Technical Development

Ballet 12/09/18

For my first lesson in ballet we were split up into two different groups, experienced and non experienced. As I am new to ballet I was put into the non experienced group. This helped when we did barre work because I had an experienced person in front of me so I could understand the movements better and help me improve. On the barre we practised plies, battement tondu, battement glissee and rond de jambe a terre.
I need to work on not moving my hips during these exercises. 

Singing 13/09/18

We warmed up our voices using different vowel sounds such as, ah, eh, ee, oo, o.
We also worked on our breathing.

Jazz Dance 13/09/18

In my first ever jazz dance lesson, I learnt how to do classic jazz moves, including jazz fourth. I need to improve on the steps and jumps.

Musical Theatre Workshop/Jazz Dance

We began to learn the lyrics and choreography to  "One Short Day" from Wicked the muscial. As this is my first time taking part in jazz dance I have improvements I need to make. I am confident about the first part of the song however, the spins I need to work on. 

Everyone in the class had to perform a musical number to our teacher to give her an idea of where we are all at and so that we could receive feedback from her and the rest of the class and also so she could decide who would sing the main parts in One Short Day. I chose to sing 'When He Sees Me' from the musical Waitress. The feedback I was given by my teacher and classmate was to believe in myself more and to not hold back when coming to a higher note.

Researching Jazz Chorographers

My favourite jazz dance choreographer is Jack Cole. He originally performed in Broadway musicals such as "The Dream of Sganarelle" in 1933. He was later first recognised as a choreographer in "Something for the Boys" in 1943. Cole worked closely with Marilyn Monroe and stronger influenced her performance of "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" from the movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". One of my Favourite choreographs by Jack Cole is 'The Johnson Rag'.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUOY5EGUtnk )

I like his work because the actresses/actors/dancers in the dances look alive and reflect the character they are playing. The dances also fit in perfectly with the lyrics of the song to go with the dance.

Singing 17/09/18

We warmed up using breathing and vowel sounds. The vowel sounds help us to pronounce words whilst singing. We also worked on our range and went up and down the scale to work on our range.

As a group we sung Natural Woman by Carol King and then sung it through line by line, each sung by a different person. This helped us experiment with solos.

Ballet 19/09/18

Today in ballet we did a series of exercises:

1st exercise - Pilē

2nd exercise - Battement tendu

3rd exercise - Battement glisseē

4th exercise - rond de jambe a terre

5th exercise - grande battement

We did some Barre work, centre practice and Allegro (jumps).

Singing 20/09/18

Warmed up and focused on breathing so that we could hold the long notes in One Short Day.

We learnt 'Do Ray Mi' from The Sound of Musicand then sung One Short Day and Elphaba's harmonies.

Jazz Dance 20/09/18

First we did a warm up and stretched. We then did corner work and centre combinations and finished off by learning a routine. I found the routine difficult because it was very fast so I need to work on my speed during dancing.

Musical Theatre 20/09/18

Today we improved what we knew of the dance to One Short Day.

We also did some work on developing our characters.

Singing 24/09/18

Warmed up and sung One Short Day. This time we learnt the wizomania section of the song.

We then listened to the second years auditioning pieces so we could give constructive criticism.  

Ballet 26/09/18

We worked more on the Barre work and then worked on jumpes on demi point and relevee. We also worked on glissades en devant.

Singing 27/09/18

We did vocal warm ups and breathing exercises. We also sung Do ray mi to help with our vowel pronunciation and practised One Short Day.   

Musical Theatre 27/09/18

We started to extend the dance to One Short Day.

Singing 01/10/18

We did warm ups and also practised One Short Day again.

Ballet 03/10/18

We did barre work, centre work and learnt how to do a Arabesque.

(1st Arabesque)

I have a bit of trouble keeping my leg off the floor and balancing so I plan to work on my balance.

Singing 04/10/18

We did warm ups to help us warm up our vocal muscles and we continued to practice One Short Day.
We also had a discussion about old musicals.

Jazz Dance 04/10/18

We did a warm up that consisted of star jumps, twists and jumps, jogging on the spot and then stretches that included different styles of lunges, the plank and press ups. I feel like I am improving because I can go lower during a press up.

We then did some corner works in which we worked on leaps and spins.

