performing arts Jazz workshops

For the last few weeks in performing arts we have been looking at jazz style dancing with the intention of creating audition pieces to perform. We split into three groups and each group had to devise a short routine, each group had to modify jazz to make it either more rock and roll, lyrical or street orientated. This was so we could see how jazz influences more modern dance styles and so everyone in the group had at least one style that they would be able to pick up easily and be very strong in.
My group was doing street jazz. The way we modified it to make it more jazz like was to keep it more flowing and looser so it would seem more jazz like. We chose a song that was quite slow because it had a good back beat and meant that movements would be complimented by the music. We devised a good piece of dance that did look very effective. It had some moves it in that were trickier than others giving it a good variety. If we could do it again I think we might have picked a faster piece of music because at points we did struggle to keep the dance looking slick using such slow movements.
We then had to teach this routine to the rest of the people in our class. This went very well and everyone seemed to enjoy learning a new style of dance that they perhaps aren’t as strong in. when we performed it as a whole group and it did look very effective. We filmed this teaching process and the final performance for evidence.
We also had to learn the other dance styles that were jazz orientated. This was really good fun. I especially enjoyed learning the rock and roll style jazz because I have never tried this dance style before and I like how fast paced it is. The lyrical jazz was harder for me to pick up because it is more contemporary but I loved the dance. It was so pretty and flowing and great fun to try out.

Astley cooper's school production of 'jesus christ superstar'

On Tuesday i went to watch my friend perform in astley coopers school production of 'Jesus christ superstar', having seen a professional production of it before i thought it would be a really hard musical for a school to pull off as the whole cast has to be amazing at singing as there are no speaking parts and because its so well known.

the opening was soo clever, the dancers were climbing all over the climbing frame-like set whilst performing a simple but very effective dance that really set the scene for the first song. The three lead roles, Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene were all amazing singers. The boy that played Jesus gave me goosebumps everytime he opened his mouth and the acting that went on between Jesus and Mary was really beautiful.

You could tell just by watching it how much effort went into everything. The whole cast were putting in all there effort the whole way through which isnt something thats seen a lot in school productions which just shows how much they must have loved the musical and performing. Considering its a story line that some people take very seriously i think you have to be careful how you stage it and especailly how you go about the crucifiction at the end, but they honestly made it perfectly and really did this amazing musical justice. Im really glad i went to watch

Majorettes do 'Santa Clause the musical'

every other year the majorette troupe i belong to do a massive non-majorette based show at christmas time. We have done everything from Cinderella to a whole production based on world war one songs, all of which are written specaily by our teacher. This year we are putting on a show based loosely on 'Santa Clause the movie' however its been written to include a lot of songs and a lot more panto like scenes.

None of the productions we put on are ever taken completley seriously. The main aim of the shows is to let everyone do something that they want which is one of the main reasons for writing our own script and to raise a bit of money for next years majorette costumes. The massive age range of 2-19 years means writing a script is also the best way to make sure its suitable for everyone. The story line isnt anything spectacular but were all having so much fun with it in rehearsals at the moment so it doesn't really matter. The audience will only be parents and although we are going to try and make it look spectacular it is all really just a bit of fun, and its nice to do something like this where there is absolutely no pressure for it to look amazing and its just a bonus if it does. i dont think theres one person in the cast that isnt going to make a fool out of themselves at one point or another. and as i am one of the oldest ive had a lot of input into the show and have been choreogrpahing rediculously cheesy dances for some of the younger ones which will hopefully get a few 'awwr's'

this year im playing an elf called Patch and i have an hilarious Christmas edited version of 'man in the mirror' to sing. i was very glad when i realized i wasn't meant to do this song seriously as it is pretty massive and absolutely everyone knows it so the slightly odd change of lyrics was a great relief. I also have a lot of almost stupid scenes that should get a few laughs and that are amazingly fun to rehearse.

The whole show is starting to look really really good, especially considering we only rehearse for three hours a week. everyone is having such an amazing time dressing up as snowmen and giant presents whilst singing weird versions of 'low' and 'ive got a feeling' and i cant wait for my family to come and watch me and my sister in December.

Radio1'a Teen awards

On the 9th of October I was lucky enough to get tickets to see Radio1’s teen awards. To be honest to start with I wasn’t really looking forward to it that much because I had seen Rihanna in concert earlier in the week and didn’t think it would compare at all. But there was no way I wasn’t going to go.
To start with a lot of dancey tunes were played to get everyone in the mood and then molly from the Saturdays and Nick Grimshaw appeared to host the show. The acts this year were
-Jason Derulo
-Ed Sheeran
-Cher Loyd
-One direction
-Pixie Lott
-Joe Jonas
-Rizzle kicks

I was soo excited to see Ed Sheeran and Rizzle kicks the most and they were both amazing! Ed’s cuteness when he performs makes him really lovable and the energy that comes out of Rizzle kicks is just wow! The best performance was from Jason Derulo though, his dancing alone would be enough to please the whole crowd but add his voice in and there was no way any other act could top him. That’s why when everyone made such a massive fuss about one direction I got a bit annoyed because I know there all stunning singers and amazingly good looking but there no where near as talented as Jason and it just irritated me slightly that they were the act everyone left talking about.

