WWRY dance evaluation

WWRY DANCE EVALUATION



Over the course of 4 performances of We Will Rock You, I was involved in many dance numbers including Another One Bites the Dust, Play the Game and Killer Queen. 





I was a Yuppie for Another one bites the dust, one of Killer Queen’s minions. The choreography was the same for every dancer as we wanted to portray the idea that Killer Queen has control over all of the Yuppies, in a robotic/non naturalistic way. Therefore unison and accurate timing is what was expected of us in this dance. For this dance I was expected to be fully in time with the music and with the rest of the dancers as this was the main way we showed our characterisation, through synchronisation. This gave the impression that all of the Yuppies were under the control of Killer Queen, almost brainwashed by her. This was also portrayed through our matching outfits- black short sleeved top, metallic sliver leggings and short blue wigs. 



WWW?- I feel as though as a whole, we worked well as an ensemble to create a believable image of robotic characters controlled by Killer Queen. Throughout I ensured that I held my body well by supporting my back and maintaining strong posture. This helped convey the idea that the Yuppies are impossibly perfect as they are robots and not real. I also really brought a lot of characterisation to the role; I used my knowledge of the meaning behind the song and how Killer Queen delivered her lines and interpreted it in a powerful and sassy way. To show this, I used my whole body when walking during the dance, making it into more of a strut like action, with my shoulders back, head held high and and body swinging in unison with my legs which were controlled. 



EBI?- If I could have improved on something looking back, I would have made sure that I was confident with the timing/ certain movement that I was required to perform in the middle of the dance number. This part saw all of us Yuppies on our knees and striking two positions. The first was on the knees with the body held up right and both arms out to the side as if hailing their Queen. The second was on the knees with the body lent over the legs with the hands splayed out on the floor, again as if hailing their Queen. For me the confusion came from changing the oder of movements and the timing a couple of times before we eventually set the final timing which was that every Yuppie would perform the same movement as the same time. I found it challenging to remember this as we have been rehearsing it with every other Yuppie in the line, doing the opposite movement to add extra effect by making the movements seems bigger. This would have drawn attention to the fact that the Yuppies were praising their Queen. However at the last minute we decided to change it so that the timing would be more simple as we were struggling to ensure everyone was doing the correct movement at the right time. For next time, I will be sure to recap over any chances or alterations which are made before the performance to ensure I am fully confident with all the movements I perform so I can commit to them all with out hesitation. 






For the ‘Killer Queen’ dance, I played a Yuppie therefore robotic like characterisation was expected of me. The same outfit was worn through out the performance, which helped portray the idea that all of the Yuppies were under Killer Queen’s control. This dance
captured the idea that Killer Queen’s minions, the Yuppies, have be almost programmed to support her, looking up to her as as their ‘God’. The lyrics in the songs such as “She’s guaranteed to blow your mind” and “extraordinarily nice” really portrayed the idea that the Yuppies are the Queen’s biggest fans and will do anything in their power to support and please her. We did some research into these lyrics through out the rehearsal process, fitting our movement ideas to the lyrics. For example “guaranteed to blow your mind” was fitting to the Yuppies grabbing their heads with both hands, one after the other and following this, shaking their heads as if they were showing what effect the Killer Queen will have on you.



WWW?- I feel as though I put all of my energy and effort into performing the movements to this dance. The move to were very fitting the the lyrics and in some places, visually illustrated the meaning behind them. For example “She’s a Killer Queen” was accompanied my the right hand moving across the neck in a ‘death action’ followed by both hands moving up to the top of the head, making  a crown shape. Also, “Gunpowder, gelatine” was accompanied my both arms shooting up, fully extended with the head following and then a side to side motion downwards, bringing the arms down in a ‘jelly like’ way as the body does so to. All of these movements would not look good if I have been doing them half heartedly as this would not have shown any enthusiasm or expression. I made sure I really threw myself into the movements by using my whole body and focus, making my performance believable and enjoyable for audiences to watch. 



EBI?- If I were to perform this dance again, I would add more audience interaction into the dance movement I performed. I would have done this by focusing more of the movements I performed, out to the audiences using rotation of my body and projection through facial expressions and body language. This is one thing which would have really pushed my overall performer quality up to the highest standard. 






For the dance to ‘Play the Game’ I was also a Yuppie. This dance followed on from Killer Queen, therefore the character stayed the same. This contrasts slightly to Killer Queen as it is more of a relaxed dance as it shows her softer and more sincere side. However saying this, the Yuppies are still there to portray the idea that she is their ‘owner’ and that anything she does, they will agree with and stand by her with. We choreographed slower movements to this song, to ensure the audience were able to distinguish between the two different moods behind the songs. We used gentle palm raises when Killer Queen would perform high/impressive notes, to show the Yuppie’s really appreciating her and making sure she is the centre of attention. 



