What I missed was my peers going over all of our ballet technique that we have learnt so far this year, practising for our assessment in February.

To catch up, I am going to ensure that I am going to watch the videos took this lesson and go over the techniques myself at home to make sure that I am still up to date and have knowledge on the general idea of the assessment.

What I missed was my peers going over all of our tap technique that we have learnt so far this year, practising for our future assessment.

To catch up, I am going to ensure that I am going to watch the videos took this lesson and go over the techniques myself at home to make sure that I am still up to date and have knowledge on the general idea of the assessment.

What I missed was my peers learning the first small part of what is going to be essential within our future jazz assessment.

To catch up, I am going to ensure 100% that I am going to watch the videos took this lesson and go over the techniques learnt today myself at home to make sure that I am up to date and have knowledge on the general idea of the assessment so I am not falling behind everyone else.

In our lesson today, we starting learning the choreography for the number 'Money, Money' and we ran through what we previously set of 'Willkommen' and then also adding onto the choreography.

One challenge and some feedback that I faced today, is something I would like to improve on for the future. And that is being able to portray 'Bob Fosse' feet quick within a dance. Bob Fosse has a specific and unique style of movement which is reflected through most parts of Cabaret, therefore it was set within the number 'Money, Money' today. However, when I went to step into it and then out extremely quick, I seemed to have struggled. This means that I would love to quickly work on this to be able to perfect it for the performance and in future productions. I plan to do this by mainly focusing on going over what we choreographed today for 'Money, Money' as being able to nail that small part of dancing will guide me through future Bob Fosse setting.

In my opinion, I feel like I know what I am doing in all of the jazz numbers, its just often I would find it difficult to recall what movement is next. This means that I am still going to go over these videos in my own time to maintain them in my mind so when it comes to the assessment, I can use my muscle memory to do it perfectly and effectively.

• Add more technique learnt in year 1

• Portray more emotion through face

• Make sure I am pointing my toes

• Use the music more to choreograph

• Lovely tempo

• Great use of levels

• Great capture of emotion in some parts

• Don’t show when I mess up

• Try not to lose character throughout

• Maintain strong arms

• Good use of techniques

• Great facial expression

• Great pointed toes

Improvements:

• Don't lean forward as much in Grande Plie

• Don't make it obvious when making a mistake

Improvements:

• Try not to lean forward when going to the back

• Keep strong arms throughout

• Focus on maintaining posture

Improvements:

• Work on effortlessly going into fifth position

• Make head and arm movements look more natural and flowy

Improvements:

• Remember when I am going to the back

Improvements:

• Wear correct uniform

• Point toes more

• Look presentable and ready at the start and end

Peer Feedback:

• Go over the routines

• Don’t show on face when messing up

• Go into it with confidence

The theme/mood that I want for my solo is progression, portraying how within the story she starts off with self doubt and hatred and then grows to believe that she should be loved for who she is, not who others want her to be.

The structure is that I want it introduced in a way to reflect the emotions, so start on the floor to show that sadness and hate. Then the development to be a sort of pulling force to get me off of the floor but at the same time, I still have something pulling me down. The climax is going to be when I finally beat the allegations and eventually stand up and make my ballet technique movements big and proud. Lastly, the conclusion is going to be soft and reflective to close the piece in a nice and calm way to really make the audience think back to how they can relate to my piece.

Some movements that I would like to include are techniques such as; Plies and Releves to express my elevation and grounding at the same time, Extensions and various stances to really specify the form and grace, Jumps like jetes and sautes to add contrast and dynamics, Turns to showcase control, balance and difference within my piece.

My rehearsal plan is practicing often to not lose the techniques and musicality so that the performance quality is spot on, and if it's not I need to review and adjust is needed.

I am going to plan transitions between certain movements within my solo to maintain a smooth flow. Therefore, adding floor work and travelling can connect specific sections and steps so they don't feel odd.

Each time I perform drafts of my solo to my peers and tutor, I plan to write down and take on every bit of feedback so that I can build upon it and construct.

Finally, expression and performance. Expressing emotions through face and body language can be the most crucial element of performances. So I am going to focus on the use of my arms to enhance the story.

Inspirations:

The song that I have chosen for my ballet solo is 'Greatest Showman: This Is Me (Warm-Up)' - Nate Fifield. The reason that I chose this song is because when watching the musical, I feel that I can really connect with this song and the emotions portrayed within in. Therefore, in my opinion I can significantly create an amazing piece to connect with the audience as much as I did.

