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The main style of contemporary we use is the technique of Amercian dance innovator Lester Horton. His technique involves "long combinations of phrases designed to ensure protection and maximum efficiency of the body’s capabilities, for example the Hinge and Balance Studies." (Dinerman, 2006) [4]. It is also influenced by Martha graham who's arguably was the most important practitioner of contemporary dance. Her technique "celebrates movement rather than sta- tionary pose: being, doing, changing, and becoming." (Heil, 2016) [5]

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I feel like contemporary is the area I improved in the least over the year, but still definitely feel like I have progressed. I feel much more confident with it than I was to start with as contemporary isn't and has never been a strong style for me. I think I dance stronger and with more style than I did to start with as I've grown in confidence throughout the year. However I do still feel like I hold back, sometimes without realising, so I want to try to get past this for end of year assessments.

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- arms and dynamics strong (except during saut de basque, need to focus on arms as well as feet and legs)
- leg leg kick improved height

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Overall I'm very happy with the progress I've made in ballet considering I had no experience in it at all before September. I have grown in confidence including with petit allegro which is probably my weakest and least confident area of ballet. This confidence has also helped me begin to develop my performance which hopefully will lead to a successful assessment in May.

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1: Boross, B. 2014, "“Free Style” Jazz Dance of Matt Mattox" in University Press of Florida, page 122.

2. Paskevska, A. 1988;1992;, Both Sides of the Mirror: The Science and Art of Ballet, 2nd edn, Dance Horizons, US.

3. Paskevska, A. 2005;2004;, Ballet Beyond Tradition, 1st edn, Routledge Ltd, London.

4. Bourgeononline, (2006). The Horton Technique [online] Availbale at: http://bourgeononline.com/2006/12/the-horton-technique-by-diana-dinerman/ [accessed 14/4/18]

5. Heil, J. 2016, "Exercises in Discipline and Freedom? The Graham Technique", Dance Chronicle, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 123-152.

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Working on my arms would also help me, since 'the arms are used to ensure that the distribution of weight provides a safe and balanced landing' (Paskevska, 2005, p. 122) [3], focussing more on the arms may help me with the overall steps in petit allegro, rather than make it more difficult which is what it feels like.

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To work on my petite allegro I should focus on my weight placement/transference as this is where I struggle, for example when doing glissade jete to either side. "The ability to transfer weight makes the difference between a tense, jerky excecution and a flowing, controlled one" (Paskevska, 1988, p106) [2], so I need to think about exactly where my weight needs to be at all times.

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I also, like in ballet, want to work more on my performance. The jazz we learn is based on the work of dancer, teacher and choreographer Matt Mattox. His style is known more as 'free style movement' because 'the dancer is "free" to express what is in his soul and also "free" of alliegance to any one particular style of dance". [1] (Boross, 2014, p.122). Because of this I know I can explore performance-wise easier than I can in ballet where everything is a lot more exact.

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Formative assessment - self evaluation 9/1/18

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Formative assessment - self evaluation 9/1/18

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Watching back the videos, I could tell that stylistic interpretation was definitely the main thing I needed to work on. As well as this, I could also travel more and improve on my transference of weight. I want to try to be more aware of these things in particular moving on to the 2nd half of the year and hopefully will improve by June assessments. I need to push the boundaries more performance-wise rather than leaving each excersize so plain.

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Formative assessment - self evaluation 9/1/18

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Formative assessment - self evaluation 9/1/18

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I was happy with how I did in my jazz assessment but can definitely see several areas that need work. My extension needs improving so I want to begin working on my left leg flexibility as that's my weaker leg. I need to stretch more out of uni hours as I'll never get it caught up to my right leg without doing extra split practice myself.

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Formative assessment - self evaluation 9/1/18

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Formative assessment - self evaluation 9/1/18

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Looking at the videos from december's assessments, I think the main things I need to improve are adage, port de bra and petite allegro, as well as performance. Being new to ballet I definitely find these the hardest aspects of it, and I think once I improve and my confidence increases, it'll help my performance too. I need to be more aware of my arms and become more familiar with all of the arm positions because I often get confused with them. I also need to practice petit allegro more in my own time as when we do it slow in lessons I can manage it, but when we speed it up I struggle both with retention and keeping the correct technique.

