It's All Coming to an End

Well that's us almost done. The IDP shows were held last week 4th and 5th of May and both shows went great. I was lucky enough to be able to dance both nights in Carole and Magenta's choreographies. I also handed in my final copy of my written IDP, which was such a relief!! No more work to be completed now.... just have to await our results! Now we are into full show rehearsals for our end of year production 'Cross Currents' on Monday 6th June at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh. I am looking forward to working with a variety of different choreohraphers to make our last show spectacular! Been such a great year full of blood, sweat and tears but overall it has been AMAZING! :)

Back to Reality :(

Arrived back from New York City on Tuesday afternoon and I am on a bit of a downer as we had such and AMAZING trip!! New York is soo exciting and full of opportunities we got to experiences a variety of classes including; hip-hop, contemporary, gaga, lyrical/contemporary jazz, vogueing and runway as well as a private workshop with contemporary choreographer Peter Kyle. Peter Kyle was great and he was really keen to keep up a good workng relationship between the PASS dancers and himself. We visited many leading dance centres such as Broadway Dance Centre, Peridance Centre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and we also visited the Juilard Centre for a cheeky photograph outside the building. My favourite class was at Peridance Centre with Kristin Sudekis and it was called Contemporary Jazz. I loved her style of moving as it was lyrically inspired and you had to concentrate on your performance which was good to get into the routine emotionally. Throughout the class Kristin dimmed the lights and this really helped everyone's mood and spirit whilst performing the routine as you felt less exposed with the lights dimmed. The standard of dancing in New York was phenomenal and I must admit to begin with I felt a bit intimidated but once I got into each class I became more and more confident. Another of my favourite classes was Vogueing with Benny Ninja, his style was so intricate and you just had to go for it. I may not have been of Top Model standard but I still had so much fun strutting my stuff as if on a runway!

Now for sight seeing, we would have loved a bit more time to see more but we had so much other things to cram in! Some of us visited the World Trade Centre memorial museum and received a tour with some of the people who had been directly effected by the attacks. This was a really amazing experience as it made you truly think about what happened that day. We also went up the Empire State Building which offered so many great views of the City. We saw other sights such as The New York City Public Library, Central Park, The Lincoln Centre of Performing Arts, The Trump Tower, Bloomingdales, Grand Central Station and lots more shops! Our hotel was really near Times Square so we were close to all the hotspots, unfortunately it was too expensive to go and see a musical as I really wanted to go and see The Adams Family on Broadway but hopefully will get to see that another time!

Catriona and I were lucky enough to get to see Alvin Ailey's sister company, Ailey2 performing in the Ailey Theatre for only $10! They show was absolutely amazing with a variety of modern and classical dance pieces, I must say I do prefer The Alvin Ailey company but Ailey2's cast was full of young vibrant dancers that gave the show a modern feel. The show made me laugh, cry and I was so inspired by their performance! Seeing the performance and taking the variety of classes that we did pushed me to work even harder and hopefully one day head back to the Big Apple and train with such aspiring professionals.

Well after a great trip away, it's back to reality! Now to hand in our final written work and then we will be into show work.... really wish I could have stayed in New York... maybe one day! :)

The famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre

Busy busy busy!

Ok so lots happening just now. Had Jazz filmings on Friday, we had to perform a variety of different styles including ones choreographer by Becky Cameron a lyrical, technical/cheesy, and fosse style. We also filmed some hip-hop routines choregrapher by Ashley Jack. All the routines were really fun to perform even though I did find some of the 'funky' stuff a bit challenging! Ballet filming on Monday..... I say no more! Really not looking forward to that. Also filming a fast, dynamic conteporary solo on Tuesday! I have also been kept busy finishing our final essay for RP which is due on Friday as well as researching for my Independant Dance Project (IDP). I have chosen to so a written project as I am happy to go away in my own time and work on it, not having to worry about dancers with doing a practical project. I have decided on a question, now lots of writing to get on with... Here's a look at my question...