I know there’s a lot of stigma surrounding Cher but no one can deny she has an amazing voice and her new song is incredibly catchy and it really does grow on you, I loved her performance. Joe Jonas was very good and boy can he sing but I have a slight grudge against him for breaking the heart of my all time favourite singer/idol/love Taylor Swift and if her songs about him are anything to go by hes not a nice person… all that aside he was good.

Pixie Lott was beautiful! And obviously her voice was flawless she really ended the show well.

The awards themselves were great as well, most of the Harry Potter cast made an appearance as did the Inbetweeners crew, Olly murs was there with Tom Daley and Vernon Kay all to accept and give out awards. When Robert Pattinson was nominated for best british actor I nearly fainted at the thought of him coming onto stage.. for some stupid reason he didn’t win and I was devastated but thinking about it I doubt he would’ve actually been there anyway but oh well. Overall I had an amazing day and it wasn’t on the same scale as Rihanna ( as I had expected) but it was soo much better than I had thought.

mount vernons got talent

On Sunday the2nd of October our performing arts group participated in MSH’s got talent a charity event to raise money for Mount Vernon hospital. We had been rehearsing a hairspray number to the song ‘ you cant stop the beat’. We chose this song because it’s fun and energetic as well as being quite challenging to perform. We only had a short amount of time to finish the routine this meant we had to work very hard for a few weeks to make sure it was ready to perform.
I really enjoyed all the rehersals because its just the sort of thing i love doing. it was getting a bit scary the week before when we realised we had hardly anytime to  get it completley finished..but in true Kings Langley style we had managed to have  very good little performance ready in time.
when we were rehearsing i was really excited to show off our little routine to everyone and i felt like a true celebrity with the £2000 head mic on me. the rehearsal went really well and i was felling quite confident about the show later at this point
getting ready back stage was fun for me, getting all glammed up with big make-up and big hair and everyone looked stunning!
as expected waiting backstage was nerve racking but as usual the minute the music starts theres no time for nerves and all my energy went into performing. i felt we did amazingly and the audience clearly agreed.. unfortunatley one of the judges didnt but his lack of knowlodge on anything to do with performing arts means his opinion doesnt count for anything
overall i had such a lovely day! it was really nice to help out such a good cause

Rihanna concert

On the 6th of October i went to see Rihanna live at the O2. i was a bit worried to start with because I had such high expectations i was scared it wouldnt be as good as i had hoped but it was soooo much better! I went with three of my friends and we got there quite early and as we were waiting in our seats we were soo excited.
Calvin Harris opened the show and got the whole audience in the mood it was like a huge party. in true diva style rihanna was an hour and a half late but that meant when she finally did come out the atmosphere was amazing. she started with 'only girl in the world' followed by 'shut up and drive'. She looked so hot it was unreal! her voice was amazing ( obviously) the whole way through and the set with cars and massive moving screens really added to the overall effect of the show.
she had the whole audience going and was really mesmorising to watch, her costume changes were insanely fast! everyone was on there feet the whole time, except two old men that were sat behind us that seemed a bit horrified by the whole thing. I really love her new brown hair!
i had the most amaing time and im sooo upset its over, despeatley trying to get more tickets for December.

the beautiful Rihanna before her new hair style

hertfordshires got talent

On the 23^rd of July I went to the Forum in Hatfield to audition for Hertfordshire’s got talent. At first I was very unsure about even signing up for it because I feel like it’s quite a cheesy thing to enter and there’s a stigma attached to it because of Britain’s got talent. But my mum managed to convince me it would be good for my confidence and that I would enjoy it so I signed up and told no one in case I chickened out last minute and didn’t sing.

When I got to the place where the auditions were being held I was expecting to get really nervous all of a sudden but instead I got really excited by how professional it was and how nice the stage was, which is odd because most people would freak out more at having a huge stage and an audience to perform to. I think I liked it better because it makes it less personal rather than being alone in a room with three judges which is what I was expecting.