WWW?- Something that went well for me during this dance was my use of focus, which I felt really brought my performance together. On lyrics songs by Killer Queen including “love” we performed a palm raise. Without using your head and following your hands with your eye line, this movement does not have the same effect. I made sure that I followed my eye line up with my hands each time I performed it as this adds a sense of professionalism to the dance and really polishes off your performances as a dancer. The use of eye line also adds meaning to the movement you are performing, almost as if it adds a sense of prestige to the movement which is a positive. 



EBI?- To improve on my performance if I were to do it again I would ensure I was fully confident with the lyrics to the song. On the whole I did know them however there were a couple of words which I would get mixed up, slightly throwing me off from concentrating on the movements I was performing. This only slightly effected my overall performance though, making me hesitate when transitioning between movements as I was trying to also concentrate on finding the correct lyrics. I will in future ensure I know every lyric I am singing, down to each minor detail.






Another dance I performed in was ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ however this time I played a Bohemian. They are a totally different type of character compared to the Yuppies. Where the Yuppies all hail the Queen and wear identical clothing, the Bohemians rebel against this ‘norm’ and wear whatever they please, putting together colours such as purple, red and green which all clash. They are also against the Killer Queen as they want to find where on Planet Mall living rock is hidden however Killer Queen does not want them to fins out and will do anything in her power to stop them doing so. This song is sung by Khashoggi who is the Killer Queen’s second in command. When she is not there, he deals with the Bohemians and passes on messages from Killer Queen to the rest of Planet Mall. The dance was based around the idea that all of the Bohemians will one day be caught out trying to find the living rock and sent to the SevenSeas of Rhye, where they will have their soul sucked out of them, never returning the Planet Mall again. The movement expected of me for this dance differs to the others. I was eXpected to act sloppy and lifeless with my movements, almost in a drunken manner. This really helped portray the idea that Khashoggi has the power and ability to take the life away from anyone who disobeys Killer Queen on Planet Mall.



WWW?- I feel as though I portrayed the character well by making my movements heavy. For example at the end of the song all of the dancers sing “Oh I do like to be beside the sea side, oh I do like to be side the sea” which is accompanied with all dancers sitting cross legged on the floor with both bands on their knees, palms facing upwards. I made sure that hunched my body over myself and also pulled a confused and dazed facial expression. This helped give off the impression that my character was drunk and really disoriented. 



EBI?- I feel as though this was the most under rehearsed piece of the musical. This is because when we had been choreographing and rehearsing the dance in the months leading up to the show week, we had been practising it with the backing track. When it came to rehearsing with the band, the music sounded really different to what we were used to dancing to. Luckily this was the only piece which was badly effected by this. The band played the piece a lot faster compared to the original soundtrack which initially put everyone’s movement out of time. When it came to the performances, each night the band played the song at slightly different times, which left us as performers in the deep end as it was difficult to work out the timing to the movement we knew so well on the spot. This has definitely taught us that for next time, we really need to address the switch over from rehearsing with backing track to live band at an earlier date. This will prevent timing issues from arising at the last minute, giving us all more time to get used to the new sound, making this mistake less likely to reoccur.





All of the above dances I took part in when I was off cast. When on cats, I played Scaramouche. In the dance to ‘Crazy little thing’, we did not have a lot of set choreography. Instead, we decided it would work best for the dance if we all improvised the movements as the style would have been difficult to set. The movement was jazz/swing like, everyone had a partner and performed  happy movements around the stage such as clapping, clicking, low turns, side steps and bounces. The idea behind these movements was to convey the idea of being extremely happy, finding love and sharing it with the world. For this style of movement, you really have to let your body be free and loose as a performer. You can not be stiff or shy away from any movements. I feel as though I was really strong at throwing myself into the character, naturally allowing my body to be fluid which complimented the movement style. I made sure I had a happy expression on my face at all times by smiling and really relaxing into the movement which made me seem confident and showed enthusiasm.
 

WWW- I made sure that I kept the movements going at all times, which made my performances look fluid through out. The challenge was that there was no set movements, they style of jazz and swing gave us the guidance as to what movements were expected of us. I made sure I was always confident when initially going to start a movement which ensured I did not look as though I was holding back or did not know what I was doing. I feel as though I had good extension through my legs when performing jazz like kicks, around in a circle whilst holding my partners arm. I also made sure I pointed my toes at the point of extension to make my performance look more rounded and professional. 



EBI- To improve in my performance in Crazy little thing, I would have utilised my partner in more of an effective way. Instead of dancing on my own for the majority of the time, I should have been doing more contact work with Luke, which would have really pushed the idea of portraying falling in love (Scaramouche and Galileo.) We would have put in a lift, I would have run up to Luke, jumped into his arms with a leg either side of his body, he would have moved his body forward and back, pushing me back and off onto the frown at the end. This is an intimate jump, showing their affection and is also a very jazz like jump, which would have added to the sense of community going on as everyone was performing the same style. We did originally plan to add in this lift however when it came down to actually performing the number, we found ourselves having a limited space to perform in, therefore we backed out. Looking back, spacial awareness and management is something else that I could have improved on in the dance. We should have had more rehearsal time in the performance space, which would have prevented a key movement from being missed out.