This week we operated in our steady routine of thorougher rehearsal with minimal fuss.
We spent a large amount of time discussing/ reworking the 'Grief' segment. The group constructing that piece had reworked it quite dramatically, but it still carries quite a few problems. One thing that I noticed is that everyone in the space seems to be in the exact same mood which I see as somewhat dull; there needs to be a variation in their individual qualities and persona. I think that they're going for a 'blunt realism', but their monotones and soft speaking does not create much of an authenticity despite the fact that much of what they are talking about is "real". Another thing that makes this piece impenetrable is their use of space- they are too far away and the audience strains to hear what they are saying (little things like this shouldn't be issues) so I suggest that they position themselves closer towards the audience. After our feedback session for this piece, I voiced some of my opinions and the group generally accepted my criticisms but one particular performer became quite defensive and responded with "Oh no, no, no. It's real. That's how people talk about their deceased loved one...". Regardless. This is theatre, you will NEVER achieve utter "realism", and it's no excuse to be sensitive to feedback. I don't understand why people ask for your opinion and then get defensive when you give it to them.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Ninth session in South Melbourne
We commenced this week by rummaging through a huge pile of costumes and tried to allocate them into the various segments which they might suit. I had a good time making people try on the 80s styled gowns and taking candid snaps and we did find a few little numbers which we could utilise.
We ran through each section of our performance, but we were slightly impeded by the large number of absentees. Brian and Deb were missing from 'Brian's Song' which threw us off slightly, but we generally managed rather well.
It soon came to rehearse Spiros' ode to Elvis, and once again Anna B had to fill in for Brian which in my opinion is a more suitable substitution. I mentioned in my previous blog entry that I didn't think that Brian was effectively used in that segment and I still stand by that assessment. Myf mentioned that she'll try to "tone his moves down" but I don't think her efforts will be successful. In my opinion, Anna B is more suited to the scene.
For the Piaf section, Myf gave me an outfit to wear that resembled what one would find if Adam Ant released an inexpensive costume line at Spotlight... I decided to find another costume for this scene. Otherwise, the scene work fine through this rehearsal and I think that Sam's sound-scape was effective.
Fin
We ran through each section of our performance, but we were slightly impeded by the large number of absentees. Brian and Deb were missing from 'Brian's Song' which threw us off slightly, but we generally managed rather well.
It soon came to rehearse Spiros' ode to Elvis, and once again Anna B had to fill in for Brian which in my opinion is a more suitable substitution. I mentioned in my previous blog entry that I didn't think that Brian was effectively used in that segment and I still stand by that assessment. Myf mentioned that she'll try to "tone his moves down" but I don't think her efforts will be successful. In my opinion, Anna B is more suited to the scene.
For the Piaf section, Myf gave me an outfit to wear that resembled what one would find if Adam Ant released an inexpensive costume line at Spotlight... I decided to find another costume for this scene. Otherwise, the scene work fine through this rehearsal and I think that Sam's sound-scape was effective.
Fin
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Week Eight
18.09.08
This session adopted a similar flow to the previous night's session; we ran through each segment and made minor adjustments where necessary.
I don't really have much to say about the day as a whole, suffice to say that we all worked well, however seeming that this is MY journal: I'll focus on the bits which involved me!
In contrast with last night's awkward rendition of the 'Elvis' song, the number found its feet during this rehearsal and I was eager to develop it and invent some cute choreography in accompaniment. Anna B replaced Brian, and I must say that I was a million times more comfortable with her substitution than with Brian's breast-squeezing antics. Apparently Dylan looked very uncomfortable dancing in this segment, I don't know if he's not confident with dancing or with the scenario but I'm sure he'll work it out.
The Piaf segment was polished a little more due to a conversation between Emma and I the previous evening. She told me that it didn't make sense that Edith would just pull out a crane and then that is that and I concurred, so we scripted the line "STOP!" as a punctuation.
An interesting side note, near the end of Edith Piaf's song "L'accordéoniste" she sings "Arrêtez!" ("stop"). SPOOKY!
