·       Jazz age to Disco 

·       Ballroom Vogue 

·       Futuristic/out of body/quirky 

Through equal parts discussing openly, we quickly found the futuristic, quirky theme pulled us in more, and felt individually we could express ‘a’ vision – whatever that may be. Melle then went on to introduce us to an artist called FKA Twigs, specifically a music video called Eusexua. We were all super intrigued by FKA Twigs use of movement, clothing, and surroundings, and we all got excited about using this style of stimuli for our piece. 

In today's session, we really wanted to pin down what exactly our plan was for the piece. Obviously, we had a vague idea visually of what we wanted to create, but nothing solid for a theme or storyline. Therefore, we began with brainstorming. It was hard to begin with, some people were getting frustrated due to not understanding people’s points of view for a concept, so we really had to work on our communication. Eventually, after our teacher came down and spoke with us, along with talking and talking till we reached mutual idea points we wanted to, we started to create a storyline. 

We have a 'main character', time traveller, who gets sucked into a potential future. We have divided the piece into our time traveller being sucked into the world, fashion and expression, human connection, power, and class and ending on technology. I feel confident on the format, although slightly nervous to begin as I feel there is a slight clash in communication/what the intention is in the group. Some people clearly want a commercial fashion theme, while others want it to be quirkier like we originally discussed. However, now we have divided the sections, we each have a specific part we will lead on - as well as still having group contribution. Therefore, homework for next week is to find music ideas for my section which is power and class. 

It went smoothly, I feel that we understand our group concept way more, as well as inspirations and stimuli we want to incorporate. Reflecting on the turbulence of last week with not understanding everyone’s intentions, I feel as a group we really respect each other, so we focused on understanding everyone today. Therefore, I feel solid in our ideas, just worried about the timeframe of getting it to Jasmin within two days. 

For the reading week, we need to each figure out exactly what we want from our section as well, which is key for me to understand what I want to say/create/do in my section confidently. 

I feel that we understand our group concept now, and what we want to portray to the audience. Finishing the creative brief as well, everyone got super excited about it which was brilliant to feel as a collective!

Eve also started mixing music as well, and Melle got another mood board going for costumes as she said she was heading that. We’re in a solid place for our 4^th session, so leaving today feeling positive on the direction we’re heading in.

― George Orwell, 1984

“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”

― George Orwell, 1984

“Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull. ”

― George Orwell, 1984

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.”

― George Orwell, 1984

“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”

― George Orwell, 1984

Then we split off and finalised our sections music and story line, which has really helped me to visualise in my mind what I want to create. I experimented with some movement but felt overwhelmed with the noise and amount of music in the room, as I didn't bring my headphones with me! Hindsight for next session. 

Then Ollie taught us the first 25 seconds of his piece, which was super exciting as the choreography is solid as well as the formatting. It's a strong beginning and I can't wait to continue! 

It was meant to be a ballet class, but it got cancelled so we got to have an extra rehearsal which was brilliant. I got started on some choreography that I liked and want to set for the piece, and we also finished Ollie's section which feeds into Lola and Emma’s. So the introduction to our piece is done which considering we got it done it two session is pretty good for the group moral and feeling that we are on top of things.

• harsh

• intense

• blinding

• stark

• unfeeling

 I feel a lot of pressure having an entire section to choreograph on my own, whereas others have partners, its only me, Ollie and then Melle that have their own sections. A big part of the stress I feel is because I'm new to this group and people - last year FDAs and BAs were kept separate and from my experience last year the teachers compared our groups and made the FDAs look up to the BAs quite a lot, so I’ve been struggling slightly with self-confidence and being sure of myself and what I have to offer since being moved up. Although this does create motivation to create something that will showcase my ideas, I do have real anxiety to choreograph and make this section.

Either way, after having a chat with both Bee and Jasmin, I did some mind mapping and slowed my process down. I spent time just sitting and really trying to work out what I wanted from the piece. This did help my brain and anxiety. After a quick 15-minute break, we went into our final hour and a half of the session, and I called Summa over to learn what I had done so far. Summa was really grounding to work with, and gave brilliant feedback and ideas, as well as saying in a frank way that I am overthinking it a tad and need to go with the flow more and the visuals rather than just bashing out 8s. I feel so much better from that and showing it to one person in my group and getting feedback and validation in what I've created so far. Although I'm still feeling anxiety, I do feel better in my vision and teaching it to them soon. 

