BHM 1

22.9.14

We watched and analysed clips that refer to black history, to help us gain an idea on what to perform for the variety performance. Myself and five others will be performing together.

Dance ideas

Martin Luther King
At the beginning Ashley (As Martin Luther King) says 'I have a dream', in which the music then begins . The rest of us are surrounding him on a podium style stand, and we break away from him once he says 'I have a dream'.
This slow emotional dance and music will then switch to a lively celebratory atmosphere as Ashley finishes the section of the speech, which relates to when King was massively applauded by the thousands of listeners within the crowd.
~link to MLK whole speech~ http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Our movement in the dancing will also at times highlight key parts in the MLK speech, lyrically synchronising with certain sentences/phrases to visually represent his words as well as acoustically.
Our dancing will involve contemporary and Traditional African movement to contribute towards the moods of the sections. Ashley(MLK) reads the chosen section of the speech as we perform to show the emotion in the speech, which then switches to a celebratory atmosphere as Ashley finishes the section, in which we all change our contemporary style to traditional African (this section represents when MLK is loudly applauded by the thousands that supported him). The music would be edited to fit the piece, and designed props would be used.

Nelson Mandela
Brief: we would celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela a, representing a quick timescale of his dramatic life, from when he was sentenced to life imprisonment, to when he was granted his freedom 27 years later. Ashley (Nelson Mandela) could begin enclosed in either a jail cell symbolising his captivity and isolation or him working(digging/sledgehammer-ing) to symbolise the hard slave labour he may have faced. We could then have a dance of protest to free Mandela, which also highlights the ongoing segregation that went on. Finally on his release, we can then perform s celebration piece, whether it's a short composition or another dance piece. The chosen music would be edited to fit the whole piece, and designed props would be used.
~Dance example to help create dance/protest~