“Globalised popular dances prevalent in mass media culture, consisting of eclectic styles and decontextualised ethnic hybridity, may seem to be the most pervasive dance language at present; certainly the most visible”.

(Burridge, 2001)

Looking at dance in the 21^st Century has the prolific appearance of dance as a form of ‘reality TV’ become the catalyst in diluting the essence of the art form?

Discuss

Big Apple Update

Exciting news today! I heard back from theThomas Telford Trust (a funding body that offers help to students). I applied last week to see if they were able to help us out with the costs of our New York Trip. We are lucky enough to receive £1,000!! I am sooo pleased with this as I really wasn't expecting to receive any help from the college. This money will go towards the cost of dance classes, workshops, shows and any other dance related opportunities we come across. The New York dance scene has so many new dance techniques for us to experience and there are many that I am interested in trying, most of which I have never seen over here in Scotland.

Gaga Movement Technique

It was developed over 20 years ago by choreographer/dancer Ohad Naharin. He suffered from a back injury that restricted his movemet, this lead him to create Gaga technique as he aimed to used other individual body parts to move. Gaga is based on the use of imagery to encourage the dancer to explore isolated body sensations. It needs a lot of focus and really opens up your mind and imagination. "As a dancer, it’s easy to get caught up in wanting to be technically perfect and always in control of your body..you can’t take it so seriously. Connect the effort to the pleasure, the joy and the passion of dancing” (Holmes, 2007).

The class sounds a lot of fun, maybe it can teach me to let go and just enjoy my passion for dance, instead of worrying about the steps. Have a wee look at the video below and see what you think. Will keep you posted of any other classes I find... 3 weeks and counting!

Back to Technique Classes

Me, Carole, Magenta, Kim (Happy to be at PASS!)

So the tour is over, until our final show which is on 5th April in the PASS theatre. It is hard getting back into technique classes and focus for our up and coming progressive filmings that are happening in two weeks time. I am slowly trying to ease my body back into class and really concentrate on the material we need to perform. Slightly nervous for this as we have not one, but three ballet solos to peforrm. Ballet is a weak area for me as my body is definitely not made for ballet. I'm hoping my contemporary and jazz filmings will make up for my ballet one as both these styles are my strengths. I am really enjoying having choreographer Ashley Jack in each week, giving us plenty of experince in Hip Hop! This is great fun and challenging at the same time. I hope this will help me to become a more versatile dancer and give me the opportunity to perform in many different ways. Lots of hard work to come in the next few weeks and hopefully I have progressed since my first filming a few months ago. Being a dancer is never easy, we are constantly learning new skills each day and that's why I love it! :)

Day 5..

Well today was the fifth and final day of the tour. Everyone was exhausted but had to push through the fatigue to get some energy for another two performances. We travelled to St. Augustine's High School and Broughton High School, some of my friends had previously studied at these schools so it was nice for them to share what they have been up to since leaving. I think the cast were slightly nervous about performing to High School students, as we all know how mean teenagers can be! However we received great feedback from both schools who have asked for us to come back and teach some of the numerous styles we learn here at Performing Arts Studio Scotland. This is a great opportunity as we will all be graduating in the Summer and will be hopeing to gain as much teaching and performing experience as we can. Safe to say the final day of the tour was left on a high... Now off to relax and celebrate Kim's birthday with a Britney Spears themed party, will be nice to rest our bodies.:)

Day 4... off to Glasgow!

REID KERR COLLEGE

Today was the day I had been dreading, simply due to the fact we had to meet outside college at 6.45am to get the bus to Glagow. We were all a bit drained and we ha to prepare ourselves for two shows in two different colleges. I must adimit I was really nervous as we would be performing for dance students who I know would be quite critical! Once we arrived at Reid Kerr college we were led by Zoe and Yasmin in another warm up and then we had to get ready for the perfromance. The performance took place in their dance studio and this was really off putting for me as I had been so used to performing without any mirrors for so long. Also the students sat right in front of us so we had to try and aim our performance at them, but ignore the mirrors which was really difficult! We had a question and answer session led by Chris and Petal which allowed the students to ask any questions about the pieces or any questions relating to audition for the course. As a lot of the students were in the process of leaving their HND, of course all the questions were aimed at the BA course instead of the pieces. After the Q+A session Yasmin and Sean lead a workshop, while the rest of us  had a short lunch break then it was back on the tour bus to head to Anniesland College...

