CATS Evaluation

Show 1

I didn't feel like we were on our top form for the opening night. I'm not sure if it was just first show nerves but we were definitely lacking in confidence individually and as a team and that affected our performance. There was a part in the opening where we all did one move too early which really had a negative effect on the rest of the number and shook our confidence even more. The thing I was most nervous about was that the audience wouldn't understand what was going on because we had changed the concept from the original CATS to a concept about models and designers in the fashion industry. Although the idea had really grown on me and I found it interesting, I remember how wary I was of it at the beginning and  I worried the audience would feel that way too as this was the first time they had seen it performed this way. I was also quite self conscious because my costume was a lot brighter than everyone else's, especially the pink wig. It's very different to what I usually wear and I was worried that I might look silly compared to everyone else. I think this affected my confidence too. 

Our second song Naming Of The Cats also wasn't as good as it could have been. My group in particular seemed to be out of time and I think this is because not everyone was confident with the words. There are lots of very similar words to learn and it is made harder by the fact we are talking it rather than singing, yet there is still a certain rhythm to take. There was one line in particular that I was worried about because I could never remember the timing of this line. It was "Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular," but for some reason I kept on adding an "or" at the beginning which messed up the timing. Also no one seemed confident with the final section of the song, myself included, so it seemed slightly delayed and I think it was obvious to the audience. 

Next was Gumbie Cat which was the song about my character and included a big tap number. I was feeling a lot more confident about this one because it was one of the first numbers we choreographed and I spent a lot of time working on it. There were a couple of lines in the song that I messed up which was a shame because apart from that I think I performed well in this. However I didn't have very long to switch from my converse to my tap shoes so I didn't do them up quite right. This caused me to feel like they were going to fall off when I was doing my tap solo and this caused me to look down which could have given the impression to the audience that I was not confident. 

I feel like the rest of the show went well but we definitely needed to gain more confidence in ourselves individually and as a team because I knew we could do a lot better than what we did. 

The ending of the show did not go well which was a shame because I feel like this ruined the whole atmosphere. We hadn't rehearsed this number very much at all and it really showed. No one was loud enough and a lot of people went out of time. This really left us feeling down about the show and we thought the final song would get cut because it was so bad. This really didn't help me find the confidence for the rest of the week. 

Show 2

After a good night's sleep I was feeling a lot more confident about our next performance. I thought about all the things I could have done better last night and made sure I did something to improve that before the next show. For instance, I got lost on some of my lines in Gumbie Cat because they are all quite similar, so I listened to the song again and went over the words in my script and I found this really helped me as I nailed the lines this time. 

The whole atmosphere was different tonight, I'm not sure if it was because my family were in the audience but I had a whole new confidence that I didn't have in the first show. We performed the opening much better than the night before and we were all much louder. I thin it's important to get the opening right because not only does it make the audience feel assured that they are going to enjoy the show and it helps us as performers to feel confident about the rest of the night. 

My tap solo was much better than before. I left the stage earlier tonight so I could spend more time putting my tap shoes on. I sang all of the words right and I looked up during my whole tap number. Looking up is something I have struggled to do throughout the rehearsal process because I'm so focused on getting my steps right. I needed to concentrate on my feet a bit less and just enjoy the performing it and I think I achieved this. 

The final song was also so much better which was such a relief. We rehearsed it so many times during the day which did become quite tedious at the time but it definitely paid off! I'm really glad we chose not to cut it because I think it just rounded the show off in a great way. 

Overall the second show was a huge success and I improved significantly in this performance. 

Show 3

After a good performance last night I was feeling confident about the final show. Just before we began we all had to write what we felt we had achieved so far and what we wanted to achieve in the final show. I felt like I had achieved growth in my confidence. On opening night I was nervous before every dance and had to think about every step and what came next, but by now I was feeling ready for everything and was more focused on my delivery and performance, making sure I smiled rather than getting the steps right. I also think I succeeded in portraying my character of Jennyanydots as a caring, mother figure of the group. I did this mostly in the song Gumbie Cat by the way I interacted with the other actors on stage who played the young models I was training and the established models I had trained in the past. We then all swapped papers and wrote good things about other people's performances. Reading people's comments really helped to give me that final boost of confidence to go out there and perform the best I can. 