Me and my mum got there early to see some of the other acts perform first. There were a few dancers and instrumentalists as well as some bands but as I expected the majority of people there were singers. I had intended to sing ‘ on my own’ from les mis but every single other singer there sang a very slow, slightly depressing love ballad and so I made a very scary last minute decision to sing ‘ somebody to love’ instead which luckily I had the backing track to on me. I changed my song choice because it’s always the people that stand out and do something different that seem to be taken note of and remembered more, so whilst everyone else sang huge well known, slow ballads I decided to sing a much faster more rock orientated song. However now I was scared because even when I was rehearsing two acts before my audition I had practised ‘on my own’ which just shows how last minute my choice was. But the two acts before me both sang slow love ballads so there was no way I could follow them doing almost exactly the same.

When I was waiting backstage I managed to calm down a bit and I was starting to feel slightly confident after receiving a slightly biased, slightly rude text from my mum about the other singer before me. I went  onto stage and started singing and I don’t know if it was the adrenaline or what but I really went for it like I have never done before it was so weird how I just completely forgot to be nervous and I don’t think vie ever had that much fun with a performance before, it might be because it felt really professional on a proper stage with a big audience and lighting so I couldn’t see anyone but it was soooo much fun!

After that performance i just sat down to watch the rest of the auditions in my group and i just said to my mum ‘ theres no way I’m not through’ and  we were both shocked at my sudden burst of self confidence that id never really had before. And i did get through! So now I’m really looking forward to the next round even though I still cringe slightly at the fact I entered ‘Hertfordshire’s got talent’

somebody to love performance

For the last few weeks of the term our group of three have been working on performing the song ‘somebody to love’ from we Will Rock you. I was so happy to have got this song as it’s from my favourite musical and it’s possibly the best song in the whole show.  I was also a tad scared because it’s such a huge song. But the fact I’m in love with the show meant I knew the words and understood what was going on and how it should come across to an audience. Louise had also seen the show which put our group in a great position to do the song justice.

Ellie and Louise took on the roles of gaga girls whilst I was Scaramouch. For the first few lessons we spent ages just listening to the soundtrack and working on getting the harmonies and words right. This was a lot trickier for Louise and Ellie because they had to block out the main beat and lyrical arrangement which is hard enough in any song let only one that’s as powerful as ‘Somebody to love‘ is. Once we had all got the hang of it though it became a lot easier to start working on staging and movement.

We wanted to try and put in a lot of the movements and the same sort of staging that they have in the West end version because it’s so brilliantly done and hilarious to watch. So for that reason decided that the gaga girls would do everything in unison and have a gang like feel to them which makes Scaramouche look like even more of an outsider. The gaga girls had simple yet very effective movements whilst I made a big thing out of avoiding both Ellie and Louise to show Scaramouch’s disgust for the gaga girls.

Once we had sorted the staging and words we really started working on characterisation and adding in the small bit of dialogue that comes before the song. This helped us all really get into character and almost prepare for the song. We then performed this at the A level media evening. Everyone was so scared on the day. Ellie was worried about how she looked when she danced and I was terrified my voice would crack and then I wouldn’t do justice to such an amazing song. It sounds cliché but once the music was on and id sung the first note I was fine and I really really really loved it! I was so pleased with how it turned out and how well my group did and I’m glad we get to do it once more for our assessment when we get back to school.

Les miserbles at the queens theatre.

Yesterday I went to see les mis in London.  I’ve wanted to go and see it for a while but there were always other shows that sounded more interesting as when I was reading about the plot it didn’t really grab my attention as much as something like Wicked and We Will Rock You did. Then I was given to song from the show ‘ on my own’ to sing for an exam so I had to watch videos on YouTube to get to know the character and the story line a lot better and then I was hooked.

At first I was a bit unsure about the fact there’s no speaking in it and it’s all done through song, I think that was only because I wasn’t used to it, but after a while that became one of the best things about it. Because of the constant song this show had some of the strongest singers around and their voices were really amazing I couldn’t believe how complicated some of the harmonies were I can only imagine how long they must have taken to get perfect. Some of the songs will just not leave my head ‘ master of the house’ is one I’m finding particularly hard to stop singing, my favourite song in the whole show was ‘ a little fall of rain’ just because its an amazingly beautiful song.

Throughout the performance I became fascinated with the revolving floor. It must be hard enough to stage a show that naturally has to have a lot of movement in all the time and then the floor was moving as well. It must be really complicated to remember your lines, stage directions and then be able to make it look completely natural while the floor underneath you is moving. However I think without that particular part of the stage it wouldn’t have been the same because a lot of the time the actors had to look like they were rushing around and that wouldn’t have been possible if the floor wasn’t moving in the opposite direction to them.

The storyline itself is pretty stunning and depressing all at once, and if it wasn’t for two characters (the inn keeper and his wife) I think it would be to dark to have been as successful as it had. There were two points when I almost cried but then before you get the chance they bring out the inn keeper to lighten the mood, I think this is very cleverly done. At the end of the show you feel like you should be crying or sad but for some reason you’re overwhelmed by how beautiful the whole thing turned out and for that reason you’re almost happy, which I found really odd considering everyone except about 4 people died.

