8 September 2009

So, tonight I had my first rehearsal with my DanceWorks cast. The rehearsal was very successful, in that we worked on two phrases, put them together in a combination, and set 1:36 mins of choreography.

I found it very helpful to group my dancers together, after seeing them perform an improvised version of the audition phrase. I have grouped them as such: Group 1 (Brooke M, Brooke S, and Lydia), Group 2 (Elyse, Karly, Ricci, Tal), Group 3 (Amanda, Remy, Sammy), and Billy.

Here are their Group Performances, improvising on the audition prhase.

I am very pleased with the work ethic that was established with this first rehearsal. They are a FIERCE group of dancers, and they seem very driven. When I give them a phrase to work on, they are very focused, and keep the talking to a minimum, which I appreciate more than I can possibly express. Here is the video of the whole cast performing an across the floor phrase in groups of 3-4. This is a new concept for my work, because last semester I didn't explore traveling phrases as much as I would have liked.

This first portion that we put together serves as the intro to the piece. I want to establish, from the beginning of the piece, that Billy is the soloist. I want the audience to see the structure being Billy vs. Society.

Here is a clip of the 1:36 we "set" tonight in rehearsal. This is version 1 of 2 that we worked on.

Here is a clip of version 2 of 2.