I’m incredibly grateful to Summa, Jasmin and Bee for taking the time with me today, it meant a lot!

I feel like I’ve got a clearer picture compared to last week of what I want from my section, but I’m still nervous as struggle to visualise what it’ll look like on other people.

Towards the end of the session we learnt the beginning part of Jessie’s and Summa’s which was good! I’d already learnt Summa’s bit when we had independent rehearsal but it was nice to see it in the formation to see the vision

I’m happy it’s taught, as it’s one less stress and we learnt and did it all in one session which was perfect 🙌

Link to the video for my section:

https://youtu.be/MhlnSybGb-Y?feature=shared

Just to preface, we have had two other sessions this week, however, we were mainly focusing on planning and the theory side of this project!

However, on Thursday, in Yaz’s commercial we asked for the session to be devices and then at the end did a 'show and tell' of what we had choreographed so far. I think for my group they felt disheartened as we don't have all the transitions sorted compared to the two other groups we watched, where it all flowed a lot better - but I feel that that was good to see so we could suss out where we were. However, Yaz's feedback was that it was difficult to follow in storyline, so in this 4-hour session on the 15th we sat down and decided we weren't happy with the piece. We got Jasmin to watch it, give her thoughts - which were it isn't clear and doesn't feel that it flows as a cohesive piece. We re-jigged the storyline, so now it's that Eve and Melle are trying to find a connection IN a militaristic future, with Ollie being the dictator. 

From there, we reordered the beginning, and started a completely new section that goes into that - writing up a new story. Although we started off stressed, we are feeling much more solid on the concept and content, but now need to play catch up!!!! 

we finished our:

·       music 

·       costumes 

·       timeline 

·       storyline 

All our classes got cancelled, so we basically spent from 13:00-18:00 on the piece. We now only have 30 seconds left to choreograph, and it flows nicely. I feel like in our sessions it’s an open safe space for communication, with everybody's feelings being valid, and the vibes being positive. Therefore, we get a lot done! We rewrote the storyline again, thanks to Ollie who has a strong vision for what he thinks it should be now. Especially finishing the music, it’s a clear vision for what we want.

I’m just so happy my group values everyone’s input, even if what people are saying is confusing, we always take a minute to unpack it. I feel like every single person has had a say and it’s tried out before we make an opinion. Today has been truly enjoyable.

Once we had showed it to her, her feedback was super positive! She loved the changes we made and thinks it’s got a lot of potential that we are using - as well as thinking outside the box with movement ideas and intentions. Jasmin suggested we have almost a preface section at the beginning introducing the characters of Melle and Eve - Ollie as dictator. We are taking that on board to add, but it was just lovely to see that she was enjoying what we created. Her feedback and ideas are so valued to us, we’ve written it down and will enter the next session with the intention of going off her notes.

·       send lighting plan to Bee 

·       send music to Jasmin 

·       figure out what we have left and do it! 

Safe to say first two goals got completed, with the third goal half-way completed…

After counting the music, we found we had two eights of transitional music, six eights of choreography, then three eights before going into the ending which we choreographed yesterday.  

Although we managed to roughly complete it, it was the first session where I felt we were stressed as a group, and therefore ideas weren't flowing as smoothly as usual. I believe a massive reason why was because of the two other groups with us, it was incredibly noisy with music and people not being considerate with noise levels, making it difficult to even hear each other talk. 

However, we managed to roughly complete the amount we had left, so for tomorrow I'm hoping we can polish that. 

We had a session where we cleaned what we had, as well as joining the duo and trio into the main choreographed sections. Feels so much better now we’ve cleaned it and performing it in its entirety.

We did have a slight scare, as poor Ollie injured his ankle in company last night! However, he is an absolute troper, and took it easy throughout the day so he could perform it later in the showcase.

Then we had a showcase 18:30-21:00, where everyone got to show their pieces in the order it’ll be in. I L O V E D seeing how creative everyone was, and the support in the room was out of this world!! And then getting to perform ours last was amazing, genuinely we have so much respect for each other as group, and love the piece so much, that it just feels wonderful to perform something that we’ve put a lot of blood sweat and tears into.