J+M+W+08
This session adopted a similar flow to the previous night's session; we ran through each segment and made minor adjustments where necessary.
I don't really have much to say about the day as a whole, suffice to say that we all worked well, however seeming that this is MY journal: I'll focus on the bits which involved me!
In contrast with last night's awkward rendition of the 'Elvis' song, the number found its feet during this rehearsal and I was eager to develop it and invent some cute choreography in accompaniment. Anna B replaced Brian, and I must say that I was a million times more comfortable with her substitution than with Brian's breast-squeezing antics. Apparently Dylan looked very uncomfortable dancing in this segment, I don't know if he's not confident with dancing or with the scenario but I'm sure he'll work it out.
The Piaf segment was polished a little more due to a conversation between Emma and I the previous evening. She told me that it didn't make sense that Edith would just pull out a crane and then that is that and I concurred, so we scripted the line "STOP!" as a punctuation.
An interesting side note, near the end of Edith Piaf's song "L'accordéoniste" she sings "Arrêtez!" ("stop"). SPOOKY!
J+M+W+08
First rehearsal at Gas Works
17.09.08
As I entered this theatre for the first time, the realisation that the sands were running through the hourglass finally struck me: in a matter of weeks we'll be performing here. Until this point I had somehow blocked this fact from my mind but refreshingly enough, this did not strike as alarming or stressful to me; I felt reasonably confident and willing to get this show on the road.
The stage where we will be performing is quite large but leaves narrow space for backstage utilities. Also, the seating capacity is actually misleading for I would have estimated it would only accommodate an audience of around seventy but Myf assured us that the capacity is one hundred and fifty.
We ran through each segment with an absence of fuss or "input" from students which filled the workspace with a sense efficiency. The only focus upon details were in the minor recomposing and tweaking of various elements in order to accommodate the new space etc.
When it came to rehearse Sprios' 'Elvis' song, a piece we had never rehearsed and barely discussed the choreography for, I had no idea what to do. Apparently Pauline was in charge of this piece which was news to me. On the "devil" side were Brian, Dylan and I who were to create an opposing presence to Amee, Jess H and Lyndsay's "angels". Brian was in line behind me during the 'choreography' and I must say that he made me feel very (visibly) uncomfortable because he was crabbing and pinching me, singing in my ear and touching my head. I am still intimidated by Brian because of his enormous stature and also because of my memory of the way he went a little too far when performing the 'status' exercise several weeks prior. Brian gets really "into" things, but I'm not sure if he stays connected to the reality that we are merely pretending. Furthermore, I am sure that his presence in that segment throws the piece off balance because of his size and presence: it's Sprios who needs to be the centre of attention because it's his song and Brian will unintentionally absorb the focus.
The Piaf segment went through a smooth rehearsal, and a few of the creases were ironed out. I'm going to be honest, a week ago I HATED the Piaf section (as you would have detected through my previous blog entries) but I've since calmed down and tried to make the piece for Cathy as opposed to the satisfaction of my own creativity. I'm happy with the piece's structure and I think that it will work.
It's all falling into place...
As I entered this theatre for the first time, the realisation that the sands were running through the hourglass finally struck me: in a matter of weeks we'll be performing here. Until this point I had somehow blocked this fact from my mind but refreshingly enough, this did not strike as alarming or stressful to me; I felt reasonably confident and willing to get this show on the road.
The stage where we will be performing is quite large but leaves narrow space for backstage utilities. Also, the seating capacity is actually misleading for I would have estimated it would only accommodate an audience of around seventy but Myf assured us that the capacity is one hundred and fifty.
We ran through each segment with an absence of fuss or "input" from students which filled the workspace with a sense efficiency. The only focus upon details were in the minor recomposing and tweaking of various elements in order to accommodate the new space etc.
