25th sep - rachel

Today we did speedruns of Act 1 and 2. By doing these it will improve our understanding of the narrative, characters and space. Working with our two separate casts, we quickly scanned the scripts and picked out specific lines to say in each scene with a small choreographed movement. For example, me and Sophie (who plays Maureen) sang the last lines of 'Take Me Or Leave Me', exiting on opposite sides. This clearly showed the significant mood and conflict as this is the scene when the couple split.

After doing this, what we gained from this acitivity was:

• we understood the main points in the plot - As the speedruns lasted only around 5 minutes, we had to be able to display the entire storyline in physical bullet points. So highlighting these to make it as clear as possible also helped us learn about it further. For example some main points were Maureen and Joanne breaking up, Angel's death, Mimi dying etc.
• we understood he number of songs - another thing we gathered from the script was that the musical has very little dialogue, made up largely of solos, ensembles and duets. 
• we understood the importance of the songs - learning the number of songs that are included in the musical, led us to understand how important the songs really are. The songs tell the story through the lyrics.

We then discussed and mapped the staging space, including where the audience will be, where we will be allowed the enter/exit, any obstructions such as the scaffolding and other set design. 

25th sep - kat

In today's lesson, we revisited the song 'Rent' where we structured the dance phrases more and added in more sequences. In duets, we created a short set of movements to perform on stage in a specific order. Me and Kim's actions included us running in from opposite sides of the stage, Kim then sliding down as I jump over her. This happens in a fast motion to show the chaotic atmosphere of this section, as each pair have to display a form of attack. We then join back up and bump our chests together, and then exit stage left. We could possibly exit opposite sides to further show our collision between one another.

I feel our choice of movement was effective as it showed the erratic mood of all the characters, which is also supported by the instrumental section of 'Rent'.

To improve, we could space out more as our movement is performed only in centrestage which is always in a linear fashion. Although our actions reinforce the context, our dynamics could also be stronger which will enhance the moves more. The dynamics should be more rough rather than neat, portraying the violent nature. We could add more actions as ours is fairly short, ensuring it is as realistic as possible. Dance actions that aren't associated with the theme e.g. an arabesque would not be suitable or make sense in the phrase. Using more physical theatre in this would be more effective.

Our gang characteristics could be stronger incorporated within the movement too, maintaining our body language etc.

gangs - structred more
partners interaction in order - jumped over kimberly
video

24th sep - rachel

In today's lesson, we first briefly discussed how our rehearsals were going to operate and what to expect. In our weekly lessons, we would take part of that time to rehearse the various group and duo songs, with Kim with the piano and also working on choreography with each other independently. As well as this, we will also spend time with our double cast to figure out and make decisions for our character's movement etc. in specific scenes and songs. Although we want to have similarities and reflect each other, we also will want to make our own slight alterations for when we play that character. This is so you have had a chance to add more of your own viewpoint of the characters which may be slightly different to your pair.

We then had a short time to think of 3 facts/ideas of our character (I chose Joanne as she was my main character), one being about their family origin relationship, one about their friends association and one about their ways to earn money:

1. Family origin relationship: Joanne, although has a close relationship with her mother and father, also frequently quarrel over her and Maureen's relationship, who believe she would be much better off with someone else. To them, Maureen and Joanne are like chalk and cheese, with nothing in common and constantly bickering themselves. However I believe they are more alike than her parents think. She may be an uptight lawyer with trust issues and not much interest in the artsy world, but considering Maureen is the complete opposite of all these things, there must be another side to Joanne, the one that is unconditionally in love with Maureen. 
2. Friends association: She keeps her friends at work very separate from the others surrounding Maureen. Her social life is similar to that of a double life. When at work and with her family, she is being the example of what they want her to be like and act like. Whereas when she's with Maureen and Mimi etc., she is more relaxed and free. 
3. Ways to earn money: She was a former law student, graduating from a well-respected university and entered the law career, becoming a lawyer. As this is high pay and an overall stable profession, it may suggest her parents pushed her into this direction, which also explains why they aren't approving of Maureen, as she isn't at all similar in terms of occupation. Joanne is the only character out of all the others to be in a high paying career with a sturdy future unlike the rest who can barely afford their rent

In the 'Given Circumstances' task, we would in random pairs be given a scenario, which we had to act out trying to incorporate our character ideas into it. We would end up in a conversation of getting to know each other's characters basically. 

After, we then had to make 3 firm decisions about our characters:

1. Parents not approving of Maureen
2. Always questioning life choices (being a lawyer, relationship with Maureen etc.)
3. Has trust issues, due to Maureen's wild and flirty persona

This lesson has been useful as we have quickly gathered information and built on our characters, which will soon mould the overall structure of them and help us to characterise ourselves

pab - 21st sep 4 Performing arts courses

Today we had to create Institution Profiles around Performing Arts, researching different universities and drama schools and the courses they offer. We had to focus on 4 different courses, possibly contrasting each other, to then present. I looked at Kingston University, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and Kingston University.

