Planning and Production

Rehearsal Process: 

Marshall was our rehearsal director where he was in charge of scheduling and writing the timetables for an efficient process. Throughout the project we had multiple different timetables which had been discarded due to some people not following I think this what because people wanted to prioritise certain pieces rather than working methodically. Marshall kept making more schedules, one of which included lunch breaks that Marshall and I stuck to as we felt we needed to have breaks otherwise we’d burn out, but not everyone was following it. I think this made our process harder as not everything was organised and we didn’t know what pieces we were going to work on. 

Initial rehearsal schedule.

Rehearsal schedule with breaks.

Tech week:

23rd April: Tuesday 

We decided on the running order and who was introducing each piece, thus is because we need to allow time for everyone to get changed during each piece and normally in a cabaret there is someone who introduces the next act. Dylan and Savannah swapped their duets around, so anything you can do is first and take me or leave me is second, this is because they felt take me or leave me had a better impact and better for the ending to keep the audience with us, this was okay as it didn’t change anything for me or Marshall so we agreed. 

I had to give the tech team the measurements for the blocks again as they lost them and so they couldn’t make them during the break so today one of the tech team started to make the boxes. 

We began to block out the lighting for each piece apart from my solo as my lighting depends ob the blocks. Blocking lights is useful as it helps the tech crew to make cues for lighting and if the audience will be able to see us as we are performing. We also had to test out the spacing with the smaller stage at the back. 

24th April: Wednesday 

Going through each piece in detail we mentioned what lighting we wanted for each piece for example: 

All that jazz- we want the lighting dim while the audience is walking in so me and Marshall come out with silver trays with candles which brighten up and set the atmosphere first then we go back into the curtains and then the light turns red to enhance the atmosphere even further and once the dancing begins the sidelights come on we also had the haze machine to create the environment of the cabaret.  

Red lighting for All that Jazz.

Alice pt1 White rabbit- the setting for this piece is the forest where Alice meets the rabbit for the first time, so the lighting we wanted was a leaf gobo which Alice lies on, and blue lights at the back to symbolise a blue sky. 

Leaf gobo where I lay on the floor.

Green and blue lighting to represent grass and the blue sky.

My solo Contrast- I wanted my lighting to be dark to represent the night but also to emphasise the effect of the rest of the lighting, during my solo there a spotlights on the blocks at certain points and the lights act as a kind of guide so the remainder of the stage had to be darker, this lighting is tricky as it depends on timing with the music but myself too. I also had to keep in mind if its light enough that the audience can still see me but the effect isn’t taken away. 

Spotlight on the boxes.

You can’t stop the beat- the lighting for this starts off with a spot on Savannah as she sings the beginning verse but when the chorus approaches and the lights are needed to be fun, so we had multi coloured lights and even the disco ball, this is because the song is upbeat. 

Colourful lighting.

Alice pt2 Welcome to wonderland- this lighting had to be random as its representing wonderland and wonderland is a crazy place so we need different colours. 

I had to use the stand in boxes as the one that I needed are still being made this was difficult as it was hard to move the around as a couple of them were really heavy. 

25th April: Thursday 

We ran through the pieces with the lighting to see if there needed to be any changes. I was finally able to practice with the correct blocks with handles. We also started using the mics, Marshall and I couldn’t use the mic headset as we were dancing, we could damage them or hurt ourselves by getting tangled up in the wire so we had to use the handheld mic. 

When we ran through my solo there were a few timing mistakes with the spotlights so during our break I went up to the tech crew and wrote down the specific time stamp and watched the lighting to check it was correct before leaving.  

Rehearsal with the blocks.

30th April: Tuesday 

As we ran through you can’t stop the beat we were all still getting out of breath easily and there are blank spots where no one sings as were all taking a breath so our singing teacher and our tutor thought we should make a backing track with vocals in the background as a support for when we get out of breath and so the song sounds more full as its originally sung with a big cast. We go into the recording studio where we sing into a microphone a couple times and the teacher creates the track.  

