Unit 22: Movement in Performance

What is Unit 22?

Unit 22 of the BTEC LEVEL 3 National Extended Certificate in Performing Arts course is, as the title suggests, all about movement in performance. Now, as somebody who began studying dance as a subject around seven weeks ago, the idea of dance is a bit skewered; I cannot leap into the arms of a bare chested man with the grace of a swan; I cannot backflip of the beat of Kanye West's new song.

In short, the thought of just dancing in front of an audience is quite petrifying. However, as the Delivery Guidance suggests; learning the different styles of movement is relevant for both dancers and actors. So perhaps the course won't be as bad as I fear.

Unit 22 has four learning aims; A, B, C and D. Creative titles, I know. Nevertheless, I shall provide for you darling readers a short summary of each below.

Aim A: Theoretical and practical ways to think of movement. So, we could attempt to look at Laban notations, or work as a group to come up with as many movements to express a certain relationship or feeling. We will also focus on understanding RADS, which I'll go into more depth about later.

Aim B: Creating a performance out of stimulus items, such as poetry or art. As a poet myself, it would be interesting to potentially see one of my poems reinvented into a dance routine. It may be a tad controversial, however.

Aim C: The actual performance. Here at Sutton Community Academy, we are given various opportunities to perform. We have a Christmas Show, a Dance Festival, an annual Musical, a Summer Show. In short, we get to perform a lot. I've been acting and singing in these shows since I was 11. The only time I've danced has been for the school musical, yet it's safe to say that my singing has been a far superior skill. So, just dancing for an audience? A bit of a scary concept. Let's hope the butterflies don't start.

Aim D: Evaluating my work. The Delivery Guidance I have been given by my teacher, C, outlines the IMPORTANCE of self-critism and constant reflection.

The current reflection of my dance skills: God, should he exist, is currently weeping.

What I hope my dance skills will be like by May 2017: Billy Elliot, step aside. There's a new dancer on the block.

What's Important?

For Unit 22, I think that the most important element of this piece will be RADS. What on earth is a RADS, I hear you yell? RADS stands for Relationships, Action, Dynamics, Space. Simply marvellous, I know.

Relationships:

I like relationships; it's similar to drama in the sense that we often use proxemics to show relationships. Proxemics is the distance and height between people or maybe a person and a prop. Relationships hold a very similar place in my head to relationships in drama. So I'm pretty confident about this.

Actions:

I like actions, too. Walking gets me places, lifting up a sandwich to my mouth fills my hunger and hugging my loved ones gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that only a loved one can give you. And perhaps, at the end of this course, Jumping, turning, boxsteps and a leap can give me a feeling of freedom.

Dynamics:

How fast am I going? How long do I hold this for? Am I showing the right amount on energy? I'm expecting dynamics to confuse me. I'm also expecting myself to just get on with it. There isn't much else to say on dynamics; it's just speed and the way the move is performed.

Space:

Let's hope I don't end up knocking somebody's tooth out. Space. Space is good. It keeps you safe, allows you to feel comfortable, shows the audience how the dance is going to work. For example, if I stood in a straight line with my group to perform, it'd look a bit boring. However, if we changed the spacing between us, to a zig zag pattern... now, that's what I call excitement! Space in dance: not quite the final frontier, but pretty close to it.

Thoughts so far?

I think that Unit 22 will be fun, despite my lack of dancing skills. My class is full of supportive students and two understanding teachers who I know will not push me past my limits, and make sure that I am comfortable with everything. I hope that by the end of this course, I am able to look back and realise how much I've improved; not just with my dancing skills, but with my confidence, too

Bye!