LAMDA 

Course: BA (Hons) Professional Acting

3 year course

£9,000 a year

Year 1 - technical classes (acting, improv, voice, movement, singing, text analysis & interpretation, Alexander Technique, physical theatre, stage combat, dance) 80% of course content

Year 2 - Classwork 60% of course content, inc. audio & screen acting monologues

Workshop performances of Shakespeare, restoration drama, 19th century russian naturalism& musical theatre

Year 3 - public productions in LAMDAs theatres, can tour across UK & abroad

final phase of screen acting, voice-over & mic training ~ produce short film, radio play, voice reel & on-camera audition technique

Technical classes throughout final year

Train minimum 35 hours per week 

Audition: 2 monologues (1 from Elizabethan/Jacobean play, 1 form 20th/21st century)

maximum 3 mins

Kingston University

Course: Drama BA(Hons)

3 year course

Year 1 - key approaches to uunderstanding performance, analysing playtexts & productions etc.

end of year 1, create a performance project

Year 2 - contemporary play study, devising performance & Modernist theatre theory & practice

Year 3 - major production project, text based/devised ~ choice of option modules e.g cabaret & variety performance

Learn a language for free whilst studying - Arabic, french, german, italian, japanese, mandarin, portuguese, russian & spanish

Study/work abroad

Entry: 280-320 points

Grades: A level/BTEC:DDM

LIPA

Course: BA (Honours) Dance

3 Year course

£9,000 a year

Year 1 - technical: regular jazz, ballet & contemporary classes, weekly in tap

study fundamentals of choreo & commercial dance~inc. cross-cultural, street dance & combined art forms

inc. acting, singing and voice classes

Year 2 - technical classes continue. Classes to enhance secondary skills in acting and singing with musical theatre classes

Public peformance project~work alongside musicians, designers, & technicianss towards major performance

Year 3 - Explore elements of own research through practice, studying professional interests in dance & related performance

 performance opportunities for internal & external audiences, inc showcase opportunities for industry professionals

Entry: 5 GCSES Min. C Grade

160 points ~ 2 A levels, BTEC Diploma DM

University Of Surrey

Course: Dance with Theatre and Performance BA (Hons)
3 year course
Dance and theatre combined, expressing meaning and emotion through performance
£9,000 a year

References

www.lipa.ac.uk

www.kingston.ac.uk

www.lamda.org.uk

18th sep - production roles

My production role is 'Props'
This will involve me listing all of the props that are described in the script, along with:

•  the act and scenes in which they are used, 
• the quantity of the item, 
• the locations they will start/end in
• the character(s) that use them
• any other necessary notes 

We have began to roughly list the items in Act one and Act two. We need to also discuss with the cast which items we already possess, which items we still need, alternative items, items we won't be needing and any additional props

I will need to type these up into a table in more detail.

18th sep - kat

Today we continued with 'La Vie Boheme', adding more movement. With our partners, we added onto our duo phrase, using 3 given contact positions to incorporate into the dance.

Balance by pulling against each other

Leaning support

Pushing against each other

We then further developed our movement using some choreographic devices including canon/unison, repetition, levels etc. For example, Kim crouches and slides towards me whilst I dance towards her (levels), then joining me as we (unison) body ripple. Another example is when we (repeat) a section of the original phrase, but this time I am sitting down on a chair and Kim is standing directly behind me (levels) when performing this.

When we performed this, what went well was our timing of the movement and the fluid, continuous structure of it. We also remembered to use our facial expressions and high energy throughout our whole phrase. However, at the end of our dance, we still had time left before the song ended. To improve, we sould improvise movement to fill in the gaps instead of standing around. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfDkia-tXlo&index=2&list=PLl8RU1N6TfpJ3SZwGNRO2e8f8SLsEsvpq

18th sep - rachel

Today we watched a Rent production performed by an American high school. This helped us gain an insight into the ways this musical has been interpreted in terms of staging design and directions, vocal performances and the style of the characters (personality/costume). We noted down what sections our own characters were involved in and entered, for example Joanne's first appearance is in the opening scene 'Rent', where she it's in conversation with Maureen on a payphone. As me and Josh play Mr and Mrs Jefferson, it was interesting to see how the roles were performed. As they are leaving a voicemail, the couple's lines are half sung half spoken. This will be useful for when we are practising this section to play around and exaggerate the lines, to give more of a humorous quality.

We then began labelling and annotating a diagram of one of our characters, mine being Joanne. This included what their attire would consist of, their thoughts, feelings, ambitions, fears etc.

Here is a video of my explanation and own opinions on my character, Joanne.