Beautiful Illusion

GCSE Dance Solo. I have my internal moderation next Thursday, and uploaded it for 2 reasons - first, I thought you guys might like to see the dancing that I sometimes brag about. xD ... secondly, I was wondering if there's anything I can clean up. I need to ... I just want to get the perspectives of peoples who aren't me, my parents (who've seen me dance for 12+ years), or my dance teacher. Just ... yeah, feel free to have a look, and let me know where I suck. xD

GCSE Dance - Insane Longing

^_^

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Broly

^_^ Hm. Interesting to see a live vid of an MFG member. And ballet...[or balet? I forgot.] Nice though, um, let me tell you I couldn't perform dancing on stage. I feel good that you take that initiative to express yourself. We all need this I think, in our own way of course.

As for the performance itself...it was graceful, and you moved fluently-no pauses or mess-ups that I could see. If I had to give a smidge of criticism, I think I'd say that you need to work a bit on fully extending your leg when you rise it backwards. Then hold it for a sec, then bring it down. If you got that down, I think you'd be good to go. :D

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Numeros MFG
-Cinco-

Madness

Errrr.... no idea. Crappy vid quality, but pretty good dancing.

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Pyro Bastard

As always, you did well. ^_^ Though I'm not one to be able to help with your dancing since I don't dance at all. Still, even with the quality of the video being bad, you did a good job.

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Thanks to Raven for the sig.

Owner of Jatimatic/Crayne and JC.

Beautiful Illusion

Woo ^_^ thanks for the comments. =D

Broly, thanks, man ^^ ... and it's cool about the expression, too - it;s something that's sorta ... bred into me. xD ... and I put a lot of my own ideas into that, which were, uh, very different from everyone else's, namely in the music. xD And thanks for the comments, too - the leg ... yeah. xD definitely. I intended to extend it but ... somehow didn't o_o;; ... so I'll work on that.

Madness, yeah - the quality's pretty awful. xD ... but half of that was the DVD itself; everyone looked like ghosts, and I'm pale. xD ... but thanks ^_^

Pyro babe, I'm glad ya think so ^_^ it's fine about the dancing, as you help me in plenty of other ways, and if ya don't dance ... I guess I'll just haveta teach ya this summer. >D ... but seriously, thanks ^#^ ... I'm determined to do even better come next Thursday, 'cause ... I wanna prove I'm not just old news. Lol ^_^

And as far as dancing goes this is Maria! (dance choreographed by Miss Evans) here ... the amount of times I have heard this song is astounding - I danced to it when I was 7, then when I was 13, in Kenya last year, and now. =/

GCSE Dance - Maria!

I'm the one in the top right corner - short, dark hair, black legwarmers, ballet shoes. Sorta the tallest, though it's not really noticeable.

EDIT: This is my Set Study (set by the exam board) I can't do it =/ ... the timing prolly looks off, because either the other girls were fast, or I was slow. xD oh well, it'll be done as a solo anyways. xD

GCSE Dance - Set Study

Bottom right this time, black legwarmers, short dark hair, white logo on butt. >_>

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Ryat!

As far as dancing goes, it's pretty darn good; graceful.
Better than anything I could do, ha.

The Maria! video reminded me of FFX-2 for some reason.

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Beautiful Illusion

Awwwh, thanks Ryat! ^#^ ... I alsways thought I looked really ... clumsy. O_o;; lol still, glad ya think so =D

Lol, really? *blinks* o_o;; fair enough. xD

And I've just finished these - EPNs. I thought I might as well post SOMETHING. This basically sums up my entire dance ... I still have to print and format them, so still:

Oh, oh, oh, btw, ignore any of the 'insert picture' crap. I need to do that in just a minute, or so, but first I haveta work on my friend's one of these. xD

Expanded Programme Notes

Candidate Name: Vicky Stewart
Candidate No.: 8187
Centre No.: 18219
Title: Insane Longing - Solo Choreography
Theme: Praying for help, or forgiveness for a crime.
Music: 'The Wicked End' - Avenged Sevenfold

Where did you get the idea from? (About 20 words)

My initial ideas come from various stories or books that I've read in the past. I felt that I could create an effecitve and dramatic dance to this theme, and use a variety of movements; it was also easily developed into a storyline. Originally, my theme was intended to be a sane person going insane, then I inverted this to be an insane becoming sane. Miss Evans suggested that I have a reason for the sanity, and I decided that the person is going insane, but praying for sanity.

A detailed plot summary of my dance: (About 50 words)

My dance is about someone being pushed over the edge. They find themselves going 'crazy' until the point that they kill a person, which dries them insane, and so they kill again. This puts them in a personal hell, namely by the character being trapped inside their own mind, and being tortured by guilt at what they have done.Because of this, they begin to repent, and pray for forgiveness - for the heavenly intervention that will help them become sane again. They pray and beg for help continually and desperately, until this is granted and they reel in their freedom.

