Task two: Performance of Bollywood Dance

 Final performance video: 

1.1 style

 During Bollywood dance we were able to fully immerse ourselves in its upbeat and vibrant style. After watching back the footage, I can say I successfully executed the style of this dance through my interpretation of the choreography. I believe that over the course of learning this choreography I started to understand the nature of this style clearer, understanding the energy and clarity each movement needs in order for it to look effective on stage. I made sure I was always fully finishing each gesture, elongating my arms and hands to create strong, powerful mudras to execute the important stylistic features of Bollywood dance. I made sure to perform with a held and upright posture, keeping my focus up and out to communicate the lively style of this performance style through my facial expressions and body language. Following from this, I can say I successfully used my facial expressions and characterisation to convey the spirit of each section of the dance, This is because I used strong, powerful expressions for the first part of the choreography as the movements/music are hard and sharp, then contrasting this with bright, cheerful facials to mirror the change in movements/music. This emphasised the style of Bollywood, being both a powerful and joy filled dance genre. 

1.2 Qualities 

After watching back the final performance of the Bollywood dance I can clearly see my effective use of dynamics, techniques, use of space, expressions, musicality and rhythm, using these qualities to create a technically accurate performance. 

The use of accurate dynamics was shown throughout this performance, this can be seen in the opening section of the choreography. I use contrasting harsh/soft dynamics to add texture and connect the movements with the music. This allowed me to emphasize moments in the music, creating movements that clearly show the style and intention of the choreography. I used my technical accuracy throughout this performance, consistently considering how I am placing my movements/limbs, elongating and stretching my hands to create accurate mudras and using my past dance knowledge and physical skills to perform an accomplished performance with technical accuracy. I also made sure my use of space was accurate throughout, making sure my spacing is correct to insure a smooth run of the dance. I did this by making sure each time we ran the dance, I made sure my spacing was accurate, looking back on video evidence to check and solidify where I need to be for each section of the dance. I also made sure that I was considering how I was moving around the space, making sure each transitional movement was the same every time we rehearsed so I didn't cause or create any collisions with my class mates. My expressions were another feature I used throughout. I made sure that my facial expressions adequately communicated the choreographic intent of the entire dance. I attempted to align my expressions to each phase of the dance, beginning with a stern and strong expression to match the tone of the opening and ending with a happier and more gleeful expression for the cheerful and lighter moments in the music/choreography. My usage of expressions helped me to completely explain my understanding of the dance, which improved the overall choreography. I also made sure that my musicality was strong and accurate for this dance. I made sure my musical timing was correct, connecting my movements with the music to show accuracy in my musicality. 

1.3 Context 

After reviewing the footage of the performance of Bollywood, I can confidently say that I think that I communicated the choreographic intent of the dance successfully. Through the use of expressions and body language, I was able to put across the 'meaning' of the number fully, I made sure I was using my expressive skills throughout this dance, adapting them across the choreography accordingly. This elevated my performance and allowed me to communicate the true intention of the choreographer. I also made sure to research and watch already existing Bollywood dance numbers and make note of how they interpret the style of this genre. I always noticed the dancers vibrant take to each movement, making sure they fully finish and execute each motion with energy. I also noticed that they were always attacking each movement, adding a lot of power to their strong movements. When rehearsing, I made sure to try and re create this same sense of attack, adding a lot more strength to the choreography. I also tried to keep the more light hearted moments upbeat and fun, contrasting my expressive skills according to each section of the music and dance. I believe these attributes allowed me to communicate the meaning and style of this dance as well as the choreographic intent of it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Future Development

Task one: Progress One skill I have definitely made progress in is the physical skill, flexibility. Because of dancing outside of college, I had a good amount of flexibility however this course has defiantly pushed me to further develop this physical skill within an array of dance genres. After lockdown, my flexibility definitely decreased which motivated me even more to improve this skill. I realized that I had lost my front and middle split and some movements within dance were more difficult to execute properly because of this. I decided to find stretches online and start using them every other day, also taking stretches we had learnt in workshops and with various teachers that worked for me. I focused on leg and hip flexibility to make me a more well-rounded performer. After a while, my kicks became a lot higher, and I gained my middle and front split back. I also started to find dancing and executing movements a lot easier and found that my performances started looking b...
Read more

Task One: SIX rehearsal log - progression/improvement

 Ex - Wives  After looking back on the first videos of rehearsing this number I can confidently say I have made a huge improvement on this opening number. To start, the poses we strike on 'divorced, beheaded, died' etc., I feel that in the final rehearsals of this section my positions where much stronger and in time with the other dancers, same for the improvised poses we do after this section. The poses I did during the very first rehearsal looked weak and unfinished, I also heavily lacked facial expression (see first video on blog). Comparing them to my final rehearsals I can say that the poses are much sassier and overall stronger, reflecting the song as a whole. I also noticed that my overall energy has majorly improved during this number. After knowing the choreography perfectly, I now had to work on my timing, especially for the dance breaks. In the first rehearsals of this number, it is evident that I was unsure of the timing during the first and final dance break durin...
Read more

Task Two: Workshop/audition for a dance in a new style - stylistic features

Image
 Stylistic features of Contemporary dance Introduction to contemporary dance Around the 1980s, the term "contemporary dance" was created by a wave of new dancers who did not want to adhere to rigid classical ballet and lyrical dance forms, but instead sought to explore the realm of revolutionary unusual movements drawn from all dance traditions around the world. Contemporary dances, as a result, do not use fixed moves, but rather attempt to develop completely new forms and dynamics, such as quick oppositional moves, shifting alignments, expressions of raw emotions, systematic breathing, dancing moves performed in non-standing positions (for example, lying on the floor), and, in general, attempting to discover the absolute limits of our human form and physique. This renowned dance style may be traced back to various notable dance masters, including Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham. They were all determined to show the world that contemporary dancers should e...
Read more