Musical Theatre 04/10/18

In musical Theatre workshop today we worked on the choreography for One Short Day and finished the whole dance. 

I found it difficult to learn the new part of the dance however, my classmates were willing to help me and show me how to do certain parts. 

Singing 08/10/18

In singing today we perfected One Short Day and found a better backing track for the song.

Ballet 10/10/18

We did barre work and centre work. We learnt how to do a Sissonne and do waltz steps. 

Ballet 31/10/18

Today in ballet we started off with a warm up by running around, and then barre work.
We learnt 3rd and 4th position in port de bra. We then had to balance on one leg. I have difficulty lifting my leg from the floor so I'm aiming to improve balance.
We then practised Arabesque and started to lift one foot off.

Jazz Dance 01/11/18

Today in jazz dance we did an intense warm up to get back into the swing of things after our break.

We did some centre work and corner work focusing on circular spring and swing.

Musical theatre dance routine to 'from now on' - greatest showman. I need to practice on learning dances at a faster pace.

Musical Theatre 01/11/18

Today we listened to Cinema Italiano from Nine the musical to familiarise ourselves with the words and tune. We then spilt the song so everyone would have a solo line. My line was "I love to watch them as they cruise with their pointy leather shoes, wearing shades in the middle of the night."


The order of the lines goes:

1. leah
2. Bethany
3. Rina
4. Tilia (me)
5. Ella
6. Alex
7. Nehemei
8. Ghazall
9. Alex
10. Ella
11. Everyone
12. Leah
13. Ghazall
14. Everyone

Shannon then started teaching us the choreography to cinema italiano. 

I need to work on my hip and leg movements to make them more sassy.

Singing 05/11/18

We did warm ups that focused on warming up our vocal chords and then started to work on 'I get a kick out of you' from Anything Goes.

We listened to Dylan sing Mister Cellophane from Chicago and gave constructional criticism.

Ballet 07/11/18

We did a warm up to get our heart beat up and then did barre work.

We then learnt how to do Arabesque in second.

(2nd Arabesque)

Singing 08/11/18

We did warm ups that helped warm up our vocal chords and breathing and were then asked to choose a song out of  'I get a kick out of you', 'Do, Ray, Mi, Fa', or 'Somewhere'.

I choose to sing 'I get a kick out of you'. Charlie says I'm soprano but I feel more comfortable in the middle area so I need to work on my high notes.

Musical Theatre 08/11/18

Today we worked on adding onto the dance to cinema italiano.

Ballet 14/11/18

We started off with a warm up to get our heart beats up before we went onto barre work.

We did:

• Plies
• Rond de janbe
• develope
• back bend

We also did centre work where we continued to practise arabesque in first and second. We also started doing jete ordinaire.

Singing 15/11/18

Today in singing we were presented with two Christmas songs:

• 12 days of Christmas
• Silent night

We practised these songs as a group to see which one we preferred. For '12 days of Christmas' everyone got an individual number in which they would sing. I sung "On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me 3 french hens" and "on the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine dancing ladies". As a group we also recommended the possibility of doing 'Jingle Bell Rock'. We are learning this for the E card.

We also ran through Cinema Italiano as a group.

Jazz Dance 15/11/18

We started off with a warm up led by different members of the group. We took part in cardio and stretching.

We went onto centre work in which we worked on:

• Tondus
• Plies
• Clevlapla with rond de jonbe
• basic kicks

We continued onto corner work where we did kicks to the front, side and back.

I need to work on coordination and stronger, higher kicks.

We continued to work on our audition styled routine 'from now on' - the greatest showman.
Within this routine we do abstract movement and grounded movement.

Musical Theatre 15/11/18

We discussed costumes for our dance piece and decided on black and white.

We continued to work on the dance for cinema Italiano and add chucks on. To make my part in the dance better I need to use more fitting facial expressions and move my hips more.

Ballet 21/11/18

• barre work
• laying down leg turn out exercise 
• corner work - turns (found it difficult, spot more)
• centre work - arabesque, 1st, 2nd, 3rd 
• centre work jumping

Singing 22/11/18

We did a warm up that individual people had taught and then sung 'Do Re Mi Fa'. 

We added low harmonies to silent night and then went over 'Somewhere' from West Side Story. I need to work on giving my high notes more power and a smoother sound.