We also began to run through costume so we had an idea of how long it takes us to get changed between the pieces so that we can adjust the introductions to the length needed. 

1st May: Wednesday 

Today we had our full-dress rehearsal where we had the professional photographer take photos while we ran through our pieces. Earlier in the morning we wrote our introductions, I introduced Fly, Fly away and Take me or leave me. 

“Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, how are you? You good? You should be after that uplifting number. Time to bring it down now, we’ve all been here loved and lost but not many have been jilted at their own engagement party shame still Now let’s welcome Brenda with Fly, Fly away” 

“well I'm back from Wonderland just in time to introduce the next act. Chalk and cheese, cats and dogs well you get the picture, these things don’t attract, well these people have their problems so let's give it up for Mark and Joanne”  i have to keep in mind my breathing before i do the introductions as they are placed right after dance numbers and ill be out of breath.

My introduction for take me or leave me.

My introduction for Fly, Fly away.

Cutting All that jazz music: 

I edited two versions of the song the instrumental and the one with vocals, this is because while we practice the choreography, we can use the one with vocals but during rehearsals focusing on both vocals and choreography we will use the instrumental one. 

I saw that the two sections can connect with similar beats on the drum so I edit them together to create the track. 

Cutting my solo music:

 1st track Muffled footsteps by Laura Platt, highlighted part is being cut.

keeping the beginning and end.

2nd track  Dark world by Lucas King, highlighted part being kept.
the next part of the music gets too dramatic for the vibe I'm going for. 

Putting the two tracks together to roughly hear if it'll work.

I then added fades so the two tracks blended well.

I edited all three tracks using the program audacity, I have used this program previously so I found it easier for myself using this one.

Motifs and developments: My solo - Contrast

Shadow motif.

Shadow motif: 

In this motif I wanted to show that the movements were all free and more fluid to symbolise that when you’re a shadow its easier for the character to move around. As you have more reign when you’re are a shadow. 

Life motif.

Life motif: 

For this motif there was a lot of static movement to act as a way to show that when you’re in a physical form you get stuck and that its harder to move around. This is to counteract the shadow motif and means that you can’t move on without being a shadow. 

Shadow motif development 1.

Shadow development 1: 

This was to act as a way to move around the space and look around at the surroundings, because with the shadow movements it’s meant to be easier to move around, in the videogame contrast you look around the area to see what objects and light sources you need to use. 

Life motif development 1.

Life development 1: 

Still not having many travelling steps with this development I had some of the movements be repetitive to further enhance the struggling and stuck effect, because when you keeping repeating over and over again it means no progress is being made. This also links back to when you play video games as some parts you have to try over and over to get it right. 

Life motif development 2 and shadow development 2.

Shadow development 2: 

This development was based on the point of following the path and the destination so by the arms reaching out to the sides, first I reach towards the destination and then I reach towards the next step I need to take to get to the direction. 

Life development 2: 

This one is meant to be perceived as the moment when you feel like giving up, I show this by the falling onto the knees and the on the spot movement, when the leg is extended you look towards the next step of the task and realise what you have to do, so the roll symbolises picking yourself back up and continuing. 

Positions of the blocks.

Movement direction of blocks.

Order of the motifs and blocks: 

When first deciding on the fact of using blocks, I had originally wanted to used 6 including a chair to act as my parkour elements. I had made an order of the motifs of which one is when and when I use each block. However, the music that I had edited wasn’t long enough to account for all the block so I decided to cut the number of blocks down to three-taking out the chair. When I had made the order, I also made a sketch of where the blocks would be placed on the stage and what direction I wanted to move the blocks as the aim goal for the blocks was for the final positions of them were to resemble a staircase. 

Actions with blocks.

Actions with blocks.

