984.deviantart.com/art/Into-the-Woods-preview-Baker-80278760

[accessed: 10/11/2014]

Things I know about my character:

• He cant have children due to a curse put onto his parents by the witch.
• The baker thinks he lost his parents in a baking accident.
• The baker has a sister that he doesn't know about (Rapunzel).
• He is in fear of the Witch due to an incident with her and his parents when they were caught stealing from her garden.
•  The Bakers father is really alive and the baker meets him in the play.

The character of the Baker is very strong and it is clear to the audience that he cares for his wife a lot. In the play the baker forbids his wife from being in the woods with him, she takes this in the wrong way, as him not wanting to spend time with her. However he only wont let her as he cares so much for her and he realises what dangers are in the woods. I would assume that my character feels guilt towards his wife as he can see how much she wants a child, and he sees it as his fault for her not being able to have one as the curse was put on his family, I think this is one of the reasons that he is so dedicated to finding the four items that the witch wants to be able to reverse the curse. The baker then realises in scene 3 that his wife keeps coming to the woods to help as she cares for their family as much as he does, I think from this moment on in the script the become closer and work more as a team. At the end of the play, when the baker realises that the items are not valid as the witch had been in contact with them. This makes my character feel so heart broken as he and his wife had been on such a journey to find them, then to be shot down when the finally made it.

Blocking scene 1 30th September 2014

In todays lesson we started work on the play. We began with the opening sequence and scene 1. In the opening scene the baker and the bakers wife are in the bakery and we are to mime at curtain up us making the bread and general bakery things. In this sequence me and Bryleah really worked hard on showing the relationship between the two characters. By giving each other eye contact and stoping to take moments to look at each other and comfort one another. I think that this helps the audience understand the my character from the start.

In scene 1 i was told to show more of a relationship between my character and the bakers wife. in the section where the witch comes in we felt that my character should be more comforting towards her. Where the witch is telling us about the story of my father and mother.

On the underlined words this is where we decided to come closer as this is where the Witch puts a lot of emphasis on her words. On the soundtrack there are to beats where these words are so we have to work on our timings so that it all fits together. I think that this is a good opportunity to have some contact and bring our two characters together for the first time in the play.

Lighting que sheet

Lighting and staging plan

Costume design BHM

Rehearsal timetable BHM

Black history evaluation

Rehearsal for 'into the woods' 2nd October 2014

In todays rehearsal we started blocking and working on scene 2 of the play. In this scene this is the first time that all of the characters are in the woods. My character begins to look for the items that the witch wanted to reverse the spell. We did this rehearsal outside to block it properly and see what space we had. At first I found it hard performing outside due to the large performance area. I found it hard to project my voice so that all of the audience can hear me no matter where I am outside, To get over this I need to do lots of vocal exercises to bring my voice up to volumes, especially if I will be singing without the aid of mics. However by starting to perform outside it was good to get the feel with the surrounding and the scenery and working out how long it will take us to get across the stage, as you don't normally get to work with the set till later times.

Rehearsal for 'Into the woods' 7th + 9th October 2014

In this rehearsal we started working on character development and getting to know the plot of the play. We did this by starting to make up more of our characters, by thinking about the sort of age, I decided that the Baker would be about 30, however I had to talk to other cast members to make it fit in with them and the play. We also thought about or characters general moods and what they do for a living. My character is always quite optimistic yet can often doubt himself. I made this decision from the text as he is always talking to himself and making himself remember.
We looked at the plot my in small groups looking into one characters super objective within the play. A super objective is the characters objective for the whole of the play, rather than from scene to scene. In my characters case this would to be happy and have a family. In our small groups we divised a short piece that was the characters super objective yet with a fast pace. From doing this I found that my character is always doing things for himself, like stealing the cape, which comes across as him saving RRH and Granny yet he does it just to get to the cape and to get the cow. We also leanrt more about our characters backgrounds, by doing another devised piece with our characters in a different situation. I learnt more about my character, like I made him quite shy and timid yet then switched straight into the heroic man.

14th october into the woods Scene 3 blocking

In todays lesson we started to focus on scene three of the play. In this scene my character is given money off of Jack as he is mislead that he will be getting his cow back for five gold pieces. Then the Bakers wife tell my character that she has lost the cow. This made my character feel let down and really made him want to do it all by himself, he then tells her to go home as he goes on to find the last three items. I felt that i could spend some more time on getting the right levels of tension between Baker and the wife and making sure that i start to get irotated with her as the right times in the scene. We also started to block out the song. It Takes Two. We are looking to get inspiration from dances like the rumba and tango. Next week we will be spending some time with Kat to come up with some choreography to put to the song.

