Evaluation | My Site 2

This project has been a successful way in allowing me to dissect myself as a performer and analyze my skill set. I have though about my dream career and the roles that are included within that. I have also watched professionals performing in the shows I hope to be in one day and identified what skills they have that I will need. This helped to justify the skills I chose to work on as I can see how they will be applied within professional work. After identifying my chosen skills I set goals to keep on top of my progress, this also helped to keep me on track for achieving my end target. During the course of this training programme I have found that I have struggled to stay consistent with my motivation to complete my training sessions. However, I have also discovered that targets can be achieved with hard work and a routine. My training has taught me lots of valuable things that I will take with me throughout auditions for drama school and professional work. This will hopefully make me successful in gaining a professional career where I can apply what I have learned from this 6 weeks again.

Throughout this programme I have achieved many of my set goals and also hit extra goals along the way, this helped to give me extra motivation to carry on working in order to see more progress. An example of this was when I achieved my week 2 goal for flexibility of touching my feet with straight legs but also surpassed it by being able to pull be head towards my knees as well. This is evidenced in my videos for week 2. Even though this is only a small improvement it helped to motivate me as I began to see that my stretches were paying off. It also demonstrated to me that the stretch routine I calibrated for research and previous knowledge was having instant effects at improving the elasticity in my muscles, therefore improving my overall flexibility. I think it was good that I saw this extra goal being achieved early on into training my flexibility as it helped to show me how much this skill could improve after the entirety of the training programme.

After my first week of training the skill of ankle strength I realized that I was going to have to start from basics a lot more than planned. When completing a pirouette preparation exercise in week 3 it was clear that my first week of training hadn't helped to strengthen my ankles enough to carry out this exercise as I would have wanted. It is clear from my video evidence for this exercise in week 3 that I struggled to maintain a relivee without hoping or lowering my heel. This meant I had to refine and change my original plan for week 4 training sessions, to ensure I had worked on the basics. Even though this felt like a set back at first I was extremely relieved to see that this had definitely paid of when tried this exercise again in week 6. Video It was evident that spending a week focusing solely on the basics meant that the foundations were there which improved my execution of the exercise as a whole. This felt like a positive achievement as I chose to work on something I wasn't happy with rather than trying to move on from the foundations and hope it got better. This is a mentality that I will take with me into my long term goal of working professionally as it will demonstrate my willingness to work and my commitment to bettering my skills. In week 6 I have designated time to working on my tendue exercise from last week, I wanted to slow down the exercise in order to work through and see articulation from the feet. Video Video 2 I found this really useful as it really allowed me to feel the right position my foot should be in and demonstrated the effort level that is required in order to hit the positions. This also meant when I sped the exercise back up I could go of muscle memory to feel if I was creating the right movement with my feet.

Also in week 6 I achieved both of my goals set for the end of my training. This consisted of a relivee on each leg for 25 seconds and a rise in second position for 40 seconds without holding on to anything. Video Video 2 When comparing these videos to earlier weeks I am really happy to see the noticeable progress. It is clear that my ankle strength has improved as the alignment of my ankle is better as well as the fact I do not roll on my ankles which was a problem I noticed a lot 6 weeks ago. Overall, I think I have improved a lot within this skill and I am very happy with my progress.

Another positive I will take from this training programme is my steady and constant improvement within my cardiovascular endurance. I was really happy to have achieved my goals every week of increasing my workout time each training week. I found that my research was really helpful as I believe creating running based HIIT workouts have definitely forced my body to respond better to exercise. I managed to increase my workout time each week this helped to motivate me as I saw that I was constantly making progress, therefore I regard my training of cardiovascular endurance very successful. I maintained a steady increase every week, this helped to not shock my body and gradually increase its tolerance to exercise. Over the course of this programme my training has been designed specially to maintain my body and improve my overall heart rate through the use of run based HIIT workouts. However, as I neared the end of my training programme I reflected over my improvement within this skill and I decided that I really wanted to test myself in week 6. My original goal for week 6 was to complete a 3 minute 45 second HIIT workout whilst singing without stopping. However, I decided I would like to challenge myself to truly see the extent of my progress therefore in my last training session for this skill I underwent a 4 minute 15 second HIIT workout. Video This was the biggest extension of time I have added since starting my training. I was really happy to be able to do this and I felt as though my body responded really well. I am really pleased to have met and surpassed my targets for this skill and I will continue to train my cardiovascular endurance in this way in the future.