ANNIESLAND COLLEGE

A few of the dancers on tour came from Anniesland College so it was great for them to share what they have been up to at PASS. I made the tough decision not to participate in this show due to my lower back being really sore. I was able to organise everyone's costume and do the running during the show and assist with all the quick changes. This gave me a responsibility on tour that was not just a dancer, so I learnt a lot about the amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes! We received a generous response from the students and lecturers at Anniesland and we were able to offer them a Q+A session at the end too. So after a VERY long day we all headed back to the bus to set off back to Edinburgh. Today was also a special day for my friend Kim as it was her birthday! We surprised her on the bus home with present and a cake, so this certainly cheered everyone up - especially the chocolate cake! So almost nearing the end of the tour and two shows left... roll on Friday...

Day 3..

Today we ventured to Howden Park Centre in Livingston. Half way through the week and we were all pretty excited to be performing in a newly refurbished theatre space. We arrived and sraight away had to do technical rehearsals with Gerron and George our lighting directors This was just  a quick mark through of all the pieces to let them get a rough idea of the lighting. I had to make the decision to sit out of the dress rehearsal as my back was really sore and I wanted to rest it for the evenings performance. The theatre space was lovely and it was a great space to dance on, especially as we had proper wings and our Tour Manager Cat on hand to direct us! I had my mum and a few friends in the audience at this show which was a real moral booster and really got m to perform and get through the show with my sore back. So after a great show it's back home for some ice for my back and a hot bath :)

Day 2..

 Well Glenrothes certainly needed a bit of livening up and us BA Dancers suceeded! Opposite is a picture of Magenta and Chris doing some site specific work to keep us entertained. A few of my classmates had workshops to teach to some groups throughout the day. However for the rest of us we had a bit of hanging about to do! The evenings perfromance took place in the Rothes Halls and we were abe to have some basic lighting to help our performance. My Dad, boyfriend Paul and also dance teacher were in the audience so that made it extra special! Performance went great and the turnout of audience was fantastic - FULL HOUSE which really helped us perform! Keep updated for Wednesdays show...

Day 1..

Well first day of the tour and we are all raring to go! First stop - Queensferry High School. We set of in cars, I was driving one as well as Petal, Chris and Catriona. Had to deal with a last minute costume disaster the night before as Yasmin had no ties for her choreography piece, luckily I managed to find some at home last minute to bring for the week. Once we arrived at Queesnferry High we set up all costumes in our changing area and allocated everyone with a quick change list, as we had many people who needed a quick change. The show at Queensferry High was performed to a group of female students who were interested in dance, this was a good way to begin the tour as it was an intimate audience. The show went ok... I felt a bit wobbily and that I made a few silly mistakes but nothing too drastic! It was a good chance to get used to the VERY quick changes. It's all in a days work of being a dancer... Next stop Glenrothes, will keep you posted.

New York Trip

As if the tour wasn't exciting enough.... some of us are heading Stateside to New York City!! From 11th April to 18th April we will be participating in a variety of dance classes at many world renowned centres around New York. As a bunch of aspiring dance artists we will be making sure we are at the theatre to see numerous shows including contemporary dance, broadway musicals and many more! If that isn't enough we will ba taking in as many sights as we can and that includes visiting all the hot spots from TV series Sex and the City! I am really excited to be part of this trip as it will be a great opportunity for us to gain much needed professional experience. This will then build our confidence and help with our perfromance skills, allowing us to progress onto professional employment after graduation in a few months time. I am in the process of arranging a meeting with our new principal Miles, who has proven to be a great supported of the Performing Arts Department already, and Winifred our Head of Performing Arts Department. I have asked them to meet with us to see if we can come up with some fundraising ideas that may help us raise some money for classes and shows over there. As you will be aware the cost of funding this trip are very expensive and we hope that we can raise some funds to put towards classes to help us develop as dancers whilst over in the Big Apple! Will keep you posted on how we get on. :)

