Thursday 19th march exhibition hall lesson

In this lesson we worked with the other class. First we started with a warm up to get us vocally and physically ready to perform our first 3 scenes of our plays. We had 30 minuets to go through the scenes that we had to perform. As a class we thought it would be a good idea to share the showing of the first 3 scenes as we are a double cast. I worked with Holly Hop , Ashley and Bryleah. Personally I think showing the other class what we had so far at short notice was really helpful and useful. That was the first time we had shown an audience and it was great to hear and see audience response.
 It helped show me what the audience found funny and also gave me reassurance that my facial expressions where making the impact I had intended. It was also nice to see the other classes piece. It help give us some inspiration and ideas. I think personally it helped me gain confidence in the way I portrayed Lisa. My facial expressions got laughs and changed the atmosphere within in the scene. For example when Victoria is explaining how Lisa 'mission' is to find her hour the line 'its like being a spy or something' is lisa's attempt to make light of the conversation and my body language , and comical facial expression got the reaction I was hoping for. I think all in all it was important development element for my character of Lisa ,because I needed that reassurance that its important to act naturalistic because Lisa in her self is natural but has to live with this dissociative element in her life. I helped me establish the difference in her natural state and the moments where she breaks down. Actually getting up and trying it out in front of an audience gave me a good positive and developing insight.

Tuesday 17th march analysis

In this rehearsal we ran the Victoria scene , the lift scene and the guard scene. The feel I got from the Victoria scene was that I found it hard to get into it. I felt unsure of how I should react to  Victoria intruding Lisa's home. To approach this I felt about how I would personally feel if a stranger made themselves comfortable in my home. The emotions I felt where uneasy and weary. To portray this I made Lisa have closed body language by folding my arms , occasionally fiddling with my nails, my eye line was low or looking out into the audience which I imagined to be Lisa's flat. It helped to just act more naturalistic in this scene. The strong points of this scene for Lisa I feel is her facial expressions and body language. However I may need to work on my tone of voice. I need to ask myself how will Lisa's pitch , tone and volume be in interaction with Victoria .

The lift scene is proving to be very successful and comical. The key elements for this scene is timing and facial expressions. The facial expression have to be very over the top and melodramatic. I think Lisa has great facial expressions in this scene. To make this scene have a comical element, I have a shocked expression, my eyes are wide with disbelief and occasionally I'll bite my fist in disgust. My peers agree this works well to gain laughs from the audience. I think the biggest weakness in this scene is the timing elements we have with the automated voice. I'm sure with more rehearsals we can improve this and work out some beats to make the movement polished and neat.

The guard scene in my opinion is all about timing and facial expressions and subtle reactions the other actors on stage. In the guards case they had to overreact , melodramatic to Lisa's arrival. At this stage in the play I felt that Lisa was weary and confused. However she did trust the guards and did warm to them . For example when she first meets them she is hesitant to approach them. I thought that she would have closed body language so again I had my hands clasped together and I would slowly edge towards the guards. I made my voice softer to try and portray Lisa as a warm and friendly person, I would imagine that she would want to seem as little as a threat as possible towards the guards.However I during this rehearsal  I tried the approach to the guards in different ways. For example I tried a confident approach , making Lisa seem enthusiastic about interacting with the guards. To show this I would have open body language by having my arms out as if I was about to point or make a gesture . Also my volume was loud and had a strong tone to it to show confidence.
However I thought the more apprehensive approach was more suited to Lisa , considering her life is out of balance and she is dissociating herself from relationships and other human interaction.
In comparison to her timid approach to the guards , later on when the guards get upset about Queen Sarah's disapirence Lisa shows a caring , and comforting side to herself . I thought this could be because she was using them to find her lost hour and by being caring she may of thought he could win them over.
Rachel suggested that instead of seeming annoyed I should use this idea and approach them differently at this point. She suggested that I should slowly walk over and comfort the crying guards.So in comparisons to the shy arrival , I made my tone soft and sound almost patronising . My volume was quite to put emphasis on the compassion Lisa was trying to portray. Also I had my arms out in a caring way making my body language open . This approach  worked better then being annoyed at the guards for getting upset. Furthermore this could be parallel to Lisa's dissociative personality. I think this was a successful run through, even though we didn't get through all the scenes we wanted to , I feel that I understand how to portray Lisa . And I think the best way of doing this is acting as naturalistic as possible to the craziness around Lisa at the time.

17th April dance

In today's lesson we showed the year 13  class our dance we have choreographed  while one of the actors was performing the 'peaks and the pollicals' song. Its been a while since we have rehearsed so we need time to get back into the dance . Also its challenging to sing and dance so that is a element of the performance we need to work on . Next week I am going to focus on my co-ordination and memory if each phrase within the dance. Also in my own time I will walk through the dance to gain confidence these are my targets .
To gain more confidence within the dance moves and my memory of them I might record my peers running the dance so I can go home and practise.
Also to improve my co-ordination I will continue to practise the' pat tummy and rub tummy' method.

Dance self assessment

Technical Skills                   Needs Improvement ---------------Good------------------------- Excellent

Posture & Alignment            1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Flexibility                             1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Strength                                1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Balance                                 1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Co-ordination                       1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Use of Extension                  1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Ability to reproduce movement accurately  1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Performance Skills

Projection /Focus                  1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Musicality                             1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Use of Facial Expression      1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Overall Performance             1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Self-Assessment 27^th March 2015

	Performance Skills	Technical Skills
Strengths	I think my characterisation is very strong. I get into the character I’m playing and take into consideration how they would move, their facial expressions and stereotypical features. For example posture and extension. Also I think my focus is strong during performance as I am trying to get the moves correct.	I think my posture and Strength are strong and I Show confidence through a Strong stance with posture. And generally I think my Strength looks stable and this helps in the performance to Make lifts look steady and imposing.
Weaknesses	However I do need to work On facial expression, even though I do show them. I Need to look confident to Make my performance look Polished and professional.	I really need to work on Extension , flexibility , co-ordination and alignment . These skills are letting my Performance down as they Need to be confident , Polished and neat.

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Action Plan: I need to work on co-ordination during my dance to make it strong and confident. My extension needs to be stronger so I shall work on making big gestures look powerful. I need to improve my balance and to do this I shall find some exercise that can help you gain a sense of balance.