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!

Scottish Dance Theatre

This week we had a 3 hour contemporary workshop with SDT. We were able to learn some Rep work, which was great to be able to do what the dancers actually do on tour. They also done an improvisation task with us that linked to a piece they toured in the festival "The Life and Times of Girl A". This was lots of fun as we got to use our voice whilst improvising and really use our bodies.

After the workshop we took a trip to the Brunton Theatre to watch an interactive performance by SDT. This gave us the opportunity to ask questions to the dancers as well as the Assistant Director, Sally Owen. They performed a mixture of pieces they had toured previously and are currently touring. I am really excited to go to see their show at the Traverse Theatre soon as they never fail to impress with their diverse range of work.

Here's what we've been up to!

Last week we went to the Festival Theatre to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, they were amazing! The dancers' technique was phenomenal as well as their breathtaking performance. They performed the classic "Revelations" which was really uplifting and a couple of new pieces based on Alvin Ailey himself. These were great as they used an interview from Artistic Director Judith Jamison alongside the dancers dancing. This showed that you do not always have to use music whilst choreographing, overall the whole show was a great inspiration for us in all areas of our studies!

New York Trip

Today a group of us booked flights to go to New York in April 2011. We are hoping to further our dance studies by taking class at Broadway Dance Centre, Alvin Ailey School and a few more! Got a lot of fundraising to keep us busy! :)