I truly loved les mis and am beyond desperate to go back and see it right now. I envy the cast soo much they are talented beyond belief and there deserve to be in a show as incredible as Les mis.  I wouldn’t recommend  Les miserables to younger people but for teens and adults its defiantly one of the better shows to go and see.

me singing nobody's perfect

i recorded this cover of my singing nobody's perfect by Jessie J for two reasons. 1) because its a running joke between me and my friends that i only ever sing songs from musicals they've never heard of, so i wanted to prove them wrong and 2) because i love this song and at the moment im really liking Jessie J. this songs great because it has moments that have to be really powerful and moments where your voice has to be much softer. I like how its about something that pretty much everyone can relate to and that adds greatly to the appeal of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uFRa5aikB8

Last week, all that jazz and corset work

Last week in performing arts we continued looking at the all that jazz routine we have been working on. We looked into characterization and added drama elements into the routine to try and tell the story behind the song better. We thought about how women in a prison enviroment would behave and included party and fight scenes to show how things could turn out. We polished the dancing and ensured everyone knew what to do and when and set positions. then we worked on the singing and finished devsising out singing roles.

costume
in costume construction we are continuing work on our corsets and they are now pretty much made besides fixing a pannel of elastic at the back and the nest step is decoration.

my corset so far.

this week :)

This week we started looking into the musical theatre side of performing arts and I really love it already. We started off by looking at the song ' all that jazz' from the musical Chicago. We learnt how to sing it and annotated the lyrics so we all had a good idea about what the lyrics meant and how they should be portrayed in a performance. To me singing is the most enjoyable part of musical theatre so I really enjoyed this lesson. Then we split into groups and had a chance to choreograph a routine that would go with the song in the style of fossy. This was really interesting to see what everyone came up with and the final routines were really good.

Then we learnt a dance as a whole group that was again inspired by fossy and was quite show girl like. I loved this style of dancing a lot more than I first thought I would because it takes a while to get used to moving in what I would call odd ways. But now I think I prefer it to all the other dance styles I’ve tried before, because it’s so much more interesting.

Because of how much I love the theatre and everything to do with it this last week in performing arts has been so enjoyable for me and I am genuinely excited about what were going to do next week.

In costume construction we have been working very hard on finishing the basics that we need to complete the corset.  In the last two weeks we managed to cut out the sections needed for our corsets following a template, tack them together and then sew them on the sewing machine. I was convinced mine would fail but I’m pleasantly surprised by the result so far and next week are focusing on fitting the corsets and decorating them to fit with the ‘we will rock you’ theme

constructing the corset

in costume construction at the moment we are working on constructiing a corset to accompany our skirts. these are the steps to completing the corset.

• first of all we placed a template on the denim and carefully cut around it using material scissors.

•Then, once all the pieces had been cut out, I pinned each section to the next in the right order.

•To ensure they stayed together I then used needle and thread to tack over where I had previously pinned. the reason for tacking was so that when I reached the sewing machine I had a guideline of where to sew and so that each part was already in the correct place, saving a lot of time at the sewing machine.

•Once I have completed sewing the bodice together I will use rosettes, badges and pins to decorate the bodice and skirt. I will be adding denim edging to the bodice so it looks more finished and neat.

•On the back I will be adding an elastic strip to ensure the bodice fits correctly and comfortably and can be performed in.

 

so far my corset construction is going well and im really enjoying it because its not as difficault as i thought it would be.

singing lessons

Every week I go to singing lessons with Sylvia Mitton.  I learn a lot about technique and how to use your voice effectively.  So far I have learnt a huge variety of songs that I would never have even heard of, a lot of them are much older than the music I chose to listen to.

The exam board am I on is the Musical theatre board as opposed to rock school.  So far I have taken my grade 1 and 3 and passed both with a distinction. I am now working towards my grade six for which I have to sing 4 songs. So far I have learnt three of the four songs I will sing. They are

1.       ‘on my own’ form les mis

2.       ‘ roxie’ from Chicago

3.       ‘Only the good die young’ from we will rock you.

The fourth song I have to sing has to have been written before 1920’s meaning it’s a lot harder to find a song to suit my voice.

I really enjoy my singing lessons and think that I will continue to do them until I leave the school. They really help me progress and help with my confidence.

Cabaret

On Friday as part of our bhangra assessment we had to perform in the school’s annual cabaret. We had been working very hard all week on polishing our choreography all week and changing little bits of the dance to enhance the overall presentation. We also managed to successfully combine the two groups of dances into one piece of music. To create a huge dance routine that is visually exciting to watch.

