Reflection of the final performance

In today’s session, we changed part of our coming together section. We found that the choreography here didn't convey our stimulus so we asked ourselves "what are we trying to show here?" We used the translation device to create a small section based on the words triumph, comradely and fun. We then changed part of our choreography with the sticks to make it more interesting rather than basic movements. In our countdown section, there was a part where we all moved out into a diagonal in cannon. We realised that from the front it looked good but from other angles it might not be as effective. After watching our full choreography video, we noticed parts where we were all walking to the next formation slowly so we added our marching motif instead to make more of an impact rather than just walking and also to link back to our stimulus. 

Today was our last lesson before assessment week. Looking back to when we started our choreography, our piece has developed in many ways. Our beginning message remained strong throughout the process. All wars end the same: death and destruction. This was always our main message and we hope our final piece conveys this. We wanted our piece to tell a story but also feel personal to the audience. I feel that we managed this well by creating our coming together and PTSD sections which portray each characters personality, thoughts and feelings. During the choreography process, our main difficulty was the use of props. We had to make sure we used the sticks effectively without ruining the quality of our piece. At first our choreography with the sticks was very basic. We only made shapes and included little movement. As we became more confident with them, we developed the choreography into more intricate movements. We found that creating the soldiers march section went well because we choreographed strong formations and dynamic movements that were really effective. Everyone in our group had a strong use of facial expressions to convey the story and emotions to the audience. I think this came naturally to everyone as it is such a upsetting topic. We focused a lot on timing to make the movements fit the dynamics of the music. We didn't make many changes throughout the process, it was just small choreographic changes to develop our piece further. 

After performing our final piece in assessment week, we were all very happy with our performance. I really pushed my facial expressions throughout the piece and this is something the whole group did well. I used imagery in my head whilst trying to portray my character. For example, when we cross over the sticks, resembling the front line, I imagined the enemy soldiers on the other side and how that would make me feel. As a group, we focused on timing and keeping solid formations. There were occasional moments in the final performance where these were not perfect. If I was to choreograph another piece, I would definitely allow more time to work on these specifics as that is what makes the dance look clean and precise. As a group, we handled the props well and there were no mishaps. Overall, I think that the final performance was one of the best times our group danced the piece and the stimulus was clearly seen throughout.