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Again, I think I'm making more attempt here to perform the excersize more but still hold back out of fear of sacrificing the technique so this is something I need to continue to work on leading up to assessments.

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I think i've improved slightly in this video in terms of my performance, but definitely still hold back as I often worry about trying to perform it too much and then not doing the excersize correctly/demonstrating the right things, potentially losing me marks in an assessment, so I need to find that balance.

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- Ensure supporting leg is pulled up
- Work on left leg flexibility

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Left leg - almost/pretty much flat

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- Left leg improved
- Arms are stronger

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- Arms are stronger
- Could still have more attack

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- Elevation improved
- Hitting 5th on the gallop
- Arms stronger, need to neaten them up in between leaps, bringing them into first

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- Make sure feet hit fifth in gallop
- More height
- Lift more with body, reach with arms

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- Improved weight placement
- Devloppé is higher
- presentation/confidence improving slightly
- Need to make sure arms come through first before arabesque

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Before starting this course in September I had never previously done any ballet, so I focussed throughout the year slightly more on that than jazz and contemporary which I've done before.

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- improved the shape of the rond de jambe

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- Improved, foot is now getting right behind and in front of the supporting leg.
- Make sure foot is fully pointed after striking the floor

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REBECCA CAINES

Student number - 1705868

Date of submission - 16th April 2018

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- Using the floor more (but could still use it more)
- No longer have weight on big toe

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Since fridays contemporary classes are more about trying different choreography, I use this to try to work on my performance/quality of my movement. From watching the 2 videos below I think I could definitely try to be more experimental and work on the textures of my dancing.

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Barre work - 54
Adage/Port de Bra - 55
Pirouettes - 55
Petite Allegro - 54
Grand Alegro - 56
Retention skills/unseen material - 54
Anatomical awareness and use of correct muscles - 55
Commitment and progression - 68

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One of the main things I need to work on in contemporary is quality of movement as I often keep it too safe and plain. I need to use my face more and add some style into the excersize by exploring different textures and see what works.

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Isolations - 60
Travelling - 63
Turns - 65
Extension - 56
Arm line - 60
Elevation - 60
Retention - 62
Musicality and dynamics - 64
Performance and style - 56
Commitment and progress - 66

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I can see from this video that my arms are only losing their strength during the turning section, particularly the saut de basque, therefore I need to make sure I'm extra aware of my arms whilst turning and not just thinking about my feet/legs.

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- Keep arms strong
- Overall needs more attack

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After formative assessments, I began to work harder on my flexibility since extension was one of my lowest marks. I've started to focus more on my splits to help with this. My right leg split has been flat for a long time however I have always struggled with my left leg, so I need to do some extra stretching to get it equal with my right.

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- focus on weight placement (balance near beginning)
- work on presentation

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- Make sure foot is fixed to knee in retiré position

I have started doing this exercise whenever I have the chance and want to practice turns and have noticed over time it has made a big difference and my turns have become a lot stronger and more consistent.

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- Make sure working leg reaches right behind me before bringing it through first. Same with letting it reach right to the front before taking it around.

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- Could use the floor more (which is why I chose to do this class in socks as I find it easier to work on this in socks than in ballet shoes).
- ensure there's no weight on big toe

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- Make sure the foot passes fully either size of the ankle on the doubles

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- improved with foot being higher o the knee
- arms still need work, arabesque line is too high
- need to make sure I land turns in 4th with back heel down

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- Need to get foot higher on the knee in retiré
- Really pull up supporting leg
- Need to work on arms as I'm turning in jazz first

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This video is from the very first week of the year and I feel as though I started off quite strong. I can definitely tell from this video that performance is something that's lacking for me, however my dynamics are on the stronger side. My technique needs refining a bit as it's been a few years since I last did jazz, but I feel confident about the year at this point.