When it came to rehearse Sprios' 'Elvis' song, a piece we had never rehearsed and barely discussed the choreography for, I had no idea what to do. Apparently Pauline was in charge of this piece which was news to me. On the "devil" side were Brian, Dylan and I who were to create an opposing presence to Amee, Jess H and Lyndsay's "angels". Brian was in line behind me during the 'choreography' and I must say that he made me feel very (visibly) uncomfortable because he was crabbing and pinching me, singing in my ear and touching my head. I am still intimidated by Brian because of his enormous stature and also because of my memory of the way he went a little too far when performing the 'status' exercise several weeks prior. Brian gets really "into" things, but I'm not sure if he stays connected to the reality that we are merely pretending. Furthermore, I am sure that his presence in that segment throws the piece off balance because of his size and presence: it's Sprios who needs to be the centre of attention because it's his song and Brian will unintentionally absorb the focus.
The Piaf segment went through a smooth rehearsal, and a few of the creases were ironed out. I'm going to be honest, a week ago I HATED the Piaf section (as you would have detected through my previous blog entries) but I've since calmed down and tried to make the piece for Cathy as opposed to the satisfaction of my own creativity. I'm happy with the piece's structure and I think that it will work.
It's all falling into place...
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Week Seven
During this session, Myf got her metaphorical whip out and we engaged in a very intense run through of the show.
We commenced with a few rehearsals of 'Brian's Song', which was a bit strange with half the dancers missing. Our timing and everything is fine but we need to work with the COVs a lot more.
I'm liking the Bride's Dance, it's quite ethereal. I believe that it's the strongest section within 'Of the spirit, of the will' and it acts as a good centre-piece.
When the time came to work on the Piaf segment, I was eager to get cracking and iron out the segment's winkles. To my disappointment, the more we rehearse and 'workshop' the piece- the worse it seems to get. I feel like the segment is so flat, dull and passionless and I don't know what to do to improve it without either sentimentalising it or hyping up angst. If we can find a (non-cliched) way of building a climax, we'd be much better off. SIGH! In my ordinary creative life, I would have scrapped this and started again a while ago, but I wouldn't dream of traumatising others with this dramatic approach.
I also think that the segment has been dragged through so many generations of Year 9 Drama and TV references that there's little of Piaf in our 'Piaf'. This could be because a large number of the students have never heard of Edith Piaf and therefore they're more concerned with the aesthetic or the "dramatic" sides rather than trying to represent an abstract part of the chanteuse- this is something I detect very strongly in some of their suggestions. EXAMPLE: It's like if you are having a conversation with your hairdresser and you slip a witty culture reference or pun into your conversation, but they're unacquainted with what you are referencing so the glorious bit of humour goes over their heads and they take what you've said literally and jump on their own tangents. D'ya get what I mean?
Oh, well. It's too late to change things with this Piaf segment. I'll be fine as long as we tweak it so that everyone knows what they're doing, and it'll 'work' if we find a way to build tension. As Anna said, this production is not really about us: it's about the COVs. We should just work on making it an experience for them, and worry about high art another time.
I know that I'm not a very good collaborator. 99.9% of the time, I only work by myself and that's how I attain good results. I think a lot about whatever I'm creating and I edit and rework things inside my head and I don't need to 'catch up' and brainstorm with others because I'm in my own company twenty-four hours a day. The only time when I invite others in is when it's feedback time.
***
KISSES!
We commenced with a few rehearsals of 'Brian's Song', which was a bit strange with half the dancers missing. Our timing and everything is fine but we need to work with the COVs a lot more.
I'm liking the Bride's Dance, it's quite ethereal. I believe that it's the strongest section within 'Of the spirit, of the will' and it acts as a good centre-piece.
When the time came to work on the Piaf segment, I was eager to get cracking and iron out the segment's winkles. To my disappointment, the more we rehearse and 'workshop' the piece- the worse it seems to get. I feel like the segment is so flat, dull and passionless and I don't know what to do to improve it without either sentimentalising it or hyping up angst. If we can find a (non-cliched) way of building a climax, we'd be much better off. SIGH! In my ordinary creative life, I would have scrapped this and started again a while ago, but I wouldn't dream of traumatising others with this dramatic approach.
