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Assessment week: Timetable has changed to fit the Assessment show on Friday.

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Today's lesson focused on 'Jumping through the feet'.

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No Lesson

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This lesson I chose to think about my sense of fluidity.

*Got bodies ready for dance in the week*

* Improvisation task

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*Feet pushing down
*feet placement
*turn out

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Today's lesson focused on going through the material we have learnt and any individual questions we have about it for example, mine was about a certain movement and the placement of a foot.

Corrections *
High release - eyes to ceiling
low lunge
foot work

Second phrase
*focus points
*shift
*turn out

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Focus on breath, what have I learnt?
Circle

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Pina Bausch - Extract from the Rite of Spring

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Tuesday 14th November 2017                                                                                                                  

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Tuesday 14th November 2017                                                                                                                  

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This lesson was all about our use of breath and how we use it for different dynamics in material.

We individual recapped last lessons new piece but had to think about our use of breath and this really made me think about my use of control when dancing.

I then partnered up with Paige and we selected a phrase from the material and performed it, really thinking about or use of breath and dynamics.

Demonstration/Description/Explanation
Demonstration
V
Self-trail
V
Developed into duo
V
Re-did something familiar and expanded it.
V
Demonstrated it - what we learnt
= Shows we can apply.

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As part of today's session we started with laying on the floor. We had to imagine we were Aliens and how we would move. Imagining that we were new to our body (just like a new born baby) and figure how to get to standing.

I found this task really interesting, it made me think that as an 'Alien' to my body, I wouldn't know to walk on my feet or to use my hands. So I tried to move myself with different body parts and think how they could be broken into twisted inverted movements.
I learnt that this is a good way to create movement, for example developing a simple movement and trying to perform it in an unusual different way.

We then went into creating a piece for the Christmas Show/Assessment.
Me and Tom start the piece off, downstage right with the start of the swing phrase. I follow this through as Tom leaves and I continue the phrase on the right side all the way through till the end with Ash.

I then walk on later to do the phrase on the second side with Chloe.

My target for next lesson is to know the material on both sides.

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This lesson I focused of the use of push and gravity.

Craig asked us all to think about one question.
"How can you stand out and an individual?"
For me this was all about my risk taking and the depth in which I can push my body to reach into space.

I then performed the phrases thinking about how I can take risks and my feedback was that I had a really nice sense of continuation and cutting of space. This was great for me as I had previously set a target for myself to flow through one movement into the next.

We then learnt a new phrase which focused on a lot of balancing which was a weakness for me as I have weak ankles however in the other phrases i'm getting better with every lesson.

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In class today my aim was to focus on my technique within the material.

I went straight into the phrases we had learnt and any material I couldn't remember I just paused and tried to feel a sense of where my body felt like it should go next.

By Craig allowing us to work out the material for ourselves he said it looks a lot stronger this week and I learnt that this strategy is beneficial for our further training and gives us targets to set.

We then looked at 2 new phrases which were actually quite challenging. Craig said we looked like we were struggling but it also looked interesting.

I really enjoyed learning the next 2 phrases as i thrive on challenging myself. A strength in this lesson for me was just being able to listen to and feel where my body should go to. However I need to ensure I learn the phrases ready for the assessment in 2 weeks time and this is my target before the next lesson.

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We started today lesson with laying on our backs and feeling the pressure of our feet on the floor, exploring the different feelings in our body when we apply pressure to two feet or just one.

In groups we had to make a duet based on the exercise's we have done in previous lessons.My partner Tom Jones and I decided to take rep from multiple phrases we've learnt.

Considering I used to struggle with remembering the exercises as a whole I found it very easy to just extract certain movements and put them together.

Our feedback included that the way Craig has approach his teaching this unit with us has worked for us.

I then went onto the swing exercise with Morgan and we also worked it out on the second side. A weakness for me is my use of breath, especially in this exercise.

This then moved into the corner exercise but just before it I went with Lewis to complete any exercise to warm up for jumps.
Followed was the 4th phrase on both sides.
I felt very conformable with this phrase however the material still isn't quite there.

A target for me is to focus on my breathing whilst performing.

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Today I focused on oping with the demands of my body and feeling the sense of 'flow'.

We started the lesson with the previous phrases we had learnt and also added on.

We performed the phrases in groups of 4 & 5 and then given feedback. Whilst performing the phrases I tried to focus on making sure that i extended and suspended every movement in order for it to flow into the next movement.

My feedback included that I had a gorgeous sense of performance when performing the material and I consider this one of my strengths when performing.

A weakness of mine is my sense of 'shift'. I need to think 'low' when shifting my weight from one place to the next in order for it to be effective.

My target from this lesson is to go over the phrases for deeper understanding of technique.

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This lesson was a lot more calm, it was calm because I was more informed on what was to come during this lesson.

I went straight into the phrases that we had learnt in the previous lessons with no problems. Granted they were not perfect but I was able to perform and finish them.

Craig gave me feed back on focusing on my use of breathe when performing and my efficiency.
This made me think about my fluidity throught the material with out any stops and starts.

We then proceeded to learn 2 more phrases, I found that I picked up the next phrases far more quicker than the first phrase and I consider this to be one of my main strengths. A weakness of mine in this lesson was the efficiancy of my material.

I learnt that I needed to focus of making sure that the end of one move was the beginning of the next move without having any stops or starts in my material.

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On this day I undertook my first Contemporary Technique class at the start of my 2nd academic year at NPTC Neath of Colleges, studying BTEC Dance.
Although I felt comfortable being in the dance studio, I also felt nervous and excited to see what the second year course has to bring.

My lecturer Craig Coombs recently spent his summer training at Laban and was able to learn new things and bring it back to Wales in order to keep his students and himself informed and updated about the current work going on in London.

He stated that he was going to try and take a new approach in teaching us this year in order for us to effectively be 'doing the work' ourselves and not being 'spoon fed'.

We started by learning a new phrase which focused on our intention, use of breath and being able to feel the movement.

When teaching myself and my fellow class mates the new phrase, Craig insisted on the point of only showing us and going through the material a selective amount of times, as his intention was to make us start thinking for ourselves and effectively open up parts of our brain which we haven't quite used before and be more independent.

I found this very difficult and almost wanted to cry (#Don't be a baby) as I consider myself a bit of a perfectionist shall we say and tend to ask a lot of questions when learning new material. I do this to make sure its spot on rather than actually spending 5 minutes trying to figure it out myself.

When performing the phrase I tried to think about where my body 'feels' it should go next rather than thinking about what the next move actually is.
I was surprised in myself on how difficult I found it to just go with what my body was feeling and I definitely consider this to be one of my weaknesses. However, strangely,  I do believe that I dance with intention and meaning.

Although I struggled with adapting to the new change within Craig's teaching it has now opened up things that I didn't know about myself and that I am now able to work on. A strength of mine within this lesson was that I was able to not follow anyone although I was struggling with actually getting to the end of the phrase. This showed me that I was able to go with the intention of the task even though half of me wanted to fight against it.

I am now going to use this technique of feeling where my body should go next when creating and developing movement in my own dance works such as my solo and group pieces.