This semester for project x in dance we worked and produced a dance based on the theme of illuminate. This final product would then be presented to our parents and peers for the end-of-transition festival. It was a challenging but rewarding process.

Choreographic Process

At the start of term 3, we were introduced to tutting and were spilt into groups of 3. With Eden and Ruby, we produced and experimented with tutting. From there, we grouped back together and worked to create our first counts of 8 tutting for the dance routine. I made the majority of the first count of 8 which was fun because I love choreographing dances (hopefully I can choreograph dances in the future). Then we had to choose a toy and produce a few stiff movements that represent the chosen toy which was then converted into different rhythmic patterns. For example, we had to do 4 stationary movements that could be reversed, 4 moving movements that could reverse, and 4 movements with a strict timing pattern. I chose to be a ballerina doll since I am a ballerina and know the basic moves. After that, we did an activity in which we controlled our partner like a puppet and vice versa. After experimenting with the way we get moved, we all made 1 count of 8 as the puppeteer. We then went into 3 groups and combined our movements. Over time we added more counts to our tutting section, climbed Eden up a tree and polished other areas of our piece. With the help of our dance teacher Cod, we managed to join everything we created together into a dance piece. During this were required to collaborate and work effectively as a group. I think we did pretty well except sometimes it was a challenge. An example of this was when we created the second part of our tutting section. Our dance teacher was absent when we were tasked to produce a few more counts of 8. Because we weren’t under proper supervision, our group was a lot more distracted. Beth and I ended up making the second part mostly by ourselves. At other times it was a challenge because of absences. However, the majority of the time we were collaborating effectively. All of us put our efforts in and everyone contributed. We listened to each other’s ideas and always gave everything a go (like me trying to do a sit-up). Personally, I think I was focused most of the time. Sometimes it was hard because I can get easily distracted but I have grown out of that slowly. I think we could improve on getting less distracted as a group.

Our dance has a binary structure (two sections) that symbolises our schooling journey. The first section represents our first couple of years in senior school. It was ‘stiff’ and nerve-wracking. We portrayed that as toys with stiff and trapped movements. The moves we used were mostly armed movements with limited movement with the lower body (besides walking). Our movement was percussive and strong. We had a lot of levels in the first section of our dance and faced a lot of directions. Our tempo was slow until we got to the tutting section which was vastly fast. We were on beat with the music’s beat. The second section represents the smooth transition into high school after the stiff first years. Being ‘free’ in other words is what our second section represented. The moves we used were whole-body movements which included running. Our movement was slow and sustained. We were very flowy and floaty. The section was on a high level throughout. And we were on the beat.

Performance

The evening of the performance was to me a fun and exciting process. It was the only day we practised with the other class. I think our class did a great job performing. We all committed to the dance, used our expressions (especially the break-free part), had accurate timing and performed with the correct spacing. Performing on The Common was a unique and quite challenging experience. We had mostly practised in the dance studio so practising on the Common was a bit hard. It was different from performing on a stage. An example of the difference was that we had actual levels in the common (the stage/dance studio is flat). The common has a lot of things that were exciting. For example, climbing Eden up a tree looked really cool. I think that our group performed really well, we all enjoyed performing the dance. Personally, I think I did well. I believe my timing was good, especially during the tutting section. I also think my expression overall was good. I think I could improve on my expressions, in the tutting section in our groups of 3 I was squinting a lot due to the sun in my eyes. I also managed to do a sit-up properly which was an achievement. I think my favourite part of the dance is the break-free part as we used our expressions well and it was really fun. This semester was a lot of fun and we all made great memories together. From this dance project, I have learnt that when everyone contributes, the end product is a lot better than just one person leading the group.