The show was going well until a technical fault during Gumbie Cat. This was the worst possible song for the music to cut out on because music is such a vital part of tap dancing. At first I didn't even realise that the music had stopped because people were singing and I was focused on keeping in character. When I realised what had happened I was suddenly very worried because I didn't know how we would manage to do the tap routine well. Watching the video back it was quite painful to watch, it was such a shame that the music stopped on my final performance of this song. Amazingly, we all stayed in time! I was so happy about this as its very hard to do when there is no music to go by. The only thing I would criticise is that we did start speeding up as the dance went on, but I still think we handled the situation well and managed to save the dance. Some members of the audience said they didn't even know the music had stopped or just assumed it was supposed to be like that. When the song finished we got the biggest round of applause we had ever got for that song and I felt extremely proud of everyone for dealing so well with the situation and still giving a strong performance of the song. 

Overall, I was pleased with my performance. My confidence improved in every show and I feel that I stayed in character consistently and danced to the best of my ability.
If I was to develop my performance further I would perhaps over act even more during the in between scenes to really show off Jenny's mothering side and also of course have performed my tap solo even stronger with no technical difficulties. 
If I had more money and more time, then I would have developed my Gumbie Cat choreography by adding a lot more dancers. I would have had about 10 on each side of the catwalk as well as having them going all the way down the catwalk and up the steps. This would made the choreography look much more effective especially when they were in turning round in their lines. I would also have been able to employ professional tap dancers so the routine would have been even stronger and I could have included more complex steps. I also would have used different costumes, especially when the models are walking down the catwalk. I would have got lots of brightly coloured and crazy shaped clothes so that this part of the number would have looked more like a fashion show for Jenny's new designs.

CATS Questions

1) How did you initially react to the script? How did your relationship with the material change?

I was surprised at first that the script was 100% song because I thought that it might be difficult for us to convey the story to the audience with no dialogue in between, especially as we have changed the concept from the original cats to being set in the fashion world. 

2) What did/do you think of the concept of changing the context to the fashion world?

At first I was worried about it because I didn't understand how we could change the story

to fit the concept. There were lots of factors we had to consider such as the setting. The original production is set in a dump which obviously isn't appropriate for a production based around the fashion world. We had to change the meaning of Heavyside layer to make it something related to the fashion industry. We also had to think about costumes and adapting the character's personalities to the types of personalities found in the fashion world. I was also worried that the audience wouldn't understand what was going on as the musical is called Cats but we were not portraying cats.


3) How has that worked in practice?

 Luckily, we managed to overcome all of these obstacles. We changed the setting from a dump to a modern day design house called "Deuteronomy Designs". We had a catwalk and office in our set as well as two clothes rails full of clothes as well as clothes hanging from the ceiling. We also had some mannequins with quite unconventional designs on them so the set fitted really well with our concept and I think it helped the audience understand what was going on. We also changed the Heavyside Layer to a special edition of a magazine that one model/designer is chosen to be on the cover of every year.


4) What has changed about your understanding of the narrative/characters?

When we started this project I had a very basic knowledge of the narrative and characters. For instance I knew of the Rum Tum Tugger, that Macavity was a criminal and that Grizabella sang Memory and was rejected by the group until the end of the show. I hadn't heard of every character and I didn't realize how complicated the story was. For instance there are lots of smaller parts of the story that are very important, such as Old Deuteronomy getting stolen by Macavity. There are also lots of theories about the relationships between the characters. For example, some people believe Bombalurina is Jennyanydot's daughter, some also speculate that Demeter and Macavity used to date. Getting a better understanding of the story and characters helped me to better appreciate the show as a whole and helped me to enjoy performing it a lot more. 