Jazz 22/11/18

For jazz today we only did a jazz warm up that was lead by different people in the group. Ghazall led the cardio warm up, I led the joints warm up, Ella led the strengthening warm up and Marshall led the stretches warm up. 

Musical Theatre 22/11/18

Today we jumped straight into our dance to cinema Italiano so that we could finish it in time for next week Thursday which is when we perform it.

This is the finished dance:

I have trouble with the fast areas of the dance so I need to work on that. My hip movement has improved a lot.

The second years gave us feedback on our dancing and singing. They told us we had to project more and took us through a projection exercise. They also told us to use our faces in the dance to make it more believable.

We went through the song as a group and corrected each other in areas that needed it.

Ballet 28/11/18

we started off with a warm up and then went onto barre work.

For centre work we worked on 1st arabesque into 2nd arabesque and then a spin. To improve this I need to work on my spotting so that I don't get as dizzy and land badly. I also need to remember to turn towards the lifted foot.

Singing 29/11/18

We did a warm up to help with our breathing and to warm up our voices.

We practised Silent Night with low harmonies and the tune. I need to make sure I keep the same key throughout the song and don't go higher or lower half way through.

We sung 'Do re mi fa'.

Jazz/Musical Theatre 29/11/18

We went straight into rehearsing for the show (Cinema Italiano). We were able to rehearse in the theatre and work out spacing.

I made sure to practise the fast areas of the dance.

This is the performance:

Ballet 09/01/19

Today in ballet we learnt that Allegro means jump in dance terms and fast in musical terms. Allegro is spilt into two types: Petit and Grand. Petit means small and fast whereas, grand means big and slower.

Step of the day: Pas De Chat

We did:

• Plie
• Tondu
• Glisard
• Ron De Jon
• Batte Mond Frappe

Jazz 10/01/19

Today in Jazz we started of with an intense warm up/work out. In the cardio at the beginning I managed to last the entire time which shows my stamina is getting better. I was also able to do the plank for a bit longer. 

After the warm up we worked on jazz technique and Arm coordination. I found the coordination exercise difficult at first but then found it easier when we did the arm coordinations whilst moving.

We did kicks in the centre, outward and inward piroettes, hitch kicks from the corner and then pardabora turning.

Musical Theatre 10/01/19

At the start of the lesson we had a discussion about our goals for this year and how this will help us improve.

3 goals for performance purposes:

1. Improve stamina and strength
2. Improve belting
3. Use my facial expressions and acting skills more during dancing.

For the rest of the lesson we begun to work on a new dance/song with the second years. We are doing the beginning song from the Adams Family musical, 'When your an Adams'.

Ballet 16/01/19

Jete:

• en avont (forward)
• de cote (side)
• en arriere (backwards)

All of these travel.

• Grand jeete - Large
• Petit jete - small (no brush)
• jete - (with a brush)

Devant (infront)

Derriere (behind)

These are on the spot.

Singing 17/01/19

Today we did a warm up and then worked on the Prologue for 'Little Shop of Horrors'.

Jazz 17/01/19

We started the class off with a student lead warm up.

• Ghazall - Cardio
• Savana - Body rotation
• Rina - Strengthening
• Leah - Stretches 

In the class we did arm and leg coordination on right and left, slow and fast.

We also did travelling triple runs with piroette.

We then learnt a jazz funk routine to practise picking up routines in auditions.

Musical Theatre 17/01/19

We learnt a new way of counting steps for dance:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 N A 8 E N A

1/2 3 E N 4 E N 5/6 N A 7

1 N 3 4       78

1     3 E N 4 E N 5/6 N A 7

N A 1 N A 3 N A 4 5 N 7 8

break it break it down now (down now)

7 N A   8 E N 1 N 2 N 3/4  5    7

N - and

A - a

E - ee

/ - Through the movement

We then practised a dance using this method of counting. I found it difficult and confusing and it didn't help me much.

We then continued practising and working on our Adams Family dance.

Singing 21/01/19

We practised our songs from 'Little Shop of Horrors'. We worked on the prologue song and 'Skidrow'.