On the night everyone was beginning to get nervous and a bit worried about performing. We all had nice big make-up and very pretty scarves to help get the impression of Indian dancing across to the audience. Once we got on stage there was some last minute worrying from everyone and making sure the scarves weren’t going to be in our way during the performance.

Our group was on in the second part of the music so we watched the first group do their bit and they looked amazing. however at the beginning the music was messed up and the people on stage had top adapt and shorten the first part of their dance in order to make sure the rest of the routine didnt collapse. Everyone had huge smiles and was putting in all their effort.  Once I started dancing I relaxed slightly and began to enjoy myself. In my opinion the whole thing looked amazing and the audience agreed. It was lively and interesting to watch it went down really well with everyone.

I think the modern twist on the traditional bhangra style dance was a huge success. It made it much more fun to learn and choreograph

Hrithik Roshan review

Review of Hrithicks performance at the 2007 filmfare award ceremony

Hrithik has been a family name in Bollywood for many years and after watching his performance I can see why he is so popular. Before he even begins to dance his entrance clearly shows a stage presence that has the power to grab an audience’s attention.

When he begins to dance it’s obvious that he has taken influence from more modern dance styles such as street and cleverly mixed it with traditional bhangra. He uses moves that involve a lot of dramatic and almost illusion foot movements and his transitions to the next move occur only on the main beat of the music, this is typical of street dance. However he incorporates traditional bhangra hand movements that are very flowing and continuous into his street style routine to create a clever and very interesting routine.

Hrithik then literally flies of stage before returning to perform a different routine. I believe this section of dance is influenced by Michael Jackson. I think this because he uses a lot of moves that are associated with Michael Jackson, such as the moon walk and he perfectly recreates Michaels amazing footwork which is technical brilliance. Yet he somehow still manages to bring in elements of dance that are pure bhangra. He performs a perfect moonwalk followed by a jumpy, cirss cross step that I would never dream of putting next to each other in a routine yet somehow it works flawlessly. Throughout the Michael Jackson inspired section I find imp wondering why no one has ever tried to put the moonwalk and bhangra in the same dance. It just shows that Hrithik has a truly brilliant choreographic mind. The fact he choose Michael Jackson to model this piece around could be considered very clever or extremely stupid, as he is so well loved that trying to impersonate him in anyway could have backfired on Hrithik. However in my opinion it worked to his benefit, opening up a whole new audience to his work.

He then ends his run of dances with a piece that is slightly more traditional bhangra. This section of his performance is my favourite as it’s extremely powerful and lively. He uses music and moves that make me watching feel as if I need to join in. The backing dances enhance his performance greatly as it gives it the traditional group feeling that bhangra is known for. His natural charm shines through well in this section as he adds I quirky moves intended to attract the audience’s attention.

I believe that Hrithik is an extremely clever and talented dancer. His powerful movements and exciting choreography grab the audience’s attention and left me wishing there was more to watch. His bravery in using iconic Michael Jackson movements should be admired. It’s easy to see just why he is so well loved in the Bollywood world. There is something charming about his confidence on stage and his technical ability when he’s dancing is mesmerizing to watch and really gripping to an audience.

X-factor tour march 5th

On Saturday I went to Wembley to see the live X-factor tour with Chloe Green. Once we had found our seats we started to get really excited! Then when the title music started everyone was screaming.

The first one to perform was Cher. I can see why some people don’t like her but personally I think she’s amazing. She can sing really well and she knows how to work an audience, she’s a true performer. Her first song had sections of the nursery rhyme ‘the clapping song’ in it. Which I think is very adventurous but it was one of my favourite songs of the show along with her version of ‘stay with me’, which gave me Goosebumps.

One direction was really fantastic as well, they had all the girls in hysterics (obviously) and they are extremely talented.  My favourite song from them was ‘forever young ‘it was truly amazing.

Rebecca was stunning. I adore her and her voice. She’s so glamorous and it’s impossible to take your eyes off her when she’s singing.

Matt was obviously amazing. He was saved till the last and had me in shivers with his voice. I love how naturally singing seems to come to him and you can really tell he loves every minute of it. He deserved to win.

I have never really been a huge fan of Paije I’m not really sure why. I know he has a stunning voice but he did perform really well and he also knew how to get the audience going. Aiden was amazing and had everyone intently focused on him the whole time and it takes someone really talented to get the full attention of that many people.

Wagner was not the best, but entertaining all the same. Katie Waissel was good but there’s just something about her that I’ve never really liked but I do appreciate that she is talented.

The set was really fascinating all the bits of stage moving everywhere was quite fun to watch. And the lights were used really effectively. I think my favourite act would have to be Cher followed by Rebecca and Matt. I really loved the tour and would recommend it to anyone!    
                                     

bhangra+Bollywood

This week we started looking into the idea of storytelling through bhangra dance. We learnt about how in Bollywood every piece of choreography tells a story generally the story is about love, forbidden love, betrayal, chasing someone/thing or family. We also found out that all bollywood/bhangra routines contain a comedy section and always have a happy ending.

