Section 4

Possible Acts I may perform

Burlesque

Image Source :http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/8207396/Burlesque-dancers-through-the-ages.html?image=2

Burlesque in America was it's most popular in the early 19th century, and was that act of sometimes cyncical or ridiculing comedy along side strip teasing and dancing from girls. This could be seen as a 'classier' way of stripping, as the performers only teased the audience with sneak peeks of their bare skin. However in the declining years, some could say the act has become more provocative. Myself, Livvie and Kimberley would enjoy recreating this act, by combining a selection of songs with contrasting
tempos and moods so we can adapt our dance we would make. Lighting would also play a big part in this act, as we learned when researching the 2010 film 'Burlesque' by watching clips of the movie when they do their highlight performances. This act would be suitable for our venue the 'Sealight Theatre', as it has a large stage space for us to move around and dance easily. Our props we were thinking of were mainly the use of chairs, as too many props occupying the space could be difficult as we need room to dance aswell. For our costumes, we thought of wearing a suit jacket and skirt over a leotard and fishnet tights, possibly with heels if we can perform in them. We initially thought about singing as well but it was a lot to take on as we would be performing a full out dance throughout the whole act, requiring all our physical skills. I feel I would enjoy doing this act more as I am confident with my dance skills and it would be exciting to explore the variety of designs (makeup, fashion) burlesque performers use.


War Recruitment Songs

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIEwKyxr2bU

I would enjoy doing re enactments of war recruitment song performances, after watching clips from the movie 'Oh What a Lovely War', where a large number of people from the army and other spectacular acts were a way of encouraging men in the audience to come up, and sign up for the war.

Researching the way of war recruitment songs, I think the false representation of what it's really like in war(happy, light hearted tunes, singing and dancing) blinded the public from understanding what they were about to partake. I would need many people to recreate for example this scene, as the quantity is important as it portrays the 'majority', in which people are more likely to join. The 'Sealight Theatre' stage may not be large enough however to produce such an energetic and busy act, and may require many props and costumes.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_burlesque