LO2: A Chorus Line Rehearsal Reflection Week 3

⭐A CHORUS LINE ⭐

Rehearsal Reflection - Week 3

Tuesday 24th

For this rehearsal, Year 12 joined us. We started to work on, 'At the Ballet'. For this number we were split into 3 groups and I was put in group 3. Rob, our teacher, worked with each group separately as each group does something slightly different. When it wasn't our groups turn to work with Rob, we worked on and refined the opening number, 'I Hope I Get It'. Once we did that, I worked with my group and helped them with the ballet sequence in the opening number. As we were doing that, the 3 groups turned into 2. My group was merged in with group 1 and 2. I was put into group 1. Group 1 then taught me and others from my group their ballet section. 

The key characteristics of this number is that it is gentle, delicate and quite sombre in the way that Sheila and Bebe talk about their lives. This massively contrasts the opening number. The opening number includes a lot movements and sequences in the style of Jazz. Jazz is so different to Ballet so it's a challenge the body as we have to embody very contrasting styles. 

• Skills: picking up choreography, teaching/leadership
• Areas For Development: floor bit in jazz section (painful)

For this rehearsal I would say one of my skills was that I was able to quickly pick up choreography. We started the rehearsal in 3 groups and near the end of the rehearsal the 3 groups merged into 2. I had to pick up the choreography quickly as we were getting to the stage of running through the number and recording it. Another skill of mine, for this rehearsal, was the teaching I did and the leadership I had when I was helping others in my group with the 'I Hope I Get It' choreography. When it comes to my areas for development in the rehearsal, I would say it's mainly the floor drop that finishes the Jazz section. Right now my body is still getting used to doing it and because of this I am finding the move, a little painful to do. I find it a lot less painful and easier to do once I am fully warmed up but I need to practice this move more so that overtime it will become easier for me.

Wednesday 25th

This rehearsal included the Year 12's with us. We had dance all morning and we were working on the opening number, 'I Hope I Get It' ending and the transition into the scene after it. The next part in the opening number we had to work on the Jazz section and split everyone into 2 groups as the jazz section music repeats twice so we need 2 groups to ensure we cover all the music. I am in group 2 as Zach speaks to me so I need to be on stage when group are. Group 1 do not do the jazz floor drop as there isn't time in the music for them to do that and get off stage in time for group 2 to get on stage to start. On the other hand, Group 2 does the the jazz floor drop. I still need to work on this move personally as it is still causing me a little pain when I do it. I didn't do it in this rehearsal until we filmed what we had done as I pulled a muscle in my leg and didn't want to make it worse. 

For the next sections in the dance I am front centre as character, Zach, calls me to the front. This is a massive confidence boost for me as I don't always feel that confident when I'm dancing. Even though it is written in the script for my character to go to the front, I still feel more confident as it has helped me to be more comfortable with my character and be able to develop it further. As I'm at the front, I feel that I really need to push my character through and get it across to the audience. I personally feel that my character is starting to shine through more in this rehearsal. I just need to keep my character strong throughout the whole number. I'm finding this a challenge right now as the number is long and has moments when we aren't dancing. We carried on and completely finished the opening number. Once we we did, we went on to work on the line scene that happens after the opening number. While doing this we also worked on remaining in character. 

After this morning rehearsal, we had a later rehearsal. In this session we worked on the number, "Sing". This number isn't a big dance number like the opening number. It has simple movements but they are effective when we all do them together. The moves are simple but I did struggle to remember the order in which they come in. After this rehearsal, I stayed back and worked on the separate ballet section with some of the other cast members who are also doing this section in the song, "At the Ballet". As a group we found it really tricky when it came to adding the arms to our leg movements. We also struggled with the timing but this is something we can fix and work on during our next rehearsal for that number. 

• Skills: confidence when dancing, stamina
• Area For Development: characterisation (line scene, standing around edge of opening number), "Sing" singing

I would say my skills for today's rehearsals was firstly my confidence when dancing, particularly in the opening number. I feel that my confidence is growing the more we work on this song/dance as I am becoming more familiar with the steps and movements. I would also say one of my skills was my stamina. We ran through the opening number several times and the dance is high on energy with quick dance steps. I think I had good stamina as I was able o keep going through this number while maintaining it's quality each time we did it. On the other hand, I would say my areas for development would be my characterisation during the line scene after the opening as when we aren't speaking there is a lot of standing around, I need to maintain my character and remember to react to what the other characters are saying. I also need to work on my characterisation while I'm stood at the sides during the opening number, I need to make sure I don't stop reacting and moving because I am still on stage even though I'm not dancing. The only other thing I need to work on from this rehearsal is the singing in "Sing". We haven't had a singing rehearsal yet for this song so this is why it didn't sound too great as we are all currently unsure of the harmonies. This isn't a major concern as we will be having a singing rehearsal just for this number coming up.

