The day began with breathing exercises, used to increase our breath capacity and relax our bodies. Then we stretched our bodies to relieve tension. This video, from The Song Bird Tree, explains the importance of relieving tension in the body, and includes demonstrations of exercises that yo can do to to get rid of it. It explains how tension in the muscles absorbs sound, which makes your voice sound strained, especially when singing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBSaMrKku54
Then we participated in warm up games, including one where we had to walk around with our eyes closed. The aim of this, was to familiarise ourselves with the room, using our 4 remaining senses, other than our sight. It is a good exercises to help you to engage in your other senses, other than sight, when acting.
Then we had a singing lesson, where we learnt about the various vocal registers . Theses include; The head voice- the higher part of your vocal range, where the vibrations are felt in the head; http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/feeling-the-head-voice-in-singing.html,
The chest voice- which is the range closest to your speaking voice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chest_voice,
The vocal fry- which is the part of your voice below your chest voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEDc466XvI, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbym1oVNIfg, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EIHRlk2JwA,
We also learnt about the mixed voice- which is a mix between pars of your head voice and chest voice. The best way to Chanel your mixed voice, is to sing with nasal resonance. Nasal resonance occurs when you talk/ sing through your nose. You should feel vibrations inside your nose.It is often confuses with nasality, which actually occurs, when the larynx is raised.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYEsGuldIQY, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNf9vHXjkI0
Here is a video about nasal resonance and nasality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHgk4lYDipM
I decided to rehearse the finale dance for The Pantomime, with a group from college today. We ran though it a couple of times and then recorded ourselves, in order to watch ourselves back, to see what we need to improve on. Here is the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPwNAgdiwHs
We only learnt it last week Thursday, but I find that rehearsing it in my free time, in front of a mirror, helps me to better my ability to perform this dance. I need to make the first turn a lot sharper and memorise the precise moves and order of the dance. I also need to make my moves sharper in general.
Later we had to perform Act One of The Cinderella Pantomime to The Year 2s and level 2s, where they subsequently reviewed us. It was the first time I had worked with a prop, (a theatrical property) which was a basket, in this play. It is important that I hit my mark on time ('hitting the mark' refers to getting to the correct position), so I need to practise this with the prop.
I was given feedback that my starting position for the dance was very distant from the other Chorus Members. So if the person, who is usually in front of me is not present for the dance, it is important that I change my starting position. I also need to improve on my characterization (the representation of a character or characters on the stage or in writing, especially by imitating or describing actions, gestures, or speeches) and physicality ( the quality of being physical, especially when emphasised or overemphasised), so that it comes across more onstage.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153539257335022
Above is a link to our peers' recording of our dance for our opening number. It is beneficial to record yourself dancing, acting, singing etc. so that you can see with your own eyes the mistakes that you have made. I can see that I need to dance with more confidence. My posture is often slouched when standing still and walking. In addition, I need to but more energy into the dance and I need to work on the bit in the middle where I went wrong.
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