Dance Performance final 26th September 2014

My Final Dance

For our first dance assessment we devised and performed our own interpretation of DV8 Enter Achilles. This style of dance is contemporary, using physical theatre to give the piece a non-naturalistic theme. Our piece is about 'Lads' getting ready to go out to a bar and then their mannerisms whilst they are drunk. We performed this in the dance studio in front of the class.

 The start of our piece focused more on the characters meeting up and greeting each other. To show this as I entered I waved my hand up in the air to say hello to other characters. To still show my characterisation of a drunken man I really flopped my arm around whilst having my knees bent to keep my core closer to the ground. As it went on when we had all entered we went into the main dance this features a sequence of moves, such as we started off by swaying side to side and raising our glass. We repeated this move a few times at the start of the piece. To show our characterisation had my knees bent and swayed a lot, sometimes not to the rhythm of the music. Another move that featured was when we all dropped down onto one knee in unison. we then all jumped up onto our feet using our right hands as pivots. This move is what brought a non-naturalistic theme to our piece as this is not what you would expect to see with these types of characters.

One of my strengths of my performance was that I had good focus and good extension of my limbs. I did this by by keeping my arms as straight as possible, like when I raised my glass up I pushed my arms as far as they would go and then kept my focus onto the cup by pointing my eye contact towards them, as this is the focus of the piece. I belive that this is one of my strength as during the performance I could feel that I was pushing my extension as far as I could. Another one of my strengths would be my timing, I felt confident with when I should be doing things in the piece. When going into the main dance from the entrance sequence I knew the timings well and didn't rely on the rest of the group when to go into the next moves. One of my strengths when it comes to my interpretive skills I felt confident about my characterisation of the scene. I kept in character throughout, by keeping my knees bent and stumbling around as if I was drunk. I feel that my characterisation really helped the audience understand what was happening within the piece.

However one of my weaker points within my performance was my flexibility in my physical skills, When performing I felt that my basic dance skills, like when getting up from being down on one knee could of been done a lot smoother. I felt this could be done with a lot more confidence and fluency. With my interpretive skills I think that I could have improved on my facial expressions, during my performance my facial expression did not fit my character very well, it was very clear through my face that I was concentrating to much on the moves and what I would be doing next, if I was to do this again I would pay more attention on what my face is doing, by thinking about eye contact with other characters.

Overall, in order to improve my performance I will think about my confidence in the moves that I am doing and believing that I know what I am doing, I could already see a improvement in this from my first performance. For the next performance that I do I will pay a lot more attention in what I am doing and focus on my characterisation rather than the moves. Another target for my self is to be more adventurous with the moves that I choose to do. For this last performance I kept my moves very simple and not really stretching myself with what I did. To improve further I think that I need to challenge myself more by being rehearsing more to get my performance to a higher level, I will use my spare time to make my performance level higher, I will hopefully see an improvement in this soon.

Dance with Kat and Emily - 19th September 2014

As a warm up to the lesson we did an exercise were we had to sort out some elements of dance into two categories. These to categories were:

Physical Skills,

• Posture - the position of our limbs or how we carry the body as a whole.
• Aliment - 
• Flexibility -  How manipulative our body can be.
• Co-ordination - Knowing what all of your body parts are doing.
• Strength - How well you hold you body, with a strong intensity.
• Extension - Carrying your movements through your whole body.
• Facial Expression - Reflection the emotion through your face and body.
• Balance - Maintaining your moves without shaking.
• Stamina - Pacing your energy throughout your performance.

Interpretative Skills,

• Musicality - How your respond to the music you perform too.
• Focus - The intensity in your performance, and how well you take to a character.
• Projection - How you present the story/emotion to an audience.

We then got back into ours dance groups to work on our pieces inspired by DV8. We looked very closely as thinking out Characterisation, Extension and Posture. Once we worked on this we then went on to add more depth to our pieces. We did this by adding repetition, a creative way to enter into the dance and canon. Canon is adding different people doing the same thing yet at different paces and timings, this makes it a lot more exciting for an audience to watch.

My target that I have set for my self is to use my characterisation in the dance to add some more depth and interesting techniques to the dance moves. I feel confident with the dance moves but feel that I have not yet added depth into them and make them unique to my characters style. I think that this will be achievable, as I can use my characterisation from the dance to add something different to each move from everyone else. I want be have added something different to each move and section by the time that we perform this dance to the class.

Dance with Kat and Emily - 12th September 2014

In today's lesson we learnt about physical theatre with in dance and performance. At the start of the lesson to help us understand what physical theatre is we had to write down what we thought it was, we came up with ideas like; using your body to make other objects and set, using our body to represent a type of character and using our body to become something else in a creative way.