Rehearsal Videos

Thursday 26th

This rehearsal didn't include the Year 12's. This was a sing-through/choreography session. After a warmup, we started working through some of the group numbers. We started by working on the number, "And...". We have done this number before but we are now refining it and trying to pull our characters through more clearly. We worked on our reactions to what Harrison (character, Bobby) is saying during the song and we also need to work on how we are acting in the line. This song is meant to show the internal panic that us, on the line, is having caused by the questions Zach is asking other characters. We ran through it a few times and once we did that we moved onto "Montage Part 1: Hello Twelve...". We started by singing it through a couple times so everyone knew when and what they needed to sing. We then moved on to begin choreographing the number. The key characteristics of the number is that it is nostalgic as the characters are reminiscing the times when they were once 12,13 etc. so we need to make sure this comes across through our faces.  We choreographed up until Connie starts to sing. We stopped here as Connie wasn't in our rehearsal as it was just us Year 13's. In this rehearsal, we also did my monologue into my number, "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three". This is the first time I would have sang-through it with everyone in their line positions.

After this morning rehearsal, we had an afternoon to focus on the ensemble singing in the show. Today we focused on "I Hope I Get It", "Montage Part 3: Mother..." and "Montage Part 4: Gimme the Ball...". In "I Hope I Get It" I am on the Tenor harmony. I am an alto/mezzo but I join the tenor harmony as we have lots of sopranos and altos due to the new Year 12's having a bigger class than what we are which has mostly girls. Grace and I have both hopped onto the tenor harmony to make the groups more equal so that the volume coming from each group is also equal. The tenor part isn't tricky in the opening number while I am glad about as I am conscious that I will be dancing as well. In comparison, for the montages I am singing the alto line as my character Val is specifically put onto the alto line. In "Montage 3 and 4", the 'line characters' have individual harmony sections that we have to follow. I did find this quite a challenge as I am finding it hard to find my starting note when singing the alto harmony. 

• Skills: characterisation, stamina 
• Area For Development: movement during "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" and monologue (learn lines), Montages (alto harmony)

My skills for this rehearsal was my characterisation. I think my character is at a good place right now when it comes to the ensemble stuff. I feel that I am reacting to other people's lines and actions in songs and I think I'm doing well to translate the song meaning/scene meaning across. I feel like I could still push my character more but as off right now in the rehearsal period I think I am successfully showing my character. On the other hand, when it comes to my characterisation for my song, I think characterisation is a skill for me as I think I am doing well to get Val's personality across. Stamina is also a skill as we worked on a lot of things today and I think I did well to maintain my stamina throughout the rehearsal. For this rehearsal, I think my areas for development is my movement for my song and monologue. I stay in one place while I do my bit. I need to work on making use of my stage more so that my song stays visually interesting for the audience. This will be easier to do once I've learnt my lines for my monologue as I won't have my script in hand. Another area for development is that I need to do some individual rehearsal of the montages as I am finding my harmony line quite tricky to pick up right now.

Rehearsal Videos

Friday 27th

This rehearsal included the whole cast and this rehearsal's aim was to go through the opening number. Every Friday rehearsal is only 45 minutes long so we don't have a lot of time to work on much. This rehearsal is mainly for the benefit of all the non-ctec students as they only get a chance to go through this number with everyone during this Friday rehearsal and Wednesday lunch rehearsal. They are still learning but as we know what we are doing, we can use this rehearsal as an opportunity to refine our movements and develop our characters further. This rehearsal was important in terms of staging. Tanya, our teacher, was putting us in our official spaces for the number. I was placed stage left (actor's left) in the front line for the first part of the section. This is where I have been dancing in past rehearsals so I don't need to adapt to a new space. I found this rehearsal helpful for me as I could run the number several times which is helping me develop my stamina even more. I would say that I am fully confident with this number now and I am happy with the movements, I just need to now work on my singing during this number as I feel I haven't put a lot of focus on to that aspect yet as I have been heavily focusing on the dance sequences.