Red Flag Journal 4-24-14

How much time did you spend on your project?
This week I probably have spent a good 6-7 hours on my project.

What did you do that was hands-on?
This week I got 3 of the 5 girls together and we all drove up to the YMCA. It ended up working perfectly in my favor in that i got to use the dance studio for space in order to practice my routine. We went to the Y around 4 and stayed all the way til 6:30. I choreographed the first half of the dance in that short amount of time. The girls loved it, and they can't wait to learn more!

What research did you do?
This week so far I haven't done anymore research than changing the song. this required looking on Youtube and choosing a song of my liking. Other than that, no other research because I feel that I have most of what I need.

Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about?
I meet with my mentor tomorrow, no discussion yet this week.

Do you have at least three journal entries? Do your journal entries include planning, recording activities, and reflecting?
I did my journal entries last week for this week. I did a total of six journal entries over break so they would carry on to the  next week. They include learning many things from Towson University. Not the best school for dance, but still the college experience that I will be applying to myself in the fall. It was so interesting learning some new things, such as evaluating a dance piece using certain types of words like " I was intrigued by the way...." The comp 1 teacher taught us that the word like is not always the most proper one to use. She tried to get us to get out of our comfort zone which is kinda what WISE is all about!

Where were you in class this week? Did you use your journal?
This week honestly I didn't use class time to work on my project. I mainly used outside of school time like yesterday after school!

Do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was: Inadequate? Adequate? Good? Excellent? Explain.
This week I thought that my production of my project was great. I think I'm finally starting to have fun with this. Yesterday was so much fun trying to figure out different movements to put in the piece and what looks best on the girls. It makes it easier too that 4 out of the 5 come from the same studio so they look more like a team! The 5th girl catches on very fast so she has no problem either. Overall, I would say this week my fulfillment of my WISE requirements was excellent because I finally started having fun.

What are your plans for next week?
Next week, I plan on meeting the girls after school Wednesday again at 4. All the girls can attend this time so lets get this dance choreographed.

Podcast-Comfort

Today in class, we listened to a podcast about a man going outside his comfort zone. This relates to all of out projects because we need to be able to reach outside a certain field of comfort in order to expand in our project. Staying inside your comfort zone allows no ability to grab some ideas outside the box and learn new things. If you stay in your comfort zone, your productivity level will decrease. 

Blinded by the White

Currently I am watching my friend Niki perform in a dance shoot with a friend. They are playing around with windows trying to get the effects of the white background to contrast with their hands. There are photographers here as well as a choreographer. They are playing around by dancing in and out of the frame of the camera. This will help me with my project because it will allow me to see the bigger picture of movement through dance, which will help me tremendously while staging my piece in Kulp at Ithaca high school. 

Latch

I'm choreographing my piece in the Towson black box. This vacation has actually been very beneficial in that I have been working more than relaxing. I decided to do it to the song latch by Sam and disclosure. And instead of making it a huge group dance, I have decided that only a few dancers have come through so I will make it a small group. I'm so excited the dance is great right now! The dancers will be Bella a freshman who dances at The Next Jennaration, Leigha, also a freshman from The Next a jennaration, Brenna, a junior from The Next Jennaratipn, Deja, a senior from The Next Jennaration and Rose, a senior and former dancer with Ithaca Academy of dance. We will be starting Wednesday after break:)

Dancing with limitations

This is a photo of dancers from Towson University using their space wisely. As three different groups fight for their spot, they try to make the best of it. Every semester, an upper-classmate is required to choreograph a piece given specific dancers. They are not allowed to pick the dancers they want, but they are assigned under classmen. This is hard because they are required to choreograph a piece consisted with dancers of all different shapes, sizes, and levels. It is hard to make a piece look unified when this happens. Watching these rehearsals will help me with my project because it will demonstrate how to handle choreographing with all different styles and levels of dance.