We were then shown a piece of physical theatre by DV8 called Enter Achilles. This is about a group of men who are getting ready for a night out in the pubs. This piece also touches on subjects like homophobia and judging people that are different. After watching this video we went on to learn a piece of dance inspired by DV8. When put into groups to rehearse we had to work on the unison in our piece. Unison is where a group or couple have perfect timing in the work and make every move look seamless. I felt it easy to pick up on the routine and worked well with my group in making sure we worked on the unison and our positioning. However I feel that I could have put a lot more characterisation into the piece by really adopting the character of a drunk man and being a bit more confident in the moves that I was doing. I will look to work on this in the coming lessons.

I will improve my characterisation by exploring different character traits of my character in the dance. I will try out some of these possibility's on the other people in my group and we will compare them all and see which one works best for the dance. By the next rehearsal I wish to have a clear understanding of my character in the dance and be able to use this to bring the dance sequences to life.

Learners Log for BHM

Learners Log BHM Performance

For my groups black history month performance in the variety show I have chosen to perform the poem called 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Of Freedom' by Maya Angelou. To bring this poem to life we have added some physical theatre along side our performance.

Caged Bird

BY MAYA ANGELOU

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

We chose to do this poem as it talks about the isolation and racism to the black race yet it does it in a metaphoric way. This piece of text delivers a very strong message about freedom and segregation, when the black people were seen as the lesser race by the white people.

This poem does not celebrate the positives of BHM yet rather gets down to the truth about all of the suffering that the people were put through. I have chosen to do a piece of dramatic text for my performance as I feel this is the best way to get a strong message across, by using my strongest skills as an actor. I feel that the way that my group has presented this text does the important message behind it justice in a respectful way.

This is our performance stage plan for in the Sealight theatre, we have decided to perform it within a spot light that fills the area, I feel that this gives the piece a trapped, caged feel by putting us performers within a restricted area, this also bring the focus onto us. Isabel and Holly start outside the light, leaving my (representing the bird) alone in the light, looking quite sad. Isabel and Holly enter as I start to speak the first stanza. By having them enter at the start shows the audience that the bird is trapped, by as soon as he speaks they come in to stop him. It is important that the audience are indulged in the story as we tell it, as it is not at first clear what we mean as it is done using different characters. At the start of the poem we all hum a repeated tune, we do this to represent the tunes that the slaves used to sing as the worked, during our devising we originally looked for some backing music or humming to have playing over the top of our poem. However we did not find anything that fit the message that we wanted, so we took inspiration from all of the pieces that we found and devised a repetitive tune ourselves. we then stop this humming when we begin to speak, to draw the focus on the story. We then repeat this tune at the end of our performance, we chose to do this as it gives the idea to the audience of the circle of life that the slaves were put through during this time. As the poem get closer to the end we chose to add in a red light at the back of the staging area, as this will give the fallacy to the audience of the tension that is about to happen.

We split the poem into stanzas, and divided the lines up between us and highlighted it so that we can recognise our own parts. By doing this it gives the audience lots of different delivery's of the story through three different actors. I think that this poem works best in a group as different members can portray the different character, I am portraying the bird and Isabel and Holly the white people trapping the bird down. As a group we want to present BHM as a serious side, and look to present this through the saddened tone in our voices.

Starting to look into Variety Performance

Variety Performance

Variety in the UK started mainly in theatres and music halls, and then went onto working men clubs. Most famous British performers started off performing in variety shows. The main events in variety performance were the Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium.

In the 19th century variety performance known as Music Hall, was held in local public houses, these shows were raucous and often rude. Then in the 20th century variety performance was moved to much more grand, large theatres which would seat more, this was to draw the connection of drinking from variety. Sir Oswald Stoll who ran many theatres up north opened his first London theatre in 1904 called the Hackney Empire. Then in 1912 he opened a massive Coliseum which was known to be his favourite. When this theatre opened it contained the usually mixture of Song, Dance, Drama and Acrobats. The first set list contained famous performers of the time like singer Eugene Stratton, followed by Tina Clemintina with her dogs, the three Pattinsons on the trampoline, and a full-scale recreation of Derby Day, Which had a moving revolve and real horses, this was very grand to the audiences of the time and was a step up from the public houses. Another variety performance house was owned by Edward Moss who owned the Empire Palace theatres at Finsbury Park. Moss's Palace theatre was the first venue to the Royal Command Performance where King George and Queen Mary sat through the performance. The 1950's saw a lot of variety theatres close due to lack of interest by audiences. Now days the most popular variety theatres are the London Palladium. This is now the current venue for the Royal Variety Performance.