Running Through Part of Act 1 & Act 2 For Panto And Additional Dance & Singing Rehearsals

Today began with a warm up, so that we would feel that we had enough energy to perform. These included, pushing ourselves up, to balance on the balls of our feet, in a controlled manner, which helps to strengthen your calves. We also looked up, while tilting our heads upwards, which helped to free up our larynxes and relaxed our throat muscles, which made it easier to speak on the stage. In addition, yawning helps to open the throat, which is shown in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tgPo1MIAhc

Then, we went through Act 1 of 'The Cinderella Panto' twice. The second time I performed it, I had more energy than the first, but I was fidgety, not in 'the tonic state' and my posture wasn't correct. Afterwards, we ran through Act 2, where I put a lot of energy into it, but I felt that I was fidgety and my posture wasn't correct. Also, I need to sort out the timing, for when to walk to the other side of the stage, as The Waitress. So I will look at the script and find an appropriate line to avoid blocking/being blocked (out of the line of view of the audience).

Later, I participated in additional dance rehearsals. The main focuses for me are, to make my movements bigger, getting the exact timing of every movement and maintaining the correct posture throughout the dances.

Lastly, I took part in an additional singing rehearsal, where we were given the lyrics of every song in The Pantomime. Before singing, we did some vocal exercises, which helped us to engage our diaphragms. We were told when to breathe in each song and marked this on our lyrics sheets. We learnt that, to project while singing and acting, the key is to open our mouths wider, rather than screaming through our throats. There is also to engage the diaphragm and to sing through your mask (the parts of your cheeks, just under your eyes). Here is a video about pronouncing your words and projecting while acting on the stage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/voice-projection-and-pronunciation-in-drama/9896.html


In addition over the weekend I watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adb3Sfo__nE
Although, The Chorus did not heavily feature in ITV's version of 'The Cinderella Pantomime', it gave me a better idea of how melodramatic (exaggeratedly emotional or sentimental; disproportionately intense) pantomeimes are.