• Engage arms and face more

• Rely on my confidence more rather than just my teacher in front of me

• Don't look at feet in the mirror and show more face

• Stop looking down at feet during routines, makes it look like I am not confident in what I am doing

• Work on adding the arms without looking awkward

• Much better than previous weeks

• Keep on practising and will become perfect

• Great feet, carry on working on face expressions

• Work on placement of my weight - lean forward

• Keep the rhythm

• Relax my ankles

• Slow down

• Slow down

• Use arms more for balance

• Portray determination within face to keep audience entertained

• Make sure I am hitting every beat

• Lean forward more to maintain balance and articulation

• Stop skipping steps within combinations, just slow down and hit every beat

• When messing up, carry on, don't just stop and laugh

• Produce clean tap sounds which is much more appealing than sloppy speed tapping

• Allow my legs to do all of the work, let my feet just follow along

• I need to work on trying to hold most of my weight forward when tapping, balancing on the balls of my feet

• I need to try and not get carried away with my own tap sounds, and listen to the music

• Remember that tap requires a lot of practice, patience and determination, so I need to stop beating myself up when something goes wrong

• Make sure I am keeping in time with the music

• Instead of getting ahead, keep with the music

Today we ran through techniques included in our upcoming ballet assessment, these were: Plies, Battement Tendu (Weight Change), Battement Frappe, Pirouettes, Adage and Petit Allegro. As well as these, we additionally learnt some brand new exercises that will also be apart of our assessment, these were: Grande Battement, Chaines, Balance and Grande Jete.

A certain challenge and something I would like to improve on was the Balance exercise. This is because it was a lot faster then I realised, therefore when performing it with the music the first time, it really caught me off guard which then made me lose myself for the entire piece.

Some constructive feedback from one of my peers was to relax my shoulders more during routines. To guide me through this, I am going to practice ballet in my own time but doing this looking into the mirror from the side so I can see when I am tensing my shoulders and get used to the feeling of them being relaxed. Therefore, hopefully by our next ballet lesson, i will have the shoulders and arms perfect.

What we did in the lesson today was focus on learning a lot of exercises for our jazz assessment coming up in the future, so we can straight away start practising these in our own time. As well as this, we went on to run through the routine from last week, and even though I was absent from this lesson, my hard work learning this routine in my own time really paid off.

One area of improvement from today is being able to remember the techniques that we learnt within our first year at college. I spotted this when our tutor wanted us to go through a dance we did at the end of last year but it was like I had forgotten everything which significantly upset me.

Looking at turns, my peers advised me to work on my balance, as when turning, I sometimes lose my balance which then messes up the rest of the combination. This means, i am definitely going to prioritise my turning and not stop rehearsing it until I maintain my balance and posture which will optimistically be for our next jazz class.

An overall of what we did in our rehearsal today was we completed a physical warm up, led by one of our choreographers, Mia. We then went on to run through Don't Tell Mama, which we then started setting and staging, also changing a few bits of choreography. After, we ran through what we had so far done of Money, Money and carried on learning the choreography taught by two of our choreographers Katie and Ella.

An area of improvement that I encountered today (from myself and my peers) was that towards the end of our rehearsal, I started to get tired which guided me to quickly lose my motivation. This is not good enough as this will overall effect my pick up abilities and the level that I am dancing, also, in the performing arts industry, my future will be full of more stressful and exhausting experiences against what I did today. Therefore, looking forward to our next rehearsal, my goal is to stay connected and attentive for the entirety of the lesson to maintain great practice.

• Stronger arms

• more confident on the movements

• Stretch more as I know I can kick higher

• Work on balance

• Same improvements as above

• Connect with the music more

• Work on body isolations

• Work on transitions

• Work on strength and flexibility which will eventually help me control my movements more

• Observe my dance teacher more when she is doing example so ensure that I know exactly what I am doing

• When I have an opportunity to perform, always take it

• Don't give up when I go wrong!

What we did today was run vocals for Willkommen and Money. We then started the vocals for Cabaret and Don’t Tell Mama. Later, we choreographed more of our first long number, Willkommen and after this we moved onto a director session where we all sat down with our chosen directors and discussed our individual scenes.

The only challenge I faced personally myself today, and it was additionally constructive feedback given, was during our sing through of my song Cabaret, during the line - ‘When I saw her laid out like a Queen’ - I needed to be in my head voice and make it more gentle as I went into it as if it was a belt. Therefore, before our next vocal run next week, I plan to continuously practice this song in my own time, as I want to be able to perfect it and polish it off as soon as possible which will then prove to my peers and my tutor that I can be trusted with the feedback that they are giving me.