Taking Flight 2011

Here's a look at our Taking Flight 2011 flyer that the publicity team worked hard to create! As the tour is next week we are all working really hard to try and promote it as much we can, handing flyers out across Edinburgh and other areas. I am looking forward to the tour as we not only get the chance to perform in Theatres, but we will also be leading some lecture demonstrations in a few Edinburgh based high schools. This gives them the chance to get a taste of what we do on the BA Dance course and also ask questions regarding any of the work they see. We received a tour pack today from our tour manager Catriona and our week is looking very busy so we are going to have to be organised to keep on top of everything! Carole, Susan and I are currently creating costume checklists so that we can keep on top of what the whole cast is wearing for each piece at each venue. We are also washing and altering the costumes to ensure we look as porfessional as we can throughout the whole tour. So if you are free please try gather as many people as possible to come and see the show as it would be a great support for us and really boost our confident for gaining professional work for when we leave in June. Below are the dates and venues we are touring to and be sure to see us in the area with our Taking Flight 2011 hoodies! :)


Tuesday 8th March - 7pm
Rothes Halls

Rothes Square

Glenrothes  

KY7 5NX

01592 611101

Tickets: http://www.attfife.org.uk/

Wednesday 9th March - 7.30pm

Howden Park Centre       
Howden
Livingston
West Lothian                                                      

EH54 6AE

01506 777666

Tickets: http://www.howdenparkcentre.co.uk/

Tuesday 5th April - 7pm

Edinburgh's Telford College

350 West Granton Road

Edinburgh

EH5 1QE

Tickets: http://pass.ed-coll.ac.uk/

 

No Time To Rest!

As the Tour is fast approaching, we are all a bit stressed as we have had some extra things to rearrange in our dance pieces. Unfortunately, Courtnay withdrew from the course last week so that put us in low spirits as she was such a well loved member of the group! The rehersal directors' have been working hard to try and alter the bits in each piece that need to be re-worked. This has been a bit stressful and is taking up a bit of our rehearsal time and causing some of us to panic a bit. Next week will be our only chance to perfect all the pieces... so lots of hard work coming our way! Well it's almost the weekend and I think we will all be resting our bodies with plenty of hot baths to ease our muscles! Hopefully everyone can get a good rest to help get us in the zone for the tour in a weeks time.
Have a look at our Taking Flight Tour page on facebook! -

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Taking-Flight-BA-Honours-Dance-Tour-2011/147723628622290

Busy Times Ahead...

Well it's two weeks until we are on our Taking Flight 2011 tour! We have all been really busy learning some new Rep that we will be performing as well as our jazz and two contemporary pieces. I have just learnt Carole's piece called "Read Between the Folds", I must admit it was quite challenging as there was quite a bit of choreography to learn. I really like the style of movement though and I feel it suits the kind of dancer I am so I'm really excited to be able to perform it some nights on tour. I am slightly worried as I've really strained my lower back, so trying to take it easy and build my stamina up for the tour is difficult! My 21st Century Choreography piece "Algorithm" was picked along with Carole and Yasmin's to take on tour. I'm quite nervous for this as I've had to add in more dancers and rehearse the piece in such a short space of time.... hopefully it will be alright on the night!

As well as performing as a dancer on the tour, I along with Carole and Susie are also in charge of the costumes. This job involves a lot of preparation, including washing ALL costumes for the 6 pieces, making adjustments or repairs if needed as well as box and store them until the week of the tour. Luckily I have a car which has helped transpor the costumes home with us but it is quite a lot to do. It has helped with my organisation skills as I am having to ensure we have everything in place to make sure the show runs as smoothly as possible!

Keep posted for an update of the venues we will be performing in, hope you can make it!

