Cabaret

For the last few weeks we have been perfecting our ‘Chicago’ dance to the song ‘all that jazz’ because as part of our final jazz assessment we had to perform at the annual cabaret show. As the dance was already choreographed it only needed tweaking and improving certain sections to make it perfect for the show. Unlike with pervious performances this one was less stressful simply for the fact the choreography already existed. In the lessons building up to the performance we focussed on characterization and facial expressions because the context to this routine and song are very important to the whole persecution of the dance. The main change we made was to cut out the singing. This decision was made because for this performance in cabaret we were only to be assessed on our jazz dancing and the singing would distract focus from the dancing which had to be the most important feature. To further help the audience understand the context of the dance we planned our costumes and make-up very carefully. As we had all watched the film before it was a unanimous decision to wear fish net tights with a black leotard and black jazz shoes. Ideally we would’ve worn black heels as in the show but firstly no one owned appropriate height heels and black jazz shoes are easier for dancing. For our hair and make-up we did a high bun with no hair on our face for safety reasons and as it would take away from our facial expressions. Then we did big stage make-up with red lipstick to add to the sensual side to the dance. Before the performance started everyone began to get a big nervous especially about the chair section as that was when most could go wrong. Then to add to the stress of performing once we were on stage the wrong music was played 3 times, but like true professionals we stayed in our opening position and tried to hide the nervous giggles the best we could. The performance was very exciting for me because I love the film Chicago and the dance we had created was by far my favourite routine over the two years. I loved it! The chair section is the most fun part although still the most nerve racking as the chairs could easily slip. The reaction from the audience was amazing! Everyone really loved it and the hair and make-up made the performance much more interesting visually and feedback told us that it did help portray the dance better for people that haven’t seen the film. Everyone commented on the exceptional choreography and how professional it was carried out! So all in all a massive success. If I was to d it again I would perhaps try and enhance the costumes more who heels just to give it a greater feel and I would definitely make sure the music was to start on time as waiting on stage just added to nerves

EDIT: the part in the chair section that we found so tricky was firstly the part when we have to lean back( so our back is flat) and extend one leg this was because on stage the chairs felt unstable. Secondly the part when we had to kick whilst standing on the chairs, this was hard because of the small space and again the chairs felt unstable even though they were perfectly safe.