In todays tap class, we went over in small groups what we have learnt so far for our assessment a few times each to apply improvements from our peer assessment and proof that we are working on it at home.

Some feedback from my peers and also an area of improvement is again articulation when tapping each area of my foot as they are struggling to hear the difference from my heel and my toes which is crucial if I want to go further in my tap dancing career.

I am going to take on this feedback and try my best to nail it by next lesson, I am planning to do this by consistently going over the routines at home and just focus on the noise I am making with my feet until it is perfect and I need no improvement.

What we did today was we went over all of the routines and techniques we have learnt for our assessment so far an d after this we learnt a new routine that was focusing on turns and specifically the control of them.

A particular challenge that I came across today spotted by me and also my tutor, was during the new routine, and that was that I found the difference between learning it slow compared to how fast it was when the music started really difficult.

I am confident in myself that I will be able to easily improve this by the nest session, by just frequently going over it at home with the music, therefore I will be able to keep up with the counts and additionally apply the correct techniques.

Today we focussed on continuing Willkommen choreography (choreographed by Mia) and cleaning Don't Tell Mama (choreographed by Phoebe and Scarlett). We also participated in a warm up led by two of our choreographers - Ella and Katie. This included various stretching exercises and cardio to warm us all up correctly for the physical aspects of the two dances we ran today.

The only obstacle that I came across for myself, was a new part of Willkommen that was taught today. I found this specific section fairly fast and difficult to pick up, along with the entire class, therefore it was some feedback from our choreographer Mia that we all go home and practice that count of eight in our own time to insure we don't waste precious rehearsal time.

This implies to me significantly because I am a perfectionist. So in my own time, before our next Willkommen run through, I am going to ensure that I make this section flawless with no mistakes.

Due too our assessment coming up very quickly, we went over every routine that we have learnt (including our ballet solos) ready for the upcoming two weeks.

Feedback received from my tutor and my peers, was my challenge with forgetting to spot on my turns. However, towards the end of the class, because I reflected on this improvement, I found myself being able to turn more with ease due to the constructive feedback to think about when it comes to doing a turn.

Finally, for the assessment I plan to portray more emotion and focus on my face during the dances as at the moment I find myself looking fairly confused and scared which cannot happen in two weeks time. Also, remembering to spot and keep my eyes up so the audience does not lose focus and attention in what I am doing.

What we did today was go over each jazz number we have so far learnt and get assessed by one of our peers. The peer that assessed me was Rachel, see feedback below. As well as this, we were taught a new routine - Tendu's.

An area of improvement for myself from my teacher and I would be to not give up completely when I do something small wrong. For example, during the Tendu exercise, the Glise's and the arms at the same time really got me confused and I struggled to pick it up. However, just because this miniature part of the routine was an obstacle, does not mean I should have gave up the way that I did as I felt defeated, but I could have so easily picked it back up again quickly afterwards.

This feedback guides me to have the goal to work on having more confidence in myself and not beat myself up and get embarrassed when something goes wrong, no matter how big or small it is.

• Good use of head

• Good face - suited the piece

• More flow within arms

• Use every count and don't rush

• Great face

• Spot when turning

• Good point

• Follow through the floor with feet

• Strong arms

• Nice Releve

• Good concentration but show more character

• Good height

• Tighter changement position (3rd/5th)

• Use arms more to help

• Nice travelling

• Don't lean back in turns

• Nice finish

• Good choreography retention

• Travel more

• Great height

• More face

Solo:

• Great face! Portrayed emotion well

• Good flow

• Great show of flexibility

• Nice use of technique

• Spot on all turns!

Plies:

• Contract more

• Go over the arms

• Head down in flatback position

• Great choreography retention

• Good retention of going straight into the left side

• Good face but give more

• Keep leg turned out

Tendu:

• Go through the floor more

• Good timing

• Flex the foot when need to be flexed

• Go over the choreography slightly

Kicks:

• Lovely confidence and performance

• Good choreography retention

• Remember the Develope

• Brilliant - just refine certain points

Therefore, because of this we spent the entire session learning more choreography for the song so we can start cleaning and making the performance look perfect.

The only room for improvement from today is one of the dance moves that I got stuck on. This was when we went down on our knees and span to the other direction which I found slightly challenging and it took me a small amount of time to pick up. However, by going over it a few times slowly, my choreographers were proud of the way I managed to rapidly fix my issue.

For the next dance session, my plan is to recall and perform to my best ability what we constructed today, as it was a lot to remember.