I also think that the segment has been dragged through so many generations of Year 9 Drama and TV references that there's little of Piaf in our 'Piaf'. This could be because a large number of the students have never heard of Edith Piaf and therefore they're more concerned with the aesthetic or the "dramatic" sides rather than trying to represent an abstract part of the chanteuse- this is something I detect very strongly in some of their suggestions. EXAMPLE: It's like if you are having a conversation with your hairdresser and you slip a witty culture reference or pun into your conversation, but they're unacquainted with what you are referencing so the glorious bit of humour goes over their heads and they take what you've said literally and jump on their own tangents. D'ya get what I mean?
Oh, well. It's too late to change things with this Piaf segment. I'll be fine as long as we tweak it so that everyone knows what they're doing, and it'll 'work' if we find a way to build tension. As Anna said, this production is not really about us: it's about the COVs. We should just work on making it an experience for them, and worry about high art another time.
I know that I'm not a very good collaborator. 99.9% of the time, I only work by myself and that's how I attain good results. I think a lot about whatever I'm creating and I edit and rework things inside my head and I don't need to 'catch up' and brainstorm with others because I'm in my own company twenty-four hours a day. The only time when I invite others in is when it's feedback time.
***
KISSES!
Seventh session in South Melbourne
This week we spent some much needed time rehearsing. We only have four weeks left, so every single minute of run-through is crucial seeming that we only spend two hours a week with the COV members.
While the women rehearsed the 'Bride's Dance', Myf asked the males to go into the opposite studio and consider some ways to link each segment within the piece. Spiros, Brian, Con, Dylan, Jez, Jayden and I sat in a circle and scribbled down some ideas to give the performance a sense of motif, and we decided to resurrect the 'three bells' structure, but we settled on a more abstract interpretation of this simple form.
We wanted to punctuate the performance with the use of three separate instruments which represented the three stages of 'life' that we are exploring in the piece. We decided on a music box to be our opening image because we thought that it symbolised innocence and thus childhood. We envisioned that the first image of our performance would be Kate sitting on the floor playing with a music box which would then segue into Brian's Song. The next instrument, for the 'love/relationships' was the human voice were we discussed having one male trying to charm June with a sugary poem only to have her put a ciggy out in their face. Finally, the instrument to represent 'death' could be a piano, and we asked Serena to play a phantom of the opera-like character who would play a looming tune which would introduce the 'five stages of death'.
Most of the COV members were cooperative and offered some suggestions, and Brian was particularly enthused.
I think that Myf had forgotten about asking us to do this brainstorming session, because she never mentioned it again. She is a very busy lady though!
Anna and I took charge of the 'Piaf' segment as the other half of the group did something else in the opposite studio. Anna and I had a brief private brainstorm, and then we discussed what we envisioned the 'Piaf' section would be like to the uninitiated COV members. We asked the group to congeal into their 'categories': prostitutes, beggars, bourgeoisie, and then we tried to perform a run-through. The students were getting quite into things, and some of the COV members matched their enthusiasm (especially Cathy who loved the idea of playing Piaf, and Betty who seems VERY eager to play a prostitute) however most of the COVs seemed confused, indifferent or objective. Brian had a bit of difficulty following instruction, and Con wasn't cooperative at all which made me concerned about how the piece would look. After this very short rehearsal time we were expected to perform what we had worked on for the rest of the group. As I watched from the sidelines, I noticed how awkward most of the COVs looked and it also struck me how flat the piece is.
I am not overwhelmed with faith in this Piaf segment, and I'm feeling like I'm trying to get blood out of a stone. We'll see...
While the women rehearsed the 'Bride's Dance', Myf asked the males to go into the opposite studio and consider some ways to link each segment within the piece. Spiros, Brian, Con, Dylan, Jez, Jayden and I sat in a circle and scribbled down some ideas to give the performance a sense of motif, and we decided to resurrect the 'three bells' structure, but we settled on a more abstract interpretation of this simple form.