We only have a small section left to choreograph, so we will crack on with that and then we’re done! I can’t lie, it’s quite clean already so I don’t think we will have to spend hours on it next week, mostly the last section if anything.

Very excited for the show run tomorrow :)

We came in around 16:30, and spent an hour cleaning the piece a final time. The ‘battle’ scene at the end that Jasmin suggested we change/make the heads more obvious towards each other, we focused on.

We changed the directions on certain sections, as well as heads - so it looks way more interesting now. We also changed the levels on the Feminine Energy beginning, for the runway that Ollie walks through. It goes from low-medium-high.

Overall, solid changes were made and we are all feeling super confident and excited

A brilliant day performing with truly talented people, showcasing what we all worked hard on in a lovely environment.

We had a tech run in the morning, and it went very smoothly. Then we did a costume run, and it also went well for us. The lighting sheet we gave was followed to a T, so we didn't need to change or stress about that either. Overall, the feedback we got from everyone, as well as watching back the footage from the runs filled us with excitement.

With the show completed, our principle Sue said our piece was her favourite and has the potential to be in another show!! This made me so happy, as we all worked so hard during this process to create a piece that was individual and out of the box - that getting that recognition felt brilliant!

Appendix 2 - Preparing and Planning group work

Appendix 3 - Movement Reflection group work

Appendix 4 - My Section group work

Appendix 5 - Completion group work

Appendix 6 - Feedback group work

Appendix 7 - Show Day group work

Appendix 8 - Visual Mood boards group work

Appendix 9 - Brainstorming solo work

Appendix 10 - Mind Maps and Visuals solo work

Appendix 11 - Exploring Movement solo work

Appendix 12 - Binaural Beats solo work

Appendix 13 - Feedback solo work

Appendix 14 - Planning and Organising solo work

Appendix 15 - Filming solo work

Appendix 16 - Wrapping up loose ends solo work

I've started this process by just jotting down words or expressions that I am drawn to:

·       ripples through water

·       lighting

·       mirrors

·       not recognising yourself

·       self-hate

·       demon of comparison

·       dark and light

·       inside the brain

·       internal monologue

·       clouds

For this week I'm going to try and tunnel into each word that just came to me and see what concepts or thoughts I have surrounding them. 

This has helped, and I'm going back like last week to just finding media such as videos, images and sounds to inspire me this early on in the process rather than trying to put everything in a box right now.  

Jasmin went through all our key dates, and wrote a massive email full of everything that we need to check off our lists as we go along.

Therefore, after we did this, I took the time to update my action plan so I could have a clearer idea written down of what I need to achieve. I also explored more movement later in the week, focusing on simpler movements and holding the space with presence and calmness.

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my propositions. And some see no nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself." –William Blake

"Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has." –John Lubbock

"If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand.” –Buddha

I live in a very rural area surrounded by many lush forests, so on Monday the first thing I did was go round them all and decide which had the best filming location and energy that I want for the video. Equally, the composition of the trees and the popularity came into play as well. And then on Wednesday I went with my brother (who helped film) around 8am to the woods I decided on and spent a few hours playing with angles, footage and intentions. We had to leave by a certain time due to having other things happening during the day, however, doing it with my sibling who I'm very close with helped create the environment of safeness, and someone who understood want vision I wanted. Some things worked - others didn't - but it was so incredibly helpful to not be theorising about how it will visually come across and just experience and see it. I know what I want to create now, and with the mock footage I can begin to plan what shots I want.

I said to her how I was feeling slightly stuck - which is true! I feel like I got loads of footage but conflicted on how to use it all in the piece, and the flow of the video being relaxing but not boring. 

Therefore, the feedback and pointers I got were:

·       shots were it’s just me moving in nature, juxtapose with the same scene without me in it 

·       add moments of crazy as nature and humans are unpredictable, you never know what can happen 

·       being human in nature means vibes change mood changes depending on weather 

·       add even closer shots of my back and the similarities it must bark, continue to do so throughout. 

Therefore, I feel way less stuck now and understand what I need to do next. 