As a summary, we got split into two groups, I was in group one, so we went first. We completed all of the centre exercises all together, and then we moved on to our across the floor pieces that we did solo. After both group one and group two had completed this, we all lined up outside and went in one at a time to perform the choreography '42nd Street' piece by ourselves.

Unfortunately I did not receive any constructive feedback from my peers as it was the assessment, however, I encountered for myself that I need to work on my articulation when I am tapping as sometime I lose confidence and you cannot really hear what I am doing.

This is my main objective to go over myself at home to be ready and able to achieve what is wanted in my future tap classes.

Today was our peer assessment and my peer was Ella. In two groups, we went up and performed the routines that we have learnt so far, including our Musical Theatre choreography and our Lyrical routine that we learnt today, all assessed by our peers.

One piece of feedback from my peer, and a challenge that I also stumbled across, was expressing face when dancing. As I was concentrating so hard on all of the techniques, I fount it difficult to convey facial expression.

Due to this, my plan is by our assessment next week, have all of the routines perfect and I have memorised them so well that I can focus on performing rather than what move comes next.

5 - Excellent, 1 - Needs to improve

Skill:

• Alignment - 4

• Strength - 3

• Flexibility - 5

• Musicality, rhythmic accuracy - 4

• Choreography Retention - 3

• Dynamics - 3

Presentation:

• Concentration - 3

• Energy - 5

• Confidence - 3

• Movement quality - 3

Professionalism:

• Punctuality - 5

• Correct uniform/hair - 5

• Effort - 5

Improvement:

• Assimilation of corrections - 4

• Improvement of technique - 4

• Improvement of performance quality - 4

Plie Combination:

• Good first and parallel positions

• Head down in flat back

• Bend standing leg more in pirouette prep

• Good timing

• Keep feet hip width

Tendu Combination:

• Use more face

• Go over what feet comes after what

• Pointe more

Kick Combination:

• Remember back kick

• Use only one hand during the illusion

• Point whilst doing the hitch kick

• Learn left side

• Straighten the standing leg when doing a side kick

Pas De Bourre:

• Remember to spot

• Use more face

• Have more confidence as I know what I am doing

Grande Jete:

• Straighten front leg

• Use arms to help

Travelling Sequence:

• Straighten legs

• Good face

• Bend back more in barrel turn

Musical Theatre Choreography:

• Great energy

• Good eyeline throughout

Lyrical Choreography:

• Great flow of movements

• Push arms more

• Remember the leap

After going over Willkommen a few times, we finally finished learning the choreography! We then went on to begin cleaning Money, Money.

One obstacle I would like to soon get over, and something from my choreographers, would be getting confused what way I am facing during some parts of the dances. I need to remember that the audience is all around us and there is no front. This could be helped by next session, I need to not be aware of what someone else is doing around me as this could really throw me off and I could begin to copy them, I just need to be confident in what I am doing as I know it.

A brief overview of how the exam was laid out is that we were examined in small groups and our teacher chose random ballet exercises for us to perform for her, to prove that we know every practice and not just a select few. After completing our centre and bar exercises, we then went outside and came in one by one to perform our ballet solo's for her that we have choreographed ourselves.

The only challenge that I came across today was being placed at the end of the bar by my teacher as that is where I am in the register, this meant that everyone was behind me. This fact was fine but it slightly threw me off that they all might have been looking at me which made me fairly nervous.

In future Ballet assessments, I need to significantly focus on myself and only what I am doing because if I continue concentrating on everyone else behind me, it is going to mess me up even more when I know exactly what I am doing, and I need to trust that.

So, what happened today was that we were divided into two groups and we all completed all of the Jazz routines, including all of the centre and all of the across the floor/travelling exercises. Finally, after this we each chose one of the choreographies that we preferred, between the Lyrical routine or the Musical Theatre routine (I chose Musical Theatre) and we each came in one at a time and performed this to out teacher, including freestyle at the end of the choreographed dance.

I am overall confident with the way that I performed today in Jazz, the only mishap I would say was the Kick Combination where in one of the legs, I turned the wrong way which confused me for the remainder of the combination, making me panic.

In future Jazz assessments, I rapidly need to learn that when something goes wrong, CARRY ON!! Because as long as I am conveying determination and effort to the examiner, they will not care if I messed up on one small kick or turn etc...

Today we made a start on our main dance number in Cabaret, Kickline, which is mainly choreographed by our dance teacher Jasmine.

A specific area of improvement and also feedback received was for my ability to stay on the counts. As the dance contained a lot of cannons, staying on our own counts was fairly challenging and we all kept missing a count which them messed everyone else up along the line.

