I was in the Gonzaga Dramatic Association Production of Hairspray this Spring, where I played IQ, one of the Corny Kids. It was directed by Allan L’Etoile, produced by Paul Buckley and Megan Goldsmith, choreographed by Ellen Abood, and musically directed by Marika Countouris. Many people called this one of the best shows that the GDA has put on in years, and it was a lot of fun to be in. There were three main aspects to putting on the show, rehearsing the singing, rehearsing the dancing, and performing.
When the cast would rehearse the singing for the show, after receiving the music and splitting up into vocal parts, Marika Countouris would start going through the song in small sections, one vocal part at a time. After going through the whole song once, we would run through it again, correct any mistakes, then run in one final time. After that, it was up to the cast to remember everything that we did and to keep doing it. We later had to go back for a few songs and relearn them, but if everyone was willing to put in the effort and practice individually, then we wouldn’t have to relearn it and we could move on.
…show more content…
It was a hard process because we had to learn dance moves which were popular in the 60s (when the show took place) so that way the audience would understand the show as the 60s. There was one song in particular, Nicest Kids in Town featuring the Corny Collins Kids, that took a long time to choreograph because it was long, fast, and we all had to be very synchronized for to pull of the effect Ellen Abood wanted. But once we learned everything (and reviewed and changed everything to the satisfaction of Mr. L’Etoile, which took a while) it looked really good and was a lot of fun to
From kindergarten until high school, I was a member of the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance. Up to 5 days per week, I would be at the dance studio taking classes, rehearsing for shows, and helping out in the less advanced classes. Regardless of skill level, Jean never hesitated to speak the brutally honest truth about students’ performances and she never settled for anything less than perfection. Jean would often preach that she is only the instruction manual and she cannot make us good dancers, we had to do that for ourselves. However, it was not her critique or teaching alone that motivated dancers to perform well, it was her relentless work ethic and commitment to her studio. As a 70 year-old women, Jean held classes as much as 7 days per
The Faculty Dance Concert was an entertaining event filled with a variety of dance styles. The show took place on Friday, November 6, 2015, at 7:30 in the evening, and was held in the Fullerton College Campus Theatre. The founding artistic director is Melanie Kay Rosa and the assistant artistic director is Lisa M. Anderson. The dance faculty choreographers are Lisa M. Anderson, Sarah Cashmore, Teresa Jankovic, and Melanie Kay Rosa. The four guest choreographers are Helen Gardea, Robert Laos, Devon Smith and Shawnee Amara Williams. The two student choreographers are Ashely Garcia and Madeline Young.
Ballet “Cry” simply showed to us real life of all African women. Every single American people know what kind of life they went through. Therefore it touched their heard. Alvin Ailey’s “Cry” presented wonderfully combined movements, technique and emotion. Ms. Donna Wood uses tragic face, a mask of sorrow. It is a face born to cry, but when she smiles it is with an innocent radiance, joyfulness that simple and lovely. She never tries consciously to please an audience. He was not only concentrating in movements and physical performance, but also using flowing white gown
She breaks all the images of American standard of beauty such as being physically pretty. She
The production process for “The Audition” was unlike any other show I’ve been a part of. The scenes were rehearsed and broken up into sections that were often blocked out of order, and other elements of the show like the dancing and singing, also started out as separate entities from the rest of the show. This came with multiple challenges, but many of them worked themselves out in the end. The dance and choreography was especially exciting for me, because it is something I enjoy and have a talent for. That being said, there were still challenges that came along with it. I had to learn how to teach dance to people who have never set foot inside a dance studio which is no easy task. Luckily, the more
The dance that I will be focusing on is entitled: thinking sensing standing feeling object of attention. The dance, to me, symbolizes the socialization of persons in Western civilization concerning gender roles. In the beginning there are gestures that are separated from emotion and full-embodiment, but as the dance progresses the gestures become more meaningful and recognizable. The lighting starts out very specific and narrow, then the light encompasses the entire stage, and eventually the dancers are silhouetted as they return to a familiar movement motif in the end. The music is mainly instrumental with occasional soft female vocals, and the lyrics suggest emotion, which is interesting because the dancers do not convey emotion until
The first piece was Voiced (premiered in 2011) choreographed by Ricardo Mendelez. The dance was set to music by Meredith Monk. As the curtains of the stage open, there is one dancer, Janelle Spruill, in the center of the stage. She dances the rhythmic movements to the sounds that the vocalist makes. It was almost as if her body became one with the words, therefore causing her to appear as vocal chords that have taken the form of a human body. Soon, she is joined
Ballet 422 is a documentary that was made about the creation of Ney York City Ballet’s 422, choreographed by Justin Peck. Justin Peck has been a member of the New York City Ballet since 2007, where he is one of the 50 dancers in the lowest rank of the company, known collectively as the Corps de Ballet. Following many of Peck’s successes at the company, he became the only current dancer to choreograph for the New York City Ballet. Peck has been summoned to create the only new ballet on 2013 where he chose to feature three of the Company’s elite principle dancers.
What style of dance did you see or do? What specific movements did you see or do that would indicate that it was this specific style or genre?
I went to go see a dance performance hosted by the Walnut High School Dance Production called “Winter Wishes”. In the performance there were many dances that were featured by advance dance and the dance team of Walnut High School. I saw this performance on November 20, 2015 in the Performing Arts Center of Walnut High School. My friends and I all chose to go to this show because Mrs. Tomlin highly recommended it and it was also the closest one we are able to go to. Others were either too far or at a date one of us couldn’t make and would take away the fun and enjoyment of going to see a dance that we could discuss.
I attended UWM’s dance program from 2004-2008 where I made friends with Megan Zintek (to me, she’ll always be just Megs). When my daughter was 2 years old, I was looking for dance classes to put her in and discovered Megs had opened her own dance studio, Bella Via in Mequon. Thankfully my daughter inherited my dancer gene and still enjoys taking classes there. I’m so thrilled that a UWM graduate is using her arts degree and started a business that she is passionate about. I’m very proud of Megs.
Linda and I both need to work on our unimpressive singing and dancing skills. Linda doesn't mind singing in front of others, but I'm not as flamboyant as that. In one episode, Linda created her own musical where she had lots of little singing numbers. Her singing parts were not raved about as much as the final number,
Within the past two years, dance has become a more prevalent part of my life. Dance has provided me with a source of diversion and a creative outlet from the monotony of classes. A research colleague invited me to attend a UF Volaticus Aerial Dance Club meeting. Aerial dance is a form of modern dance that incorporates the use of hanging silk ribbons to fully utilize all physical space. I was hesitant to attend at first because I have little formal training in dance, but I became hooked and was a regular attendant. Aerial dance not only pushed me physically, but it also taught me to control my body more gracefully and fluently. Last year, I performed Bhangra, a style of dance from the Punjabi region of India/Pakistan, for the Asian American
A series of set of movements to music, either alone or with a partner. That is the definition of dancing. Dancing is a way to express one's feeling and to get active.
I attended DancePlus show On Friday December 2, 2011 at 7:30pm at night. It was performed in the Victoria K. Mastrobounno Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There were four different parts that I saw that day. All of the dances were very interesting and very different from each other. All of the dances had its own unique key factor that separated it from each other. I enjoyed the entire show very well. Out of all the dances I had strong reaction to “Lapa’s Lament”. I believe this specific dance stood out to me compared to the other dances from the show. This show had many different factors that stood out from other shows in the entire performance.