We wanted to punctuate the performance with the use of three separate instruments which represented the three stages of 'life' that we are exploring in the piece. We decided on a music box to be our opening image because we thought that it symbolised innocence and thus childhood. We envisioned that the first image of our performance would be Kate sitting on the floor playing with a music box which would then segue into Brian's Song. The next instrument, for the 'love/relationships' was the human voice were we discussed having one male trying to charm June with a sugary poem only to have her put a ciggy out in their face. Finally, the instrument to represent 'death' could be a piano, and we asked Serena to play a phantom of the opera-like character who would play a looming tune which would introduce the 'five stages of death'.
Most of the COV members were cooperative and offered some suggestions, and Brian was particularly enthused.
I think that Myf had forgotten about asking us to do this brainstorming session, because she never mentioned it again. She is a very busy lady though!
Anna and I took charge of the 'Piaf' segment as the other half of the group did something else in the opposite studio. Anna and I had a brief private brainstorm, and then we discussed what we envisioned the 'Piaf' section would be like to the uninitiated COV members. We asked the group to congeal into their 'categories': prostitutes, beggars, bourgeoisie, and then we tried to perform a run-through. The students were getting quite into things, and some of the COV members matched their enthusiasm (especially Cathy who loved the idea of playing Piaf, and Betty who seems VERY eager to play a prostitute) however most of the COVs seemed confused, indifferent or objective. Brian had a bit of difficulty following instruction, and Con wasn't cooperative at all which made me concerned about how the piece would look. After this very short rehearsal time we were expected to perform what we had worked on for the rest of the group. As I watched from the sidelines, I noticed how awkward most of the COVs looked and it also struck me how flat the piece is.
I am not overwhelmed with faith in this Piaf segment, and I'm feeling like I'm trying to get blood out of a stone. We'll see...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
A month to go...
OK... here's the deal: whatever we plan by this Thursday's class is what we shall perform! The only exceptions will be tweaking to make things fit and so on, but it will soon be too late in the game to waste time with new ideas.
If you have any suggestions for significant changes, present them on Thursday. That's the deadline.
We've only a month to go!
If you have any suggestions for significant changes, present them on Thursday. That's the deadline.
We've only a month to go!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Week Six
For some reason this week half of the class didn't show up. Were people tired from the demanding night before? If so, it was probably in their best interest that they didn't attend this session because they would have been completely drained.
The class spit into two: the singers of Anna B's song rehearsed in E100 while the rest of the class stayed in E111 to discuss the Piaf piece. I am still quite unsure about this segment and I was eager to hear feedback to improve it, so I read out a rough description of what I envisioned the 'opening' could be like. I am reasonably happy with the first half of my treatment, but I think that the second half is weak and I was interested on developing that part and creating a denouement for this section. People seemed enthused about what I had written, and equally enthused about the other ideas which Anna and I had been presenting and Myf raised an interesting perspective which I think could be a focus- the Piaf segment is an entry into hell. I always had this sort of thing in the back of my mind whilst thinking about the Piaf section, but the words which described it for me were; "seedy", "warped", "freak show", "rock-bottom" but "hell" is the perfect term. I appreciated this suggestion and thought that this could be our focus.
Some other students offered some quality ideas, but after a short period of discussions, I was beginning to feel like too many miscellaneous ideas were being poured into the mix. I don't know why, but a great deal of the ideas which some students suggest leave a very thick trail of sentiment behind it- maybe I'm too pragmatic or cold towards my work, but this is definitely a trait which I have detected, especially recently. Furthermore, when a large group of people try to collaborate on something, the work seems to follow a familiar path in terms of theatrical devices and predictable structure. Some examples of this are: the 'louder Louder LOUder LOUDer LOUDEr LOUDER LOUDER *silence*' technique employed to create tension or suspense. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and then returned it because the colours washed out too quickly.
