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.