The blocks: 

When I was researching for a new base for my choreography for my solo, I was watching the gameplay trailer for the videogame contrast where I got the idea of using the concept of parkour and using objects surrounding. I had the idea to have objects around the stage space arranged in a way that I would move around to get to a destination. I later moved on to having the objects lined up to create a makeshift staircase that I would walk up at the end of my choreography. Originally, I had wanted 5 blocks and one chair but due to the difficulty and timing in the music I demoted the number to only three blocks as this was much more manageable. I had begun to practice using the art department’s showcase blocks, but these were really heavy and hard to pick up so I had the production team make lighter blocks that had handles. 

Section of trailer that gave me the inspiration.

Measurements for the blocks:

1: height: 30cm, width: 30cm, depth: 30cm
2: height: 50cm, width  45cm, depth: 45cm
3: height: 70cm, width: 45cm, depth: 45cm

Each block had to be a certain height to symbolise a staircase and enough surface area for me to stand on them. The blocks also needed to have handles, so I'm able to carry and move them across the stage.

Lighting Plans:

Beginning stage of lighting;
dim side lights (1).

Spotlight appears on block 3 (2).

Spotlight come on block 1 (3).

When I picked up block 1 and moved it towards  block 3
the spot that was on block one goes off. i move down stage and
spot come on block 2. (4)

I pick up block 2 and  the spot goes out, i move around the stage and the side lights go off and one big spot come on all of the blocks. (5)

I wanted the lighting to portray a puzzle solving journey to link to the game Contrast, the blocks served as the checkpoints and as markers to solve the puzzle. In the game the  character manipulates light sources to cast shadows to create the path , so I replicated that with the spotlights.

 Alice in Wonderland duets:


Using the lyrics:
 the second duet we use a lyrical song and we use the lyrics to base the choreography off of.
"Welcome to Wonderland- Anson Seabra:

Welcome to Wonderland, we've got it all

Potions and pastries that make you grow tall
Forests and cottages, castles and cards that can talk

Welcome to Wonderland, look where you're at
Maddest of hatters, the Cheshire Cat
Magical cabins and lovely white rabbits with clocks

Dancing through a dream underneath the stars
Laughing 'til the morning comes
Everyone that leaves has a heavy heart, oh, Wonderland I love

Welcome to Wonderland, I'll be your guide
Holding your hand under sapphire skies
Let's go exploring or we could just go for a walk

Welcome to Wonderland, where should we go
There's a tea party along down the road
Make an appearance and maybe they'll sing us a song

Dancing through a dream underneath the stars
Laughing 'til the morning comes
Everyone that leaves has a heavy heart oh, Wonderland I love

Nothing around here is quite as it seems
Not sure if anything's real or a dream
And the only thing sure from the start
Is the song that's inside of your heart
Don't let it leave

If this was a dream, then at least I've got
Memories for when morning comes
Now that I must leave with a heavy heart oh, Won-derland 
I love  "

Using lyrics for the duet: 

I used the lyrics of the song welcome to wonderland’ by Anson Seabra as the main inspiration for choreography as the song is lyrical, examples are: 

“maddest of Hatters”- this was shown by Marshall and I swooping our arms up to the crown of our head to act as if we were putting on a hat. 

'Maddest of Hatters' movement.

“I’ll be your guide”- this is shown when Marshall stands right behind me and the opening his arm in a way to gesture to look over here. 

' I'll be your guide' movement.

“under sapphire skies”- Marshall and I are in a hold where I'm leaning back against him while he points up to the sky. 

' under sapphire skies' movement.

“underneath the stars” - we sitting down with our arms pointing up to sky and we look up as if we’re stargazing. 

'Underneath the stars' movement

We worked a lot on partner work where Marshall supports me and I do some turns that extend out at the end. 

Partner work with Marshall.

Partner work with Marshall.

Partner work with Marshall.

All that jazz:

All that jazz choreography inspiration: 

I used the stage show video a lot for inspiration and to use repertoire to keep it in the style of Fosse. The videos below show what parts I used and altered to my version. 

The stage show starting positions.

My adapted starting formation.

stage show repertoire

how i used the repertoire.

All that jazz- waitress, Alice in Wonderland- Alice, Contrast- Dawn, You cant stop the beat- patterned clothes, Hard to say goodbye- formal and glamorous.