16 Stories

As you all know the Performing Arts Department has now been renamed PASS... I have attached a few photos of the great new sign we now have in the Department. I had an amazing time working with the other 15 performers and I am certainly going to miss rehearsing with them every day. The idea of the show was to bring 16 performers together both actors and dancers. It was based aroud our own individual stories of how we got to where we are today. A show full of laughter and tears as we each shared our stories through voice and dance. The show was a great success and I am so proud to have been a part of the whole process. I have learnt a lot about myself and some new skills from the others. I have done things I never thought I was capable of before this experience. My confidence has grown and I've met a lot of great people along the way. Had so much fun and I'm so glad I went along to the audition, even though I was scared at first!

<<<< A few of us before the opening show :)

BA Update...

Well so far we have performed 3 nights this week in our 'First Footing' show. We were all able to perform Lisi Perry's contempory piece as well as Laura's Jazz piece which was a great contrast for the show allowing us to perform both styles which was fun. We were all pretty tired after the shows as some of us have been busy with rehearsal for another show that is due to be performed in the new theatre next week. The show is being directed by Chris Kidd and Scott Johnston and it's a collaboration with us dancers and some of the HND acting students. I must admit to begin with I was really nervous about the process as it involved acting as well as dancing and I haven't really had a lot of acting experience. It's been a challenging process but also very rewarding as we are all learning from each other's strengths and everyone has made me feel comfortable which has helped with the acting parts.

Performances coming up!

Carole, Magenta, Becca, Kerry before Lisi's piece

We have been very busy rehearsing for many shows that are taking place -

Telford College Theatre - 31st January - 3rd February

Taking Flight tour (various venues tbc) - 7th-11th March and 5th April

These performances will showcase the BA group in both Contemporary and Jazz styles choreographed by Winifred Jamieson, Lisi Perry, Laura Proudfoot / Ashley Jack and some of the students' own choreographies.

Trip to Newcastle

On Wednesday 19th January the BA group travelled to Newastle to share some of our choreographies with both the Northumbria students and the Dundee (Space) students. We arrived early in the morning so we had some time to go and look for costumes fo Lisi Perry's contporary piece. We then went to Dance City where we participated in a Professional Ballet Class. I was a bit nervous before going into the class as ballet is not my strongest style and I was feeling a bit out of my depth. However I actually really enjoyed the class, I was able to relax as the teacher was friendly so that made me feel comfortable. I think I need to stoppanickng when it comes to ballet and this will help my confidence. After our ballet class we travelled back to the University to watch each others work and take part in a group discussion afterwards. It was a great opportunity to see a variety of work both dance film and live dance performances. I was able to discover new ways of devising work and what works on stage musically and chorographically.

Dance Company - Teaching Assessment

As part of our Dance Company Unit we must deliver a teaching workshop to a client group using some of the reportoire from our current tour. I chose to teach the Lighthouse Group who are a group of mixed age and ability, they also have different learning needs. I wanted to give myself the challenge of working with this client group and I felt I would benefit greatly from taking up this opportunity. I wasn't too nervous about the assessment as I have collaborated with the group before in the Cross Currents show last year. I had also gone along to participate in their weekly classes with teacher Pam at Dance Base in Edinburgh. This gave the group a chance to feel at ease with me and also allowed me to observe their skills and the way the worked with each other. The workshop itself went ok however I ended the workshop a little early as I was nervous and missed out a few things that may have been relevant to link the whole workshop together. However I had a great learning experience teaching them and I am considering keeping this type of client group an option for the future. I can only reflect and learn from the way I taught and hopefully progress with plenty practice.

Lisi Perry - Interpretation

After a long break over the Christmas period our class was back into full rehearsals for our tour and January shows. We worked with choreographer Lisi Perry all week to create our contemporary piece for the shows. This was a really tiring week and Lisi was a very tough choreographer with a really specific way of working!  However it was worth all the blood, sweat and tears as we were thrown right in at the deep end with her highly physical choreography and tasks. Her piece is based on interpretation and what you, as the dancer see when given direct instructions to create movement. This was such a refreshing way to choreograph as you had no time to sit and think about what to do, you had to go with your first instinct. Now looking forward to rehearsing the finished piece and eventually taking it on tour and performing!