In our groups of 6 we began to brainstorm ideas for our choreography. We quickly choose the theme of forbidden love and started to create a story that would fit the theme. We came up with the idea about two people falling in love but being from different religious backgrounds. We choose this because we learnt that Muslims see it as wrong to marry out of the religion.

We then thought one way to show this difference would be to use a more contemporary bhangra and a more street bhangra. We split our group into half and started creating some motifs. After 4 lessons we have successfully created a story and planned out how to tell it though our dance and we are about half way through choreographing the steps. For our music we choose the song J’ai Ho and are considering mixing it with a more traditional Bollywood song later on. So far our dance looks great but we have stuck to simple moves and not been adventurous with the choreography so our aim for next week is to add more technically challenging moves.

On our last lesson of the week we all watched the latest Bollywood release ‘dabangg’. We were watching is specially to analyse the dance sections and to understand how Bollywood uses dance to enhance its movies and story lines. In this film the dance was used to add comedy and to show a relationship developing between two characters. We all saw that you very rarely see one person dancing alone and there are always large groups of dancers performing in unison.

This week was really interesting and I’m looking forward to continuing with this next week.

wicked at the Apollo theatre.

Last Thursday I went with my family to see wicked in the west end. I had heard a lot of great things about the show but I had never got round to seeing it before now. I was instantly impressed the second the show started by the giant moving dragon above the stage and the monkey men that just jumped out of nowhere. It was a dramatic start to a very dramatic show.

I found myself instantly fascinated by the whole thing. I have always loved the wizard of oz and watched it constantly when I was little and I can safely say the wicked witch (Elphaba) was the scariest ‘bad guy’ of my childhood. However I will never see the wizard of oz in the same way again, infact I’m not sure I could watch it again. Wicked is not my favourite west end show but it’s by far the best story line in any show I have ever seen. I was honestly in shock at the end. It was weird that suddenly such a well loved story full of dreams of a young girl that just wanted to go home and an evil witch that I grew up with was actually all twisted an back to front and completely wrong. And I was pretty sure the whole way through that I at least knew how it all ended, Elphaba dies, but not even that ever happened!

The story line was so brilliant and cleverly written that even my seven year old sister appreciated how clever it was. This just proves that wicked is an absolutely amazing show to go and see, if it can impress my little sister and my Nan whilst making everyone question one of the greatest loved films of all time it’s obviously a very diverse show that appeals to everyone.

The singing was breathtaking  I can’t remember how many times I got Goosebumps and when Elphaba sang defying gravity I was pretty sure tears were coming. The costumes were so extravagant and so much work must have gone into them but they really did make the magic of the Emerald city jump out at you. And the set was just wow. The wizard thing (big gold head) seriously scared the life out of me and all the slight movements it did made me wonder how much work must have gone into it.

I loved it sooo much I can’t wait to go again and I’m still amazed at how clever it is and I can safely say that wicked is much better than the wizard of oz and I couldn’t ever watch the wizard of oz again without getting incredibly angry with a certain few characters that look like butter wouldn’t melt.

Rock challenge show case.

On Tuesday the 15^th of February Kings Langley performed at Stevenage in rock challenge. Usually we would have been performing with the aim of winning and earning a place in the next heat at Portsmouth, however due to how amazing we have been in previous years we already has a place at Portsmouth and were just showcasing at Stevenage.

Preparation

Even though we weren’t competing there was allot of pressure on us to be the best and prove to the other schools there that we do deserve our premier league title. The week before everyone attended a lot more rehearsals than usual and a lot of time was spent painting and adding the finishing touches to the set (a huge gingerbread house). Everyone was starting too excited and very nervous.

The day before our last rehearsal went very well and the set looked amazing as did the costumes.  At this point I think it was still odd to believe that tomorrow was the big day. Everyone had worked so hard especially the teachers and the fact there was no more time to practise or change anything was a bit scary even though it all looked great.

Show day

We had to get to school for 7:30 in the morning. The excitement made the early start not to bad at all. Our rehearsal was going great until we realised our set was slightly too big for the stage. After a panic from performers and teachers alike it was sorted out in time for our second rehearsal which went perfectly and all the other schools there thought we were brilliant and everyone was feeling a bit cocky after that.

