Context

First Initial Idea

During this week we began by discussing what we would want to do for unit 12. We had decided that we wanted to do something altogether and written by all of us. Our initial idea is explained in  my initial proposal, from week beginning 7/01/19 until 4/02/19 , as a group had worked on a number of things such as our script to our piece which was called 'Backstage' and were deciding what songs and dance pieces we could include. After working on the piece for a couple weeks we came to an conclusion as a group that it wouldn’t work as there wasn’t a strong enough story behind the play and the links between everyone's performance needed more dialogue between everyone’s scene. Another reason was we realised that we didn't have all the skills that we needed in particular to pursue writing the scripts as not everyone was able to adapt and develop the skill well enough , which is something we all found difficult. Images of the script is down below. 

 We Began As for my solos in which I wanted to sing were Read all About it by Emile Sande and Listen by Beyonce

4/02/19

Monday -Acting

Week Beginning 11/02/19-Having made that decision we decided to do individual pieces and duets and choose the style of the show to be cabaret themed .The pieces that we are doing are All That Jazz, You can’t stop the beat, Hard To Say Goodbye those are the group pieces we will be doing. The duet pieces are as follows ; Alice and Wonderland( Faith and Marshall), Take me or Leave me (Dylan and I). The solos  are Fly Fly Away, Look What happened to Mabel , I am telling you ,Mr Cellophane and Faith and Marshall . Down below are images of the order in which we wanted Backstage to go in.

Unit 12 Proposal 1

A review of progress and achievement through parts 1 and 2 of the course.

Over the first 11 units of this course I have improved my skills and gained a lot of knowledge over this period of time. In regards to what I knew at the beginning , I had little no experience in dance such as ballet and jazz other than attending a Performing Arts weekend programme called Dream Arts where we did a few styles of dance such as street dance. I begin the course with my confidence mainly focused on singing and acting as I felt my skills were strong in these two areas. When I first started out learning ballet I found it hard to understand the terminology and the basic positions with the arms and feet. Now I am able to do them confidently when asked. I also have improved in corner work as before I found it hard  focus when travelling across the studio but now I have learnt to take my time and focus on getting it right rather than to rush to finish and get it wrong. As for Jazz technique, I struggled with coordination and choreography as i found it hard to keep up with what I was been shown but over the units I have become more confident and ask multiple questions when  I needed my dance teacher to repeat a step or to help me correct my movement. In regards to singing I have improved in the area of breathe control as before I struggled to breathe correctly during songs which prevented me from singing and holding the notes correctly , to improve this I did a number of vocal exercises which included strongly using my Diagram and note bashing to help with breathing technique.Acting has been something I enjoyed and found a perfect way to express yourself whilst being another character. Over the year improved on character development and learnt different ways to explore my character in depth. This helped me because when taking on a role I was able to take it to another level. For example in Unit 8, where I took on the role of Grizabella The Glamour Cat and devised my own piece around it. Having done a lot of practice and work around character development it helped me massively in making the character my own and more of a backstory to the character. Two main aspiring job roles I would love to take on are one being a performer and a costume and make up director. The reason why I would love to take on these roles is because I love performing and enjoy what I do and want to do it for a living, as for costume and hair I enjoy creating designs and have ideas that would help in that area.

Project Concept

We as a group are proposing to focuses unit 12  closely on four characters as a whole and individually. The challenges and experiences they go through as aspiring performer. Our aim is to give the audience a insight and show them that being a performer isn’t easy and that a lot often goes on behind closed door. In the piece we all attend a weekend performing arts programme  and are working towards are final show before we leave and go our separate ways. Throughout our personal experiences we have learnt that the performance starts now right now in the studio right now after class when rehearsing because without the the practice and hard work there is no final piece we want to show how the career path that we have chosen whether you want  to be  a dancer, singer, actor, choreographer etc.. the process can have an effect on you physically and mentally. We have all chosen a particular topic we want to focus on for example Faith is focusing on Anxiety ,Marshall on pushing yourself to injury , Dylan on weight and me with non supportive parents. With all these being brought to light we all come come together at the end of the piece and realise were not alone and that this is what really happens. We all then reunite years later at an audition and find out that everything turned out great and they are all doing well for themselves.
 My individual scene mainly focuses on a young girl called Eve , who’s ambitions and dreams is to become a Broadway star, little does everyone know her parents do not support the idea and suggest she focuses on something she is already studying such as law. Although her parents know she can sing they feels as it may just be a hobby and that she cannot possibly do it for a leaving , Eve friend Xavier comes home around the house to practice a song they are doing for the show but Eve’s parents are asking to many questions and she’d had enough that she decided to leave the room and sing Listen by Beyonce, her parents walk in whilst she is singing and is shock, they decided to discuss it further along the line begin to support her.