Also, I don't want to play the accordion during the piece for two reasons: the first is that it's hard for me to build a powerful stage persona if I'm lugging around a huge instrument across the stage. The second is that I basically sound dreadful playing it. I'm considering that we need to do something radical with the accordion (because it's a bit of a Parisian cliche)synthesising it, or perhaps we get all LFO on it's arse!
Anna and I will get in a room and put our heads together and try our very hardest to improve this Piaf piece. We'll focus on Myf's "hell" idea, and develop a segment with dynamism, tension, horror but is ultimately uplifting or at least offers a resolution.
...
...
...
...
J+M+W+08
The class spit into two: the singers of Anna B's song rehearsed in E100 while the rest of the class stayed in E111 to discuss the Piaf piece. I am still quite unsure about this segment and I was eager to hear feedback to improve it, so I read out a rough description of what I envisioned the 'opening' could be like. I am reasonably happy with the first half of my treatment, but I think that the second half is weak and I was interested on developing that part and creating a denouement for this section. People seemed enthused about what I had written, and equally enthused about the other ideas which Anna and I had been presenting and Myf raised an interesting perspective which I think could be a focus- the Piaf segment is an entry into hell. I always had this sort of thing in the back of my mind whilst thinking about the Piaf section, but the words which described it for me were; "seedy", "warped", "freak show", "rock-bottom" but "hell" is the perfect term. I appreciated this suggestion and thought that this could be our focus.
Some other students offered some quality ideas, but after a short period of discussions, I was beginning to feel like too many miscellaneous ideas were being poured into the mix. I don't know why, but a great deal of the ideas which some students suggest leave a very thick trail of sentiment behind it- maybe I'm too pragmatic or cold towards my work, but this is definitely a trait which I have detected, especially recently. Furthermore, when a large group of people try to collaborate on something, the work seems to follow a familiar path in terms of theatrical devices and predictable structure. Some examples of this are: the 'louder Louder LOUder LOUDer LOUDEr LOUDER LOUDER *silence*' technique employed to create tension or suspense. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and then returned it because the colours washed out too quickly.
Also, I don't want to play the accordion during the piece for two reasons: the first is that it's hard for me to build a powerful stage persona if I'm lugging around a huge instrument across the stage. The second is that I basically sound dreadful playing it. I'm considering that we need to do something radical with the accordion (because it's a bit of a Parisian cliche)synthesising it, or perhaps we get all LFO on it's arse!
Anna and I will get in a room and put our heads together and try our very hardest to improve this Piaf piece. We'll focus on Myf's "hell" idea, and develop a segment with dynamism, tension, horror but is ultimately uplifting or at least offers a resolution.
...
...
...
...
J+M+W+08
Friday, September 5, 2008
Sixth session in South Melbourne
03.09.08
Out of all our sessions at the South Melbourne centre so far, I'd have to arrive at the assessment that this was by far the most productive. Everyone worked tirelessly and without complaint which makes me increasingly confident that we'll definitely have a full performance ready in no time.
As we walked in at 4:40, Betty was waiting by the little lolly stall which she had set up to raise money for something, but the details escape me now. I bought a bag of snakes from her which she charged $2 because "they have more sugar in them" (???).
We officially began our evening of rehearsals by institutionally singing some of the warm up songs, and then after that- it was straight to business.
Myf pulled out some of the 'red & black' costumes that she had stored away which she thought may be appropriate for the Piaf segment. Anna, Ashlee, Emma and I sorted through it and found a few numbers which we'll certainly use, such as a red ol' time hooker-looking ensemble which Anna wore for the rest of the evening (over her regular clothes, of course).
Us 'dancers' were all concerned with getting the choreography that accompanies "Brian's Song" down-pat for last week we suffered from a few hiccups in terms of memorising the moves and keeping in time with the music. These mishaps still occurred this time round, but we managed to iron out most of the creases through intense practice. The singers did there very best to stay in tune, and they did very well considering that there are some irregular-attendances who don't show up to every rehearsal- I know that the dancers suffer a bit because of this same issue. Some time during the rehearsals, I glanced over at the singers and noticed that they were sporting some truly heinous show hats and I thought "Eeek! I hope that they are not the hats that Myf plans on using!". Luckily they were just for rehearsal purposes. Fffeew!