The madness started in the changing room when everyone began to get ready for the show. It was great to see everyone in costume with hair and make-up done it all everyone looked fantastic. The nerves really started kicking in when we were waiting for the school on stage to finish their performance so we could go on. Everyone was half heartedly practising their dances. When we finally got to the stage it was petrifying to hear our music start. The whole performance went perfectly and I had so much fun on stage. The whole day was great and then to find out we had won 13 excellence awards just made it all perfect. I really love our rock challenge this year I can safely say it’s my favourite so far and now I can’t wait to go to Portsmouth and show everyone just how amazing we are!

painting the set.

bhangra

this week in performing arts we worked on perfecting our bhangra dance and making it flow. It looks really effective at the moment with lots of technical arm movements. The street section of the dance is well polished now and everyone knows exactly what they are doing so its looking pretty professional. We have been researching bhangra dance as homework and i have found out quite a lot of interesting stuff about the dance style and the people who are famous for it. Bhangra is really exciting to learn and so different from everything else we have done so far. its great learning about different cultured dances and then attempting to create our own bhangra piece.

in costume design we are continuing to work on our we will rock you mood boards. we have already written about the history of the show, the music, costumes and storyline and now we are focusing on the characters and how there personalitites influence the clothes they wear and there make-up and hair style ect.

bhangra week one

 This week we started to look at a completely different style of dance that was alien to all of us.

We started by watching two videos that use the dance style bhangra. The first thing I noticed was the strong beat that played throughout both pieces of the music and we all found the songs very catchy. Both dances featured a lot of effectively used repetition and most of the pieces were performed in large groups and in unison.

Before we had watched the videos, I think everyone was worried we would look silly; as there are, many stereotypical moves that people associate with bhangra, however after seeing what it can be as if we were very excited to try it ourselves.

Our first practical lesson was a double and during that time, we had learnt a few staple moves needed for a bhangra style dance. We had also split off into groups and started to create our own bhangra style routine. At the start, everyone was a bit slow to try putting moves no one was yet comfortable with into a dance, but towards the end of the first hour, everyone had a professional looking bhangra dance to show that was finished!  During the second hour of our lesson, we started adding a western/street bit into our routine. The two dance styles mix really well together as they both use the same sort of principles, strong beats, isolations, dramatic sharp movements. After just two hours, everyone was in love with bhangra and we had an amazing dance to prove it.

In the last practical lesson of the week, we started looking t isolating parts of the body. For example, we started with our hands and came up with a count of eight that only used our hands. We moved onto our heads and then our ribs/chest. It was slightly more complicated to pick up than what we had done in previous lessons but the outcome was very effective.

In costume this week, we are continuing with our We Will Rock You work. We have done a lot of research into the show including the history and the cast, this is so when it comes to designing our final piece we will have all the knowledge we need to make a perfect costume. I am really loving all the work we are doing about we will rock you, it’s by far the best musical ever written/made and I can’t wait to finish making my costume.  

week begining 4th january

This week was a very short week as we were only at school for three days. We only had costume design lessons and we are preparing to submitt all the work we have done so far for marking.

We finished most of the written work before christmas so now all that we have left to do is create a mood board demonstrating as many different ways of experimenting with fabric as possible. we are using tartan and denim as we are used to these fabrics now. In the lessons we have been stuffing peices of felt into tartan and tying it to show one way we can use the fabric and we also stuck two peices of materials together to show sticking. The other techniques we have to finish for homework as we ran out of time in the lesson.

costume design, history of corsets

Corsets

Corsets have been a staple item of clothing for hundreds of years. The definition of a corset is ‘a garment. The general idea of wearing a corset was to make the waist appear slimmer. As fashions changed so did corsets.
The first solid proof of corset usage was in the early 16th century. At this point in time the objective of corsets was not to suck in the waist but only to make the bust appear bigger. By the middle of the same century corsets were worn by most women and seen as the normal thing to wear. These corsets contained wooden planks inside the linen to make the posture of the wearer appear straight. This type of corset was used until the late 18th century.
Corsets created in the late 18th century had a slightly different effect on the women wearing them. The aim of these corsets was to make the body appear much slimmer in contrast to the large skirts that were the fashion at the time. They also shaped the bust and forced the women to stand straight. These corsets, although making the wearer appear slimmer, did not narrow the waist much at all. Historians believe these corsets were comfortable for the women and did not restrict movement except for bending.
In the earlier 19th century corsets had a complete makeover and became much smaller, only going just around the bust area. This allowed much more freedom of movement and the natural waistline would be visible whilst still shaping the bust.
smaller 19th century corset During the Victorian era corsets were back to covering the full torso going slightly lower than the hips and for the first time their primary purpose was to dramatically decrease the waistline making women appear more curvaceous. Doctors began to worry about the effect of these corsets on women’s health
Corsets lost popularity during world war one. Women were asked to stop buying corsets to free up metal supplies for the military and many women removed the metal from corsets they already owned to help the cause. It’s believed that this action alone freed up 28,000 tons of metal showing just how popular corsets were. Women had become used to not wearing corsets and seeing others without them, I believe this is why they are no longer a staple item of clothing for women.