Rehearsal space

Sitting in the black box theater at Towson University, I'm watching as three different groups are performing their routines. It's funny because their situation relates to mine in a way. They are all trying to use a tiny space provided by the dance department. This relates to me in which it is hard to find space for rehearsal use. In the dance world, you kinda have to make due with what you have and go with the flow. The tiniest of spaces matter when trying to rehearse your piece. They also only have one source of music outlet. They all have to share a cord to plug in for their computers and all use one sound system. The dance world brings many challenges but I'm ready to take them all on!

College Ballet

This morning I took what seemed liked the longest ballet class of my life. I attended a 1 hour and 50 mins ballet class that consisted of hard technique from a special guest who is based in Germany. He was an older man who had wisdom that made our thoughts go wild as we tried to keep up. I struggled learning this new style,  but managed to hold on with a smile on my face. He taught me many new things that I hadn't learned before. When you pull up to do a turn, he demonstrated that our body is based off three points that make a triangle. Our shoulders and our crotch. Yes sounds weird, but actually is very smart and helpful. And once we go to balance on one leg, that leg becomes our axel, and we need to pull our shoulders over top of that leg to maintain the balance. This helped me a lot to figure out how to teach my dancers how to turn and it will be very beneficial and easier to comprehend. Can't wait to pass this on the girls in Ithaca.

Towson University

I have been given this amazing opportunity to take classes at Towson University in Maryland. I am visiting my friend Niki and she is a dance major here. I have gotten so much inspiration here! It is crazy. I am watching her rehearsals thinking to myself wow that looks great and that looks clean and really interesting... Remembering I can be on vacation but also get ideas for my project.  This piece she is in involves rose petals. It starts in a little circle and blooms into a full garden. The piece looks amazing. I have learned so many new techniques to use in my dance, and I can't wait. 

Red flag Journal 4-3-14

How much time did you spend on your project? 

This week I spent a total of 5 hours on my project. I'm almost done choreographing the dance, and I spent a lot of time in the studio doing so. I also used this week to learn more technique from all my dance teachers

What did you do that was hands-on?

This week I again choreographed the dance, almost finishing it!

What research did you do? 

I interviewed my dance teacher again, asking him what's the best way to get a dance completed. He gave me great trips and ideas. For example, he told me to split the groups up by age, that way no one would feel like they were less of a dancer by their skill. He told me to choreograph based on maturity which I thought was a great piece of advice. 

Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about? 

This week I gave Cheryl my blog URL and told her that we could work well together if she stayed on track with my blog and what I'm doing week by week. I told her if I had any problems that I would go to her ASAP.

Do you have at least 3 journal entries? Do your journal entries include planning, recording activities, and reflecting?

 I did in fact have three journals this week. They included showing the reader what it's like to lift with a partner demonstrated by pictures, and the other two included recording activities about my hands-on research done in the studio.

Where were you in class on this week? Did you have and use your journal? 

This week I did not work on my project during second period at all. This whole week I worked on my project after school and while I was at dance and had a free moment. I also got opinions from my dance peers, which was really great because they are all amazing dancers

Do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was: Inadequate? Adequate? Good? Excellent? Explain. 

This week I felt like I really jumped a step. By going to someone who really knows dance, it helped me a lot especially with someone who I feel comfortable with. They shared a lot of techniques with me that I can use not only for my WISE project, but for my dance career in the future.

What are your plans for next week?

Next week I am for sure getting the space together. I am going to talk to the main office today 5th period so I can get this all figured out. 

Work

After practice today I was exhausted. I learned so many new things from my dance teacher as well as tried my hardest to perfect my dance. I finished my solo, and it made me realize how much work it takes to get a dance done and done well.  It is hard with one person to get the job done, think about 10 and up! 

Lifts

These are pictures that demonstrate lifting and the strength required to make it possible. The top photo is of me and my good friend Thomas from two years ago. The picture after that is of Brooke Brown and Chase Benjamin last year at the age of 13

Practice

I'm currently on my way to my dance studio in Vestal New York. A great place to make ideas come to perfection. As well as running my competitive solos, I will be taking the time to use the floor to practice my routine for my project. My dance teacher Mikey Perkins will also assist me in teaching me new steps to pass on to my other dancers. Aside from choreography, I will be learning new techniques to improve my own skills as well as others.