In 'Skidrow' We divided up the song so everyone was singing the correct parts instead of all learning the song as one. Me, Leah and Nehemie (who play the doo-wop girls) sing the starting part of the song and each have a solo line. My solo line is "where your lifes a joke". We also gave out a few different solos to other people. We practised the song and made sure we could all hit the finishing note which is a b flat. This note is way out of my comfort range however, I am able to hit it. Lastly we started to work on 'Da-doo'. Leah is on the high harmony, I'm on the middle harmony and Nehemie is on the low harmony.

Ballet 23/01/19

We continued doing leg work and then started on the barre. We wrote down 3 things we could like to work on improving on barre. My 3 things were:

1. Balance for longer on rise.
2. Don't let go of my turn out (especially when my leg is too the side).
3. Correct my arm.

I feel I was not able to balance for longer on the rise this time so I still need to improve this. I felt I was more conscious when it came to not losing my turn out however, lost focus on other things because of this. I was able to correct my arm a few times but there were times I forgot to because I was focused on other things. This means I need to work on focusing on everything, not just one thing.

Singing 24/01/19

Today in singing we did a warm up and then went straight into practising our songs for 'Little Shop of Horrors'. We worked on the prologue song which sounded good to we went onto learning 'Skidrow' which still needs a bit of work especially with the high notes. We made sure that everyone was doing their correct parts in the song.

Ballet 30/01/19

We did barre work and centre work.

Singing 31/01/19

We continued to practice our songs from 'Little Shop of Horrors' to make sure we knew them and still remembered them. We then went on to practising 'Somewhere over the rainbow' from The Wizard of Oz and 'Lovely' from My Fair Lady. We also started to learn 'Anything goes' from anything goes.

Jazz 31/01/19

Today in jazz we started off with a hardcore fitness regime. I was unable to do the plank for very long today because I didn't focus on my breathing as much which would have helped me stay up longer. We also did a long stretch to help us improve our flexibility. I tried to breathe out when going down further to help me get further. 

We then did pa de bouree, balancing on one leg fondu, open pa de bouree with a single turn. We worked on our front, side and back kicks from the corner. I kept getting confused with my legs. We did swish leaps and flick leaps. I need to work on making sure my back leg goes out as well and not just my front leg. We attempted turning leaps for fun which I was not able to achieve.

Musical Theatre 31/01/19

We sat down at the start of the lesson and discussed what our costumes should be for the addams family song/dance. We settled on black or grey old clothes that we could dirty and rip.

We then showed our cherography of 'Skidrow' from Little Shop of Horrors so far.

We then continued to work on the dance. Whilst Shannon (our teacher) taught the second years their part of the dance, we all practised the parts of the dance we knew so far so we could perfect it. Once the second years were ready we put it all together and then learnt the rest of the dance. I need to make sure I'm more in time with everyone else.

Singing 04/02/19

As a class we went through our dance for 'skidrow' and sung along to it so we could make sure we could sing to our best ability whilst dancing. 

Ballet 06/02/19

Today we started off with barre work, such as plies, tendus and so on. We then went into centre work and corner work. 

For the second lesson we took a look at the ballroom scene from the Romeo and Juliet ballet. We were divided up into girls and boys (depending on height). I play a girl. 

We also practised turning.

Jazz 07/02/19

We started off with a hardcore work out however, I was unable to do this to the best of my ability because I was feeling unwell.

We then worked on swings forward and side way with jumps. I need to make sure I drop my head more and relax my shoulders. We did a Y balance (shouldering the leg) at the barre. I found it difficult to straighten my leg and I was unable to get it above my waist. 

We then did travelling:

• Pa de bouree - turning and straight
• Circular springs with step ball change and jump/hop.
• Triple runs with arms through in retire
• Step kicks and hitch kicks with pa de bouree turning
• triple runs with single piroette

We all received individual teacher feedback and I was told I need to work on picking up exercises quicker.

Musical Theatre 07/02/19

We rehearsed the song from The Addams Family and touched up on certain areas.
Once we had gone through The Addams Family song a few times we started learning a new dance from Chorus Line. The song is 'I Hope I get it'. This dance works on our jazz technique.

Ballet 27/02/19

Our teacher, Mandy, wasn't in so we had our ballet lesson led by an experienced student in our class (Marshall). We started off with a turn out exercise by laying on our backs with our legs in the air and turning out using our hips instead of our feet.