I have also recorded the full cardio warm up at the beginning of my jazz class, this warm up is 6 minutes long. Video Therefore, as seen on the video I do have to stop to catch my breath a few times. This is definitely an improvement from the start of the programme when I would have to stop at least 5-10 times. This video is evidence that I still have much area for improvement, however I feel as though this will be achieved with time and I am very happy to be ending this programme at the level of fitness I am now.

I have really enjoyed working on my facial expressions throughout this project. I first trained the use of this skill within dance, as evidenced in my videos my performance was much improved. The video from week 5 in which I carried out two drama school auditions dances clearly demonstrated how effective facial expressions can be when used to fit the style of the piece and add to the performance. I was really pleased the see the difference between my videos from week 4 to week 5 as I felt as though the energy and the commitment level increased and made my dancing better it also helped me to feel more confident and enjoy the performance. This will be essential when being in dream shows such as Wicked as the intensity has to present in the facial expressions during songs such as no one mourns the wicked. This in tern will provide more purpose for the movement and create a better performance for an audience. This week I wanted to focus on transferring these skills into the other disciplines within Musical Theatre. I filmed my audition monologue, really focusing on emoting and story telling through my connection to the character being displayed in my expressions. Video I feel as though an audience member would be taken on a journey throughout the delivery of my monologue as the character encounters many stages of grief in a quick succession. My target for this week was to be able to effectively transfer the techniques I had applied in order to elevate my facial expressions within my dance to my acting. I feel as though I have achieved that goal and I am very happy with the way facial expression has added connection to the words I am delivering, my ability to emote through my face and therefore make my audition material more engaging and insightful.

I have found many highlights and learned many valuable skills and techniques that I will continue to utilize when working professionally through this project. However, the biggest highlight throughout this programme has been gaining a degree course at drama school. At the start of the project I named auditioning for drama school as my short term goal to work towards. I tried to refine my training in order to best benefit me whilst auditing but also to build my skill set for one day working professionally. Being able to have achieved my short term goal definitely makes me proud of the work I have put into my training as others must be seeing the benefits. I believe my progress within dynamics and facial expressions will have added to my performance within my audition especially within the dance call. The audition dance was in the style of cheesy Musical Theatre jazz. This created an opportunity for me to demonstrate my enthusiasm and personality through my facial expressions. I worked hard on keeping my facial expressions big and fun in order to keep the audition panel engaged in my performance. I also think that training how to improve my facial expressions has filmed me with a lot more confidence going into further dance calls at future auditions. Using the techniques from week 1 allowed me to demonstrate my understanding of the styles of music and ho that translates to a character. It also meant I could have fun and think about my characterization, once again adding to make an exciting performance. This dance also consisted of key moments to include highlights through the use of dynamics. I identified moments in which I thought the use of certain dynamics would benefit my performance. For example a certain part of the dance consisted of a series of sharp and fast moves in which I used a percussive dynamic, this was then swiftly followed by a slow and exaggerated movement where I added a sustained dynamic. This helped to add contrast into my performance. Overall, I think these skills really helped to give me confidence in my performance ability whilst dancing and I believe that was demonstrated to and noticed by the audition panel.

Throughout this programme I have been able to see myself progress within six separate skills, and achieve my goals. However, I can see that more progress was made in certain areas and not all of my goals throughout the six weeks have been hit. One of the areas in which I would have liked to have seen more improvement in Vocal Phrasing. In the first week of training I did research in order to understand more about the skill and how would be best to improve it, In this research I found out the important of back and front phrasing is order to add emphasis. I learned about how change in rhythm can add emphasis and add more meaning to certain words. It can also show a thought process for the character and justify to an audience why they are singing what they are. When applying this to my audition pieces I did feel more connected to the character therefore achieving my goa for that week, however I felt as though I could take advantage of vocal phrasing more. In my second week of training I found that many more techniques can be used to alter phrasing within a song. For instance crescendo and decrescendo, emphasis on certain words and change in speed. I thought about where I would want to apply these techniques in order for them to have the most effective and then I applied them to my audition material. I filmed this and definitely saw that the use of all thee techniques that make up phrasing came together to deliver a more powerful, meaningful performance. Therefore, I wish I had known about all of these techniques so I could have applied them from the start of my training and would have been able to be a week ahead within my progress. During my training for week 6 I have applied everything I have learned for this skill into a new song. I didn't do any prior planning as to were I was going to add specific changes in my vocal phrasing, instead I decided to film a portion of the song once with no added elements and then again trusting my instincts as to when a certain technique would be effective. Video Video 2

I think that the second video clearly highlights how much vocal phrasing can add to a performance and how much extra emotion can be placed on certain words, helping the audience to understand what the character is trying to say.

