LO2: A Chorus Line Rehearsal Reflection Week 1

⭐A CHORUS LINE ⭐

Rehearsal Reflection - Week 1 

Tuesday 10th 

This was our first rehearsal for our next upcoming annual show, 'A Chorus Line'. For this rehearsal, we weren't with the new year 12's. As this is our first rehearsal of the show, we do not yet know what part we will be playing in the show so we started with the opening number because it, firstly, contains the whole cast so doesn't require any specific characters just yet and, secondly, it's the first number and it's good to work chronologically and this number is going to be very physically challenging for me.

For this rehearsal, we were with our dance teacher, Rob. We started with a warmup to make sure our bodies were ready to dance. We did stretches and some corner work, focusing on high kicks and stretching the needed muscles for leg extensions. We then went on to listen to the song to get a feel of the beats and rhythm before we start dancing. While listening to the song, we also counted the beats per bar/phrase and how many bars the first section of choreography has. This is crucial to work this out prior to dancing as the movements in the choreography correlate to the actual words/lyrics that are being said by the character, Zach.

We then started workshopping and playing around with the choreography to see what works with the lyrics, timing of the song and to see what looks good together in a dance sequence. After working on the first section of the song we got up to bar 19 which is the main dance break that makes this a key song in the show. The next part is one of the key moments within the whole show. The key characteristics of this number is that it is the opening number. It sets the tone for the show immediately which is so important. We need it to be high on energy in order to engage our audience. The opening number is set as an audition scene so one of the key aspects of the number is that it doesn't need to be perfect; it needs to appear as if we are learning the combination there and then. It's also unique in staging as it starts with us facing away from the audience, making the main dance section stand out more and have more impact as its the first time the audience see our faces properly. 

• Skills: Timing (starting on count "and 8")
• Areas for Development: flexibility, eyeline

Our first movements begin on count "and 8" which can be quite tricky as it feels unnatural as you would usually start on count "1". I think it was a skill of mine this rehearsal as I think I did well to make sure I started at the right point. On the other hand, my areas for development tis rehearsal was first my flexibility as I found the high kicks quite difficult to get high. Eyeline was also a struggle for me. These steps are quite complicated and require quite a lot of focus and this causes me to look down at my feet and the floor so I a. know what I'm doing and b. know where I'm going so I don't get in someone's dance space around me. to improve in this I can practice the dance more so I feel more confident and to be more spatially aware when I dance.

Rehearsal Videos

Wednesday 11th

This rehearsal was our first rehearsal with the new year 12's. We first started with a group warmup to ensure are bodies were ready for dance. We did some stretches that are important to do before doing high kicks and movements that require some level of flexibility. They make sure our bodies are relaxed and loose with no tension in the muscles. Once we were warmed up, we showed the year 12's what the choreography we learnt on the 10th was so they could see what they would be learning in this rehearsal. 

Rob, our teacher, mixed our class in with the year 12's so that when they are learning the choreography they have one of us near them in case they can't see Rob clearly of if they get stuck. We recapped the dance and taught the year 12's. Some of my class then got split up and put in charge of a small group of year 12's to go over any bits they are struggling with. During this, me, Verity and Chloe worked with Rob on the next section of the dance, which is the main, memorable moment in this song. We spent the lesson refining and practicing this section several times so it becomes muscle memory and more natural to us. We also spent time focusing on the beats of the song and how our movements relate to them. Our dance moves have to be hit on certain beats as that's when the character, Zach, is speaking telling us what to dance. 

We then moved onto learning and creating the next section of the dance, which is the main section at bar 19 in the musical score. I found that this section felt very fast which I did find difficult to keep up. I felt rushed and unrelaxed. It was initially quite a shock as we learnt the section without the music so worked at a speed that was more comfortable for us. Trying it with the actual speed on the track did throw me off slightly so my movements aren't refined and appear a bit messy as I've just learn it. The more practice we get with the actual tempo of the track the less rushed I will feel as I'll get used to the speed. We then went over the dance several times and got some recordings. One time we tried it without the backing vocals, just instrumental. Overall, as a group and personally, this was very difficult to dance without the vocals. The vocals are the guideline for when movements need to be done as character Zach is saying what moves we need to do while we dance them. Doing this dance section without the track is harder as we aren't only concentrating on the steps but also counting the beats to make sure we stay in time and hit the movements at the right point in the song.

• Skills: Recall, Pick-up choreography
• Areas For Development: Need to refine - bit messy, eyeline, expression

The key characteristic for this dance section is that it starts quite relaxed and as if we are 'marking' the dance while we face the back as we are 'practicing' the steps before the audition. Then when the main music comes in after the "5,6,7,8!" the dances' energy immediately rises and creates impact. My skills for this rehearsal was my ability to recall the choreography and my ability to pick-up the new choreography quickly. Even though I picked-up the movements quickly, I was still messy and I need to refine. A big reason as to why I need to do this is that the tempo is quite fast (faster than I'm probably used to) which causes me to look untidy. Another thing I need to work on improving is both my eyeline and expression. As I'm learning new choreography, I have the tendency to look down, even if I do feel confident with what I'm doing because I do this, it effects my expression. As we are in the early learning stages, I'm finding it difficult to act and express the emotion of the dance as I do not yet know my part in the show. I think my expression will improve when I know my part as I will have an idea of how to express the dance more.

Rehearsal Videos

Thursday 12th

Instead of a rehearsal, we had our 1-on-1 auditions for the show. We wrote an order of who would go first, second, third etc. When it was our turn, we went into the main performance space and did our audition in front of Tanya, Head of Performing Arts and the 2 technicians for Performing Arts, Anthony and Matt. While we waited until it was our audition, we were in a separate room next door so that we could rehearse. 

For my audition, I made my own backing tracks for the characters I was going to audition for. In total, I auditioned for 4 characters:

1. Cassie

2. Diana

3. Val

4, Sheila

For Cassie I sang the first minute and 48 seconds of her song, "The Music and the Mirror". For Dianna, I sang the first minute and 43 seconds of "Nothing" and then the first minute and 43 seconds of "What I Did For Love". For Val, I edited the original Broadway musicals backing track to be the new length of the one that is in "Chorus Line: Teen Edition" which we are doing. The track was overall 2 minutes and 1 second. I also sang the lyric changes that are in the teen edition of Chorus Line as that will be the one we actually use in the show. The main altercation to the lyrics is instead of saying, "T*ts and A*se" the lyrics are "This and That". Lastly, for Sheila, I sang her first section that she has at the start of "At the Ballet". My track for that was 1 minute and 24 seconds. I did snippets of all the songs except Val's song as I wanted my audition to have good flow and not seem like it would drag.

To make my audition more entertaining I created an order for my songs. I decided on this:

1. "At the Ballet" - Sheila

2. "The Music and The Mirror" - Cassie

3. "Nothing" - Diana

4. "What I Did For Love" - Diana

5. "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" - Val

I did this because it separated the slow ballads. If I sang all the slow ballads in one go the atmosphere would be quite low and I didn't want to run the risk of Tanya getting bored. I planted the upbeat/comedy songs amongst the ballads so that the atmosphere stay upbeat and generally keep my audition more entertaining for an audience. 

Overall, I feel that my audition went very positively and I didn't mess up on any of my lines or lyrics and I was intime with my backing tracks. 

Audition Backing Tracks

"At the Ballet"

"Nothing"

"Dance: Ten; Looks: Three"

"The Music and The Mirror"

"What I Did For Love"