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.