As mentioned previously I am very pleased that I managed to surpass some goals that I set for the skill of flexibility. I have worked hard over the course of this programme in the hopes of seeing drastic improvement. During week 6, I completed the same stretch routine I have been doing multiple times a week since starting my training. Video This stretch feels a lot easier every time I do it, therefore showing that my muscles are becoming more flexible and I am able to push the stretch a bit further every time. I have also filmed the stretch session that we take part in a the start of every dance lesson. Video Over the course of this week I have also measured my splits again to see if I managed to achieve my week 6 goal. This consisted of being flat in my right leg split and 4 inches closer in both my left and box split. Video Video 2 Even though there is a considerable improvement within my right leg split I didn't manage to achieve my end goal of being flat to the floor. This was upsetting as I had been tracking my splits throughout my training and I looked as though I would be able to achieve this goal. Assessing my training programme I know believe I could have added one or two more stretches targeting the hamstring to make sure it was fully stretched in each session. However, I am still happy at the clear difference from week one until now. I feel reassured in the importance of my training as I can see the improvements in other areas such as my leg holds, kicks and difficulty stretching being decreased. I do think that I am very close in my right split so I am going to continue with this stretch routine and I hope to be flat within the next two to three weeks.

My other end goals for flexibility consisted of being 4 inches closer to the ground than my starting point in my left leg and box split. In week 6 I measured my highest point from the floor again with the hopes of being 8 inches away in my left split and 12 inches away in my box split. I was happy to see that I had achieved this goal in both my left and my box split stretch. I understand and appreciate that I still have a long way to go before achieving a flat split, however achieving my six week goal has instilled me with confidence that progress is very possible with hard work and commitment. This in tern has helped to fill me with motivation for the next few weeks after my training programme. I will continue to stretch several times a eek using the stretch routine I have collated over the past six weeks. As mentioned previously I will also start to add some of the new stretches introduced in our dance classes this week.

Overall, This training programme has been a great way for me to assess my areas of weakness and work on these to grow was a more well rounded performer. As mentioned previously I regard my biggest success within this programme as gaining a place on a degree course at one of my top drama schools, therefore achieving my short term goal outlined at the beginning of the programme. The auditioning process as a whole has been one that I have thoroughly enjoyed so far, it has also been a way for me to test and push myself. I believe lots of the skills targeted through my training helped me to demonstrate the performer I hope to improve upon therefore helping me to gain a place on the course. For example, I think I got the opportunity to use a range of dynamics and facial expressions within the dance portion of the audition. I also got to demonstrate my cardiovascular strength within the warm up and full body workout, this was recognized and given to me as a positive within my interview.

I am extremely happy to have been able to apply my trained skills to achieve my short term goal. This has helped me to see that working on these skills do have real world applications within the industry. Therefore, I will continue to analyze myself as performer, identifying areas to improve upon and setting myself a plan and goals to hit as I move on with my career. This will help me to constantly improve as I will find new areas that I want to work on. This will come into play when completing my mid term goal of auditioning for professional work and hopefully when I achieve this and start working in my long term goals.

All of the skills I have worked on throughout my development programme have helped to improve areas of all three disciplines, therefore helping me to become the true triple threat that I hope to be. The improvements I have seen within these skills will be transferable into exercises, classes or auditions. Therefore, the improvements have helped me within my training but will continue to help me as I move on with my career.

I am going to take confidence in my drama school offer and be proud of every area of improvement I have seen throughout these six weeks. I will also use my personal development programme to understand myself better as a performer and I will continue to work on my areas of weakness to strive to constantly get better, yet also celebrate the small moments of progress as I now understand that they seen develop into break through moments.