Callie Scott
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When creating my solo and duet for the RST showcase I really wanted to challenge myself as a dancer and choreographer, which I did. I wanted to explore new things as a choreographer and go out of my own box, since this year in dance one of my goals is to work more on my style and try new things.
For my solo I wanted to make the transitions really smooth and different from how I usually come out of a move. Things I found easy was the choreography because it came together really well and it didn't take that much time. I actually came up with most of it when I was listening to the song while I was in my bathroom doing my hair, I randomly got inspiration and thought of all the things i could do, so I was trying to put it together in a small area and didn't do it full out until I got time in the class. When I did it full out I found things I needed to change and that was all. For mine and Sydney's duet, the parts I choreographed I wanted to really portray a story and have feeling instead of always doing a kick or jump. I found it quite easy sometimes because it flowed well so things just kinda came one after each other for the most part. We did run into some times though where we didn't know what to do next so we would improvise and just see what happened and if it looked cool we would use it or make some little changes to it. Also we added a lot of the elements of dance to make the dance interesting. We used lots of levels, choreographed to the different parts of the music; tempo and rhythm, lots of formations, spacing, etc... There wasn't an emotional reason why we chose this song for our RST, we actually had another song picked but then we both just heard "Hello" when it came out, so then when we were at school we both wanted to do a dance to it so we changed it cause it was easier to choreograph to and especially cause it was becoming a popular song so we thought it would capture the audiences attention.
Someone who contributes to my success in dance is Meghan Fanning. She has choreographed solos and groups for me since I was 13 and taught some classes for one season. Unfortunately she doesn't teach me this year, but I am still very thankful for her. I have had and still do have a hard time expressing my emotions in dance through my movements and face, especially for lyrical it is very important that you have emotion in your face and body, Meaghan was the person that brought me out of my shell last year in our lyrical classes. I have always looked up to her for many reasons; she is so nice, successful and passionate, her passion is seen even when she is just marking a dance combo for us in class, whenever we did the combos in groups Meaghan would be watching in the back and marking the dance with so much feeling she would catch my eye and I couldn't help but watch, she would give me goosebumps and she wasn't even doing the dance full out! That is something so powerful to have, because those little movements really inspired me and I felt something. Before I took classes with her I danced with not to much intention because I was focusing on getting the steps right and making my technique perfect, Meaghan taught me that it is important to have good technique but its even better if you can dance with emotion and intention. Every class I took with her she would push me so hard to dance out of my shell after a couple classes I just let go and forgot about being perfect and danced with intention and purpose, it was one of the most fulfilling experiences and it felt so good, I really felt like all my worries and stress disappeared, every class after that I got even more comfortable with letting go and dancing freely. It has helped me so much especially with competitions and one of the best, humbling complements I have gotten is when they say that my performance was touching and made them cry( in a good way) I still will never forget those comments because as a dancer it is so fulfilling knowing that you affected someone and they felt something because that is when you know you are becoming not just a dancer but and an artist. |
Preparing for the dance showcase took lots of hard work for everyone involved with the multiple roles we had; Choreographing, practicing, costume, lighting and dress rehearsal. The choreographing process for me, was the most important and took the most time because it was a lot of experimenting with different shapes, how to get from one move to another and trying to create unique and different choreography to challenge ourselves. Sydney and I work hard to make sure we were creating a duet for the show to our best abilities, to make sure that the story would be understood through the dance and to make sure the audience will enjoy it. After we finished the choreo for our duet we were so happy with it and couldn't wait to preform for everyone!! Next we had to decide what our costumes had to be. Since it was a sad song we decided to wear a long black dress with lace because it has a dramatic effect that would match the dance. Practices were essential before the dress rehearsal to make sure that our dances were clean and ready to preform. Everyone has their own role of participating and working hard so that the dance can get better. The dress rehearsal was what we were working up to for the most part of the semester. There were many people involved to make sure the dances were ready, the music worked and the lighting also worked with the dances. You have to treat the dress rehearsal like the performance to make sure that nothing will go wrong with the dance when it is time to preform. There are many nerves (for me personally) before preforming a dance or getting in front of an audience in general. The nerves disappear as soon as I start dancing, because that is when I am most comfortable; dancing. Sarah Badger Growing up can have its negative affects to the youth, whether it be tying to fit in or trying to figure out who you are. When you are routinely in front of a mirror it is easy to focus on your flaws, especially for a dancer. Most dancers are always striving and working really hard to get better each class. Growing up we are mostly introduced to lots of dancers, mostly ballet dancers who have petite physique so it generalizes that they all have to be tall and skinning, but the is not the case! Sarah Badger is a successful professional ballet dancer who has struggled with this generalization. Growing up in the studio she would look at herself in the mirror and think " Is my stomach to big?" resulting in her sucking her stomach in each class. These thoughts got progressively stronger and constant.She began to eat less and workout a lot more even with her 30 hour dance schedule a week.Sarah suffered a back injury during one of her classes when she was coming out of an arabesque, after going to the doctors they found out that her vertebrae's in her back were twisted. Her poor eating habits likely contributed to this injury. Sarah's teacher noticed her weight change and pulled her out of class to talk with her, her teacher gave her the courage to admit that she had an eating disorder, once she told her parents she got help and her life started to improve. She booked a professional job and realized that she can't preform 2-3 shows a day without fueling her body, she felt that she owed it to her co-workers and bosses and herself that she stayed healthy. She has made a full recovery by going to therapy and appointments. Sarah is just one of the examples of a dancer who has had their up and downs, but she is a good example of personal growth because she worked through it and learned from it. In classes and rehearsals there are many funny moments that have happened, from me falling or doing something weird. Luckily my dance family and I are very close so we all do something embarrassing or funny at some point and we will always laugh with each other not at each other. One of the funniest moments in class was my teacher wanted me to try a jump and I went to go do it and my legs slipped from under me and I fell on my face. We all laughed so hard, luckily I didn't get hurt. |
