WEEK 1 REVIEW-

After completing the first week of my personal development plan I understand how important it is to adhere to my training programme whilst adapting my training methods in order to achieve my goals.

In week one I have recorded my starting point of both my left and right split. VideoThis will act as a point of reference to clearly see the overall improvement within my chosen skill. I measured from the highest point and found that I was 12 inches off the floor in my left leg split and 7 inches away in my right split. Over the course of the week, I have trained the technical skill of flexibility, especially within my hamstrings to achieve my week one target of holding my pike position for longer.

I underwent 4 stretch sessions within this week using a variety of stretches that I found from my research would be effective in achieving this goal. Such as stretch in pike position, standing hamstring stretch, standing forward bend. This is evidenced within my video. Video

As a result of a consistent stretch routine I felt an improvement within the tension in my hamstrings. I found that stretching more often allowed my muscles to feel not as tight or storing as much tension.

However, I did find that stretching several days in a row led to increased muscle soreness. I researched and found that stretching too often doesn't give your muscles enough time to recover therefore leading to microscopic injuries causing the muscle soreness.

This then led me to altering my weekly timetable for weeks 2 of the training programme as I lowered my allocated time for stretching from 5 to 3/4 days a week allowing me to have rest days in-between my training sessions.

Listening and responding to signs of fatigue and stress within our bodies allow us as performers to stay fit and know our limits.

This is an important mindset for my to career forward into my professional career, for instance it would be essential for me to know my limits and know hoe to recover and rest to avoid injury if I was working as part of the ensemble for A Chorus Line, to allow me to complete every show to the best of my ability whilst keeping injuries at bay.

The interpretive skill I worked on over the course of week one was dynamics. Firstly, I wanted to expand my understanding of what dynamics are and how to execute them within my dancing. I researched what dynamics are and found that they are often broken down into six movement groups such as sustained and percussive.

I noted down key words that linked to emotions off each style of dynamic. This allowed me to get a sense of what each dynamic is used to create for the audience.

I then used the rest of my allocated time slot to watch video tutorials on how to execute each dynamic and how to embed them into my dancing this gave me inspiration of where I would add them within my dancing.

As evidenced in my videos I then experimented with these 6 categories, to get a feeling off how to execute them. This helped me to understand more as to what dynamics are, this was an effective use of my time slot as I was able to break down the idea of dynamics. Video

In my future career I understand how important the use of dynamics in both the delivery of my voice and the execution of my movement to make me a stand out performer. For instance, I will use this programme to expand on my knowledge of dynamics and take them into my career aspirations for examples the use of dynamics in my performance of the opening in Wicked.

In next weeks training sessions I will use my time to implement what I have learnt this week into practical work. This will help me to see the improvement in my understanding translate to the improvement in my practical work.

WEEK 2 REVIEW-

During the second week of my personal development programme I continued to train my chosen skills in order to achieve my desired goals and force adaptations to take place. During this week I have seen improvements in my overall flexibility but especially within my hamstrings. Video I noticed this in my flexibility when carrying out the sit and reach stretch in pike position and when touching my toes with my feet together. Video Carrying out both of these stretches (which target hamstring flexibility) felt easier showing me that my training programme is creating improvements.

My target for week two was being able to touch my toes with my legs completely straight and my feet together. This was a goal that I thought we help me to assess my overall flexibility and would be a clear check point for me to see improvement at the end of the six weeks.

I was pleased to find I had achieved this goal and could pull my head towards my knees also. This meant my goal for week two was surpassed, helping me to see that my training programme is creating progress. Video

This progression may be due to the refinement I made of lowering my allocated number of stretch sessions a week in order to let my muscles recover. I am going to remain undertaking fewer stretch sessions a week as I believe it has helped me to see improvements so far.

This progression is important for my future career aspirations as overall impressive flexibility will make more likely to get hired for jobs in which the dance is technical and aiming to show off flexibility.

In week 2 I also focused on another physical skill to improve upon. For this I chose cardiovascular stamina. I recognized the impact poor endurance has on not only dancing but the knock on affect it takes on singing.

Whilst carrying out week 2 of my training programme I