The "Mum" routine was performed quite similarly to last week. My criticism about this piece is that I feel that it adopts a lay-out and sound-scape of over-lapping permutations of the term "mother" which reminds me of a Year 9 exercise. Having said that, I think that the City Voices clan do wonderfully and I am especially surprised at Kate's efforts for I had unfortunately stuffed her in the 'minimal responsibility' box because she is a Down Syndrome. I recall Myf commenting that she is a "strong performer", but I honestly thought that she was just being polite: I now she what she means.
The 'Lover's Dance' was then recited very well except for the fact that Ashlee winded herself and injured her rib by accidentally thrusting herself into Olivia's shoulder. Anna B's song underwent a slight make-over by removing the piano accompaniment which stripped to back to a cappella. I think that this version is a major improvement, and works much more cohesively with the dance routine.
Around this time, we realised that 7:00 had arrived though it only felt like we had been working for half-an-hour. The reality of the amount of work we had accomplished, and it's consequence upon me finally took hold when I sat in the car because I was then hit by a tsunami of fatigue. When you're focused and driven, you tell your body to shut up, but when you get a moments rest- it all avalanches over you. This is why I don't like breaks.
KISSES!
Out of all our sessions at the South Melbourne centre so far, I'd have to arrive at the assessment that this was by far the most productive. Everyone worked tirelessly and without complaint which makes me increasingly confident that we'll definitely have a full performance ready in no time.
As we walked in at 4:40, Betty was waiting by the little lolly stall which she had set up to raise money for something, but the details escape me now. I bought a bag of snakes from her which she charged $2 because "they have more sugar in them" (???).
We officially began our evening of rehearsals by institutionally singing some of the warm up songs, and then after that- it was straight to business.
Myf pulled out some of the 'red & black' costumes that she had stored away which she thought may be appropriate for the Piaf segment. Anna, Ashlee, Emma and I sorted through it and found a few numbers which we'll certainly use, such as a red ol' time hooker-looking ensemble which Anna wore for the rest of the evening (over her regular clothes, of course).
Us 'dancers' were all concerned with getting the choreography that accompanies "Brian's Song" down-pat for last week we suffered from a few hiccups in terms of memorising the moves and keeping in time with the music. These mishaps still occurred this time round, but we managed to iron out most of the creases through intense practice. The singers did there very best to stay in tune, and they did very well considering that there are some irregular-attendances who don't show up to every rehearsal- I know that the dancers suffer a bit because of this same issue. Some time during the rehearsals, I glanced over at the singers and noticed that they were sporting some truly heinous show hats and I thought "Eeek! I hope that they are not the hats that Myf plans on using!". Luckily they were just for rehearsal purposes. Fffeew!
The "Mum" routine was performed quite similarly to last week. My criticism about this piece is that I feel that it adopts a lay-out and sound-scape of over-lapping permutations of the term "mother" which reminds me of a Year 9 exercise. Having said that, I think that the City Voices clan do wonderfully and I am especially surprised at Kate's efforts for I had unfortunately stuffed her in the 'minimal responsibility' box because she is a Down Syndrome. I recall Myf commenting that she is a "strong performer", but I honestly thought that she was just being polite: I now she what she means.
The 'Lover's Dance' was then recited very well except for the fact that Ashlee winded herself and injured her rib by accidentally thrusting herself into Olivia's shoulder. Anna B's song underwent a slight make-over by removing the piano accompaniment which stripped to back to a cappella. I think that this version is a major improvement, and works much more cohesively with the dance routine.
Around this time, we realised that 7:00 had arrived though it only felt like we had been working for half-an-hour. The reality of the amount of work we had accomplished, and it's consequence upon me finally took hold when I sat in the car because I was then hit by a tsunami of fatigue. When you're focused and driven, you tell your body to shut up, but when you get a moments rest- it all avalanches over you. This is why I don't like breaks.
KISSES!
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