Therefore, this week I've been focusing on making a shorter presentation for the event, as well as finishing editing/choosing the final footage shots I want so far from my 1 minute and a half.

Overall goal is for the audience to feel incredibly relaxed

• growing

• slowness

• controlled movement

• specific intention of mimicking nature

• taking time

Also been researching Binaural Beats and the calming effect it has on the body! Taken this into play when free-styling

In our session with Jasmin, she suggested areas we could be working on as we've hit the 4-week mark now heading towards submission. She briefly mentioned making sure your contextual research was in-depth enough to inspire and make sense, which really got me thinking - I haven't written enough or placed down my thoughts on certain themes/facts that I want to use. Therefore, in this session I wrote a short essay on binaural beats, looking into the science behind them and then how they exactly connect to my piece. I feel so much clearer now that I've done this on my actual thoughts, rather than vague thinking’s that I've been basing it off. 

Scratch night was also a massive success. First off, amazing to see what everyone else had created! Second, I got such helpful feedback/pointers, as well as so much love and appreciation for what I've created so far. I tend to feel that my work isn't good enough, creative enough or anything enough to make sense or make people feel things - but doing this this evening has given me a newfound confidence and appreciation for the people I train with and my amazing teacher Jasmin. Some feedback/pointers I got from the session were: 

·       having moments of silence 

·       sounds of rain/storm/lighting 

·       overlaying images 

·       more reminiscent of leaves and fern 

·       get inspired by the movement of animals 

·       add a body of water to the film to break up the shots for the audience. 

So I’ll be going back home this weekend to implement these changes, and fingers crossed it rains.

I have sped up this video though so it's easier to watch.

In our session with Jasmin this week we got reminded of our 1,000 word reflective essay that's due with our padlet. So I went up to her and asked for a little recap on what's needed + the structure of it. Then got on with laying it out on a document and starting on what I want to include.

I've also booked a train ticket in the session to get home so I can continue filming this weekend and hopefully finish the video.

This weekend is all about using the notes from Scratch night, as well as personal feedback from Jasmin and Bee to collect - hopefully - all the footage I need for my video. Working with my brother who is filming it definitely makes a comfortable environment for experimentation of ideas, as well as reining in some of my slightly wacky ones that don't read very well.

I've edited and colour graded most, and I've just been experimenting with the editorial side of it, such as:

• slow mo

• sped up

• pixel transitions

• order of videos

I spent the first half of our class today editing and double checking transitions, as well as music. I changed the binaural beat track I originally chose to one that's slightly more bland in flow, in order to put the volume up on the clips of movement and nature. I felt that it needed to feel more connected in that aspect, and give it more dimension.

Then I showed it to Bee and it felt so good to see her enjoy my ideas and execution, as well as getting a bit of approval that I'm on the right track. Feedback that I did get though was:

• more gritty back movements with the shoulder blades

• with the braided tree, pan to me mimicking the tree, have more experimental movement choices

• the missing link is me and nature being intertwined

Therefore, my plan of action is to go home again this weekend and finish filming it on Saturday/Sunday, but I think in order to be more productive when I'm there and make sure I'm executing what Bee's said - I need to go in the studio and plan some motif movement/bits of choreography! So far it's all been freestyle and how it's felt in the moment, but now it needs more complex movement choices and intentions I believe I'm going to need to plan it and have ideas going into the filming session.

• me moving with nature

• gritty back movements

I really experimented with different angles of me with nature, and making more intricate patterns and shapes. I used a tree I saw that had braided intertwined twigs and leaves moving up the trunk, and then mimicked that with my arms. I felt that that was a useful motif, and helped me bounce off of replicating and mimicking things around me.

Also experimented with moving with the wind into a tree, I found a tree that had a perfect hip dip/indent that I could lean into, as well as a strong wind. Although I didn't want to go crazy with loads of new ideas I do believe I'm going to include this shot as I really connected with it. It felt like the wind was guiding me into the tree to meld with it - I don't know if that sounds crazy or not! But it felt very meant to be and intentional.

In my written reflection I've been struggling to stick to the word count but working hard to not waffle while keeping it detailed. Honestly, I wish it was 10,000 words long!!