For our next session on Kickline, I would love to take this feedback and apply it to my dancing as staying with the counts is extremely professional and will guide me through this fast number easily.

I have been placed stage left at the front.

A clear threat from today was not being able to learn this choreography very easily due to limited space at home but I still managed to get the hang of the steps and a general idea of what I am doing for next weeks rehearsal.

A strength from todays rehearsal was being able to confidently walk into the dance studio knowing the choreography from last week even thought I wasn’t present due to absence. And even because of this fact, I learnt everything I needed to know at home so I could come into college today and prove my determination to my dance teacher.

However, I did struggle with this new piece of choreography as there is a roll on the floor into a barrel jump. I found this fairly difficult which made me start to give up and get annoyed with myself. This was not ideal at all as to be able to eventually get the steps, I had to keep trying and not give up.

At the end of the video I am the girl who ends up stage right at the front.

What I feel like went well today was how much I enjoyed learning this section on the dance, and because I enjoyed it so much made me get so much motivation towards learning and completing it as quick as possible to make life easier for my tutor.

On the other hand, on the beginning steps, where we cross over our feet, people began to get confused and didn’t even cross their feet over which then messed up the rest of the cannons and visuals. Go solve this we went over this section over and over again to ensure we had it nailed in our minds and what we are doing with both our legs and arms.

What I was most pleased about today was when I was chosen to be one of the five that do a calypso and split jump in the dance. This proved to me that my dance teacher has trust in me to put on a good show and practice until I am perfect.

However, today I completely forgot the start of the dance which you can see in some of the videos, I did practice and go over them at home but when the music starts, its like I forget it. To overcome this, I am going to practice with my peers and maybe my tutor by myself so I can become confident with it and I can do it with the music perfectly.

What went well for me today was how quick my pick up was for the new tap sections, and due to this, our choreographer put me at the front which I am insanely delighted with. Being at the front also inspires me to continue being this rapid with pick up so I can always feel ecstatic and proud like I did today.

Unfortunately, what I need to desperately work on is the first verse right at the start of the entire number. No matter how much I find myself going over this verse at home, I am still finding it increasingly difficult when I take it into a rehearsal room. Therefore, I need to change my way of thinking and rehearsing by maybe asking for private help from my peers around me.

What went well today was that for the entirety of the dance I recalled and remembered every little detail and step we working on during cleaning. Unfortunately, I am injured so I could not go as full out as I would usually want to. This then led to me losing motivation and I was frightened to put full effort into my work as I was worried I was going to course more injury to my injured knee.

What was successful about this was that we can now all clearly see how much more we all need to spread out and be spatially aware. This additionally means for future rehearsal sessions for N Dance, we can have the bigger picture in the back of our minds to ensure we don't just get too used to the dance studio.

Unfortunately, as it was our first time in this larger area, it did throw a lot of us off and caused people to not come on stage at all because they felt as if they didn't know what they were doing. This is exactly why we are doing these practises in the larger performance space so that this exact disaster does not happen on show day!

Unfortunately, due to injury, I was unable to join in for our NDance session today. However, I still attended and reviewed my peers on what they were completing and their progress to give my personal feedback.

What I think went well for my peers today was their ability to listen to instructions and adapt to what they need to clean as I saw that everyone was determined to take on these improvements and change rapidly if needed.

Improvements I reflected to my peers was that they all needed to work as a team and be more in sync because at the moment they are all looking like they hate each other and dancing individually rather as a group, which is the entire point of this song and the musical behind it.

When group two go off stage, I spotted that they were not all straightening their arms enough, the pre-chorus needed to travel more when coming on as those who are stage left were late and finally, I suggested that they all need to know the counts and listen to the music as it is a lot slower that everyone thinks so they need to stop panicking and rushing.

An advantage today was our attention to enhance our performances by putting 100% focus towards our choreographer. However, after watching back the videos, I feel as if not all of us took the notes into mind and carried them to the final run through to create the polished piece.

All together, the rehearsal was much needed as we all know where we need to put our focus into for the final performance next week.

A massive goal for myself today was also my ability to express emotion to make every single visual compelling and that it suited the dances mood to hint to the audience the correct feelings.

Throughout the session, as the weather was hot, we all began to get tired and lethargic. However, I managed to maintain the energy and great excitement to try my best to lift everyone else's moods back up.

What I would like next time my work is being filmed is the contrasting depths to the performance and make myself more exciting for the camera.

Overall I believe today was a success and my presence really lifted our production and if I continue my training with effort, I will grow even stronger.