Ann Pavlova

for the huge porject we are doing in perfroming arts we have to do a lot of research into ballet. While i was researching the history of ballet the name Ann Pavlova came up a lot so i decided to do some work on her.

Ann Pavlova

One of ballets most famous dancers is Ann Pavlova. She was born in Russia during 1882 and died in 1931. She is still today classed as one of the finest classical dancers ever. She became the first ballet dancer to tour the world.

Ann fell in love with the dance style at a very young age after watching an amateur production of ‘the sleeping beauty’. At just eight years old Ann auditioned for the ‘imperial ballet school’ however she was not offered a place due to her age and ‘sickly’ appearance. Ann continued to improve her dancing and auditioned again two years later and was offered a place at the school.

Ann struggled greatly through her training. She had arched feet, long limbs and a short body a physic considered wrong for a ballet dancer. She was teased for her appearance and the fact she had to try much harder to perfect the moves that came easily to others. Her passion for ballet meant she took extra lessons to make sure she was as good as she could be. Her determination and hard work did eventually pay off as she graduated at 18 after spending her final year as the lead in many different shows.

 

Ann went on to perform in many different ballets after leaving school. However her ‘wrong’ body type and weak ankles meant she struggled to perform as a fairy in ‘the sleeping beauty’. She desperately tried to imitate the famous ballet dancer of her generation Pierinna Legnani but her efforts just made her dance teacher angry at her. He was said to have yelled...
 ‘Leave acrobatics to others. It is positively more than I can bear to see the pressure such steps put on your delicate muscles and the severe arch of your foot. I beg you to never again try to imitate those who are physically stronger than you. You must realize that your daintiness and fragility are your greatest assets. You should always do the kind of dancing which brings out your own rare qualities instead of trying to win praise by mere acrobatic tricks."    After witnessing this outburst from her teacher Ann began to dance in a slightly different way, adapting moves to suit her capabilities. This meant more people took notice of her and she rose to fame quickly during 1902 after getting the role of ‘the pharaoh’s daughter’ in ‘Paquita’
                                                 
Ann had very rigid feet and found that if she strengthened her Pointe show by adding hard wood on the soles she could get much more support. This adaptation to her shoe was considered cheating because at this time the principle of Pointe was to teach dancers that they alone must hold their body on Pointe and not their shoes. This was almost impossible for Ann as the shape of her feet meant most of her weight fell onto her little toes. It took time but eventually curved feet ballet dancers realized this was a much less painful way to achieve Pointe and the same sort of shoe is still used today.
Ann founded her own company and choreographed routines for herself. Her dance skill and chorographic knowledge lead to glowing reviews from critics.
 
Ann died young just three weeks before her 50^th birthday. Ann was told she had pneumonia and would have to undergo surgery that would mean she could never dance again. Ann refused surgery saying ‘if I can’t dance I might as well be dead’. Following ballet tradition, at the next performance Ann was scheduled to perform at after her death, a single spotlight moved around the stage representing where Ann would be dancing.

Peter Pan

A few days before Christmas me and my little sister went to the Alban arena to see Peter Pan the pantomime. I wasnt really to interested in going to start with but im really glad i did!

The story line was exactly the same as the one in the films with Peter taking Wendy and her brothers to Neverland where they have to fight off captain hook ( Larry Lamb) but of course they add in charactors for and scenes for the humour part of pantomime. And in the true sense of pantomime tradition Peter was played by a girl.

they used some very well known songs in the show to help tell the story and to get the audience going. All the main charactors had amazing voices and in one part they were singing upside down which i imagine is pretty hard. however they did use a very nice song from a very wierd musical ( sweeny todd) which i didnt like much because of the images that come into my head from that film, but thats just me being a bit stupid really.

The lighting was very effective Neverland was much brigter than the childrens home making it seem more magical or specail. When Captain Hooks ship was on stage it was slightly more grey. The way they portrayed tinkerbell was amazing. There was no actor playing her just a glowing light flying around the stage but the cast made her seem really real which was quite magical. Whenever tinkerbell was onstage there was almost a complete blackout to make her stand out more.

the costumes were amazing aswell. because it was a pantomime everyones costumes were extremly bright which looked very effective to the audience. Captain Hook had the most extravagant costume,it was identical to the one in the cartoon version of the film black wig included.

The comedy charactor ( Smee) had me and my little sister in stiches through the whole show. I think that is quite an achievement as she is only 8 and its very rare for any show/pantomime to appeal to young children and teenagers. Of course to make this possible there were some jokes she didnt understand and some i thought were really stupid that she loved. This just proves its a family friendly show that will appeal to all ages.

i had a really great time watching this show and think if its ever on again everyone should go and see it. IT will appeal to all ages and will have you laughing through the whole show.