Evaluation
 
I will evaluate and reflect on my work by logging everyday recording what we have done in each lesson including videos of dances , scenes and solos of which we will rehearse. I will also record group discussions and write about what we changed and why we decided to change it. After having a mid-point assessment I will use feedback and input that into my next rehearsal ensuring I use the feedback constructively. I will write any strengths, improvements, targets and aims and write after each lesson whether I have completed it and if not how will I then complete it. For example in unit 9 , during the rehearsal process of A Christmas  Carol there was time where people wouldn’t be in so, I had to  write about what I did instead that was useful and how I overcame that.
I will be using a number of resources such as YouTube, videos , reviews, books 

Unit 12 Proposal 2

A review of progress and achievement through parts 1 and 2 of the course.

Over the first 11 units of this course I have improved my skills and gained a lot of knowledge over this period of time. In regards to what I knew at the beginning , I had little no experience in dance such as ballet and jazz other than attending a Performing Arts weekend programme called Dream Arts where we did a few styles of dance such as street dance. I begin the course with my confidence mainly focused on singing and acting as I felt my skills were strong in these two areas. When I first started out learning ballet I found it hard to understand the terminology and the basic positions with the arms and feet. Now I am able to do them confidently when asked. I also have improved in corner work as before I found it hard  focus when travelling across the studio but now I have learnt to take my time and focus on getting it right rather than to rush to finish and get it wrong. As for Jazz technique, I struggled with coordination and choreography as i found it hard to keep up with what I was been shown but over the units I have become more confident and ask multiple questions when I needed my dance teacher to repeat a step or to help me correct my movement. In regards to singing I have improved in the area of breathe control as before I struggled to breathe correctly during songs which prevented me from singing and holding the notes correctly , to improve this I did a number of vocal exercises which included strongly using my Diagram and note bashing to help with breathing technique.Acting has been something I enjoyed and found a perfect way to express yourself whilst being another character. Over the year improved on character development and learnt different ways to explore my character in depth. This helped me because when taking on a role I was able to take it to another level. For example in Unit 8, where I took on the role of Grizabella The Glamour Cat and devised my own piece around it. Having done a lot of practice and work around character development it helped me massively in making the character my own and more of a backstory to the character. Two main aspiring job roles I would love to take on are one being a performer and a costume and make up director. The reason why I would love to take on these roles is because I love performing and enjoy what I do and want to do it for a living, as for costume and hair I enjoy creating designs and have ideas that would help in that area.

Project Concept

We as a group are proposing the theme of a Cabaret in which we will have individual pieces and solos and group pieces one after the other . All the pieces will be different and have a different story and purpose . We Will begin with group pieces and ends with group pieces. We’re going to research and work on developing and adapting songs and dances . My solo is going to be from catch me if you can the Musical which is going to be a song called Fly Fly away and I will be doing two duet one called Ma cavity from cats and one from the colour purple called what about love .

Evaluation:I will evaluate and reflect on my work by logging everyday recording what we have done in each lesson including videos of dances , scenes and solos of which we will rehearse. I will also record group discussions and write about what we changed and why we decided to change it. After having a mid-point assessment I will use feedback and input that into my next rehearsal ensuring I use the feedback constructively. I will write any strengths, improvements, targets and aims and write after each lesson whether I have completed it and if not how will I then complete it. For example in unit 9 , during the rehearsal process of A Christmas  Carol there was time where people wouldn’t be in so, I had to write about what I did instead that was useful and how I overcame that.
I will be using a number of resources such as you tube, videos , reviews, books and I will be Harvard referencing any information that I collect .

Links Bibliography 

Anon, (2019). [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/cabaret-definition-style-themes-music.html used [Accessed 28 May 2019].

Study.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/cabaret-definition-style-themes-music.html used [Accessed 28 May 2019].

Personal Deadlines.

8/03/19- I want to make sure I know all the songs that I am singing as solos and begin to learn the songs that I will be singing as a group.
15/03/19- I need to learn my lines for All that Jazz and learn the choreography given specifically to me.
I need to know all my staging for my solos and duets.
22/03/19-
By the midpoint assessment I wanted to make sure that I got all the pieces that I wanted to do fully chosen or at least half way done. Due to us changing our solos, duets and group pieces this wasn’t followed through.

Mack and Mabel- learn the lines and gestures fully.

Fly Fly Away- To work on the song, context and performance aspect.

Take me or Leave me- To choreograph and rehearse scene thoroughly.

All that Jazz-  To rehearse and finish the dance.

You can’t stop the beat- To rehearse and choreography the dance.

Dream-girls-  To decide how we will present this song and to rehearse.

Anything you can do- To discuss, develop and learn the song over the Easter break as we had chosen this final song last minute.

Context

The reason for us deciding on the theme of Cabaret was to ensure we chose a theme that would work with the pieces but also to with its concept it allowed us to be more enclosed with the audience. By choosing cabaret it allowed us to use the stage which was at the back of the main stage which gave of the theme of the cabaret more. In order to start exploring cabaret I had researched what a Cabaret was, which you will find on my research page. From knowing what is was and what it entailed, we were then able to come together to create our own version of what you would call cabaret. Some things that we needed to consider was how we would change our pieces in order to fit the theme, and how would we use the space. For example, how far forward or how far back the table would be.

Proposal Timeline :