Barre:

• Plies
• Tendus
• Glisses
• Frapped
• Rond a jambre
• grand battement

Centre: 

• adagio (arabesqes)
• en dedan piouettes
• en dehors pirouettes
• petit allegro (sautes, echappe sautes and changement)
• allegro (glissades and jetes)
• grand jete with temp leve in first arabesque 
• grand jetes then a reverance

Jazz 28/02/19

We started with a hardcore warm up that focused a lot on strengthening and stretches.

We did kicks in the centre. I need to work on having stronger arms so that they don't drop. 

We did five combonations:

• pa de bourees
• kicks
• backbends
• leaps
• floor work
• piroette

We worked on changes in direction and speed.

Musical Theatre 28/02/19

We ran through the Addams family dance a few times and improved minor areas that could be better. We worked with the kareoke version so that we could practise singing. We then continued to work on 'I hope I get it' from Chorus Line.

Singing 04/03/19

Today in singing we worked with the second years on the Addams Family song. We went through the dance whilst we sung to ensure we were able to sing well and project.

Singing 07/03/19

For singing today Charlie listened to our solo songs that we wanted to perform. I performed "I'll be here" from 'Ordinary days' to him. He told me to work on my diction when it came to certain words such as 'Marry'. 

Jazz 07/03/19

We did a full warm up and then a contempary jazz routine to 'bury a friend' by Billie Eilish. We also did a vogue routine to a song called 'sushi'. I found these quite difficult because of the speed.

Musical Theatre 07/03/19

We performed 'Little Shop of Horrors' to Shannon and the second years so we could receive feedback. We were told to work on our spacing and make sure we use the whole stage instead of just the back. We were also told to work on the spacing and syncing of the three girls.

We then ran through the singing part of the 'Addams Family'. Me and Leah were given the line "dead for forever" due to the absence of a student. We then went through the dance for the piece whilst singing.

Dylan and Savana performed "take me or leave me" from 'Rent' and Marshall and Faith performed a dance.

Singing 18/03/19

Today we did spread out in the room into our own spaces to do the warm up. We did this so that we could hear ourselves singing. During this warm up we challenged our range slightly. We also practised holding long notes going up in the vowels.

After we had warmed up we went through 'somewhere over the rainbow'. I don't think I warmed up my higher range enough because they didn't sound smooth enough.

Acting 19/03/19

We did a warm up for our face and voice. For the facial warm up we made our faces as big as possible (opening mouth and eyes wide) and then made them small by shutting our mouth tightly and closing our eyes. We then played a memory game where we all went round in a circle and said our name and something else. Then everyone else had to repeat it. Mine was "My name is Tilia and I like dragons". We then had to say ours and another persons sentence which would then pass it onto them.

We played another memory game. Someone started off by saying "I went to the shop and I bought..."

Ballet 20/03/19

Achieved:

• Improvement in pirouettes
• improvements in height of leg

Jazz 21/03/19

Today we begun with a warm up. During the plank I was able to stay up a lot longer than usual however, I found it difficult to stay up whilst moving. I was also able to hold myself up higher in the bridge position with one leg straight up. This shows that my strength is improving.

We then went straight onto corner work and did turns, piroettes and leaps. My turns are improving however, I need to work on spotting.

Musical Theatre 21/03/19

In Musical Theatre today the second years held mock auditions for a small project they are doing with us during this class. Dylan and Savannah are working on a musical song, with a bit of choreography and Faith and Marshall are teaching us a dance. For my Audition song I sung 'Climbing Uphill' from 'The Last Five Years'. We are learning the song 'Ex-wives' from 'Six', a musical about Henry the 8th's wives.

We then learnt Faith's dance which was lyrical contemporary. I actually found this dance a lot easier to learn than most other dances I have learnt in the past.

Singing 25/03/19

Today we did a warm up where we focused on holding long notes whilst we went up in the scale and using the vowels. We then listened to 'time warp' from 'Rocky Horror Show' so we could start learning it. We then went through the three part harmony for 'lets do the time warp again'. I was on the middle harmony.

(Harmonies)

Ballet 02/04/19 (Extra) turning practise

• Reloeve practise 
• Preparation with no turn
• Preparation with turn
• pirouette with turn
• pirouette on dehoir from 3rd
• On de jon from a lunge

Ballet 24/04/19

We begun with barre work and tried to do the more difficult versions of what we already knew, such as doing batte mon frape on a rise.