Music: (About 50 words)

I chose the music because I felt the pace, tansition, and content fitted well with my theme, The beginning is a high-pitched guitar solo, and there is a lot going on in the music, which represents the various thoughts of insanity in the character's mind. There are also crescendoes in the music, at which points the killings occur. When the music softens, this represents my character realising what they have done to its fullest extent, and beginning to pray. I felt it was necessary to cut a small portion of the guitar solo, for the sake of time, as well as the fact that it did not fit well with the rest of the music. I feel that the softer section represents the calmer movements of my character well, and the choir-like vocals create a 'divine' or 'heavenly' atmosphere, to show my character's 'contact' with heaven.

A Description of the Main Movement Material: (About 150 words)

I used many symbolic movements in my dance, in order to convey my theme. My motif began as grasping my head, arms at an angle in order to show the pain (mental pain) my charactr is going through. I develop this by using my hands and upper body to both turn me and lead me into some movements - however, this does not fit well with the latter half of my dance, and so I developed it into a prayer motif, which I also use to lead me into movements. [picture of motifs] This represents the pleading and praying of the character, as they pray to be forgiven for their sins, and the fact that I used it to lead me into other movements could possibly represent the desperation and longing of my character.

There is a high level of energy, initially, in my dance. This is to show the character's madness, dissatisfactio, and general insanity. The first section incorporates stabbing movements, as well as a small floorwork section, where the character 'falls'; at this point, I literally fall to my knees, to show that the character is overcome with insanity and guilt. This happens just before the character begins praying. My first position, where I have one hand positioned across my nexk, show the character's intention to commit a crime. From here, there are many changes in direction, to show the confusion the character is in - whether they should kill, or run away.

An important moment, or the climax of the dance, is when the music itself climaxes - all the instruments play, accompanied by the choir-like vocals reaching their highest notes and become louder. This slight change in dynamics differs from the calm music, and so keeps the audience interested, as well as representing something new and important happening within the dance. I slide down into the splits, however, am still reaching up as though the character us still begging. This movement represents the relaxation, when the character is finally granted forgiveness - they sink toe the ground in relief, and continue to reach upwards in thanks. This could be called the climax of my dance, as after this, the character becomes serene, and sane once more.

Appraisal - Interpretation and Evaluation of my Dance: (About 300 words)

For the most part, I used stories and books in order yo get into the idea behind my dance. The dance is based on a story I have written, titled 'Underworldly', and so I was able to step into this character quite easily. However, I also had to research mental illness to an extent, before developing my ideas. I found myself able to develop the story of my character by reading my own work, thus drawing some ideas from the text. I was inspired, somewhat, but the choreography in the musical 'Cats'; I have liked this musical and its choreography from a young age, and after studying it, found myself drawing ideas from the content of the dances - in particular, the more fast-paced ones such as 'The Rum Tum Tugger'. This is partially what inspired me to choreograph something a little 'different', where I would tackle a confused character. From a very early point, I decided that my motif woud involve a movement that would commonly be associated with insanity or distress. This idea remained the same from when I created my idea initially - I simply developed it to the point where it leads me into movements, as well as accompanies some leg movements. I hoped that this would create the impression of my character being, or going, insane, and when I showed me dance for the first time to my friend, he said that he could see what the first part of my dance was about quite clearly.

I decided that my costume should be in two tones - red for the blood shed due to my characyer, and black for their insanity and guilt. [picture of costume] However, this costuming is not justified later on in the dance, and so, had I been able to effectiely do so in the dance, I would have made a change, such as a differently coloured crop top, for the latter half. I also aimed to make eye-contact with the audience. At first, I intended to look somewhat threatening or frightening, as my character's intention was to kill, then, as the character prays for forgiveness, I changed my expressions to look at the audience in pleading. I coupled these facial expressions with hand movements - in particular, the movements where I am reaching out to the audience, as if asking them, too, for help.

If I was to do my dance again, I would certainly make changes to my costume, and make it fit a lot more deeply with my theme. I would also develop my motif even further, perhaps to the point where the first one occurs a lot more often. I would also make a few of the movements flow into one another a little more easily, many of these being the ones that do not utilise my motif to lead them to the next movement.

The contrast in my dance comes from the difference between sections - initially, I intended for the first half of my dance to maintain a high level of energy, and to have violent and dramatic movements. The second half, however, was to be more fentle, and to flow more, though still keeping somewhat strong movements - this was to show the strength of my character's faith in their god, and the strength of their prayers. The music slowly fades, meaning that the transition into the new section is not too fast, however, the two sections are rather different, showing a rather direct and distinct difference between the two narratives within the dance. My aim was to move from one corner of the stage to another, rarely using the centre in the beginning in order to show the character running away from something - presumably their mistakes. The second half does not use as many travelling movements in order to show the contant praying of the character, focusing on one area, like focusing on one god.

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Pirate

Like everyone else said. Good job. You can definitely tell that you put a lot of work into what you do. Much, much, muuuuuuch more graceful than I could ever be. :D

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