5)  Explain the thought processes behind your character choices in a thorough manner? (consider vocal & movement choices) 

I started by watching the videos of the original performances of Gumbie Cat and Bustopher Jones as they were the main songs I was in. I noticed she was very twee, for example with the way she flicked her hands and the way she walked. I think this represents her older age and also shows she is very feminine and sweet, so I decided to do use this movement in my own portrayal of Jenny. She also flicks her hands a lot to order people around the stage, I think this shows her motherly nature so I decided to do it too. For example when I am gesturing for the models to show me what they can do on the catwalk, when I gesture them to go to the back because they were all so awful, or when I gesture for them to watch the other three girls do it. 

Jenny's main solo is in Bustopher Jones. I noticed she sounded very posh when she sung and I think this represents how she is a respected character as a posh voice gives her high status. However, I think she over does it in the original film and it takes away from the song. I want to keep her voice well spoken to give her that high status. I also think her voice should be soft to show is kind and caring towards the other creatures. 

CATS Mini Project Presentation

CATS Mini Project Choreography

Dance For Camera Final Film

Dance for Camera First Draft & Review

Here is the first minute of my dance for camera film:

Notes From Peers:

- In time to the music

- All of the shots fit nicely together and are in time 

- Good use of repetition makes the dance look effective and shows that she is two different verisons of the same person

- Contrasting locations really showed the difference between the two girls 

- Nice combination of ballet, lyrical and contemporary

- Hair could have been tied back in the colourful world to show off her make up better

- Could use a wider range of camera angles 

Personal Evaluation:

Overall I am pleased with how the first minute of my film has turned out. I think I have used a good range of camera angles, for example I start out with an establishing shot, wich pans into a close up. there are also a range of mid and long shots. I think I could develop this more and use more complex camera angles such as low and high angle as this would make my film look a lot more interesting. 

I think I have included some good choreographic devices, such as levels, starting on the floor at the beginning then getting up and reaching high. I also used repetition, for example there is a leap that is repeated. I am also going to include more repetition throughout my choreography to show that she is the same girl in different worlds. 

I found it quite difficult to edit because the verison when she was dancing in the bright/colourful world was faster than the dull world for some reason so I found it hard to get it to fit with the music. However after getting notes back from peers I think I have managed to achieve it. I am particularly happy with a few certain moments when the cut between the dull and the bright world, for example when she kicks on the ground and when she extends her arm out. 

Dance For Camera Choreographic Devices & Themes

The song I have chosen to choreograph my dance to is called "shatter me". It is about someone who feels trapped and wants to excape. In the music video there is a girl stuck in a snow globe who is trying to break free into the outside world, but this concept could apply to anything such as wanting to get away from a dead end job or wanting to move into a new town. I came up with a broader concept, I am going to show a young girl who is bored in reality and wants to break free into her dream land which is full of colour. So for some of my shots the girl will be dressed in dull brown/black colours in front of a gloomy, concrete background, and sometimes she will be wearing a blue leotard and lots of glitter in a big green field. 

Here is the song I am setting my piece to:

As you can hear, the music has a very balletic tone to it so I have decided that my style is going to have elements of ballet in it. However the song also has a very dubstep/modern sound to it too so I am going to mix the ballet with a more contemporary style. The ballet steps I plan to use are arobesques, attitudes, developets and turns. However I am also going to have lots of rigid hand and leg positions which gives the dance that contemporary edge. 

I am going to be using lots of levels in my choreogrphy. My dancer will start curled up on the ground, then when the music starts she will expand out, but stay on the floor until the music starts to get faster, then she will stand up. 

I am also using extremes of speed in my choreography. There are moments in the music where it is very slow, then suddenly picks up and is very fast so I am going to represent this in my choreography. For example, on the slow part of the music, the dancer will go down on the floor so she is balancing on her shoulders with her legs pointed in the air, then when the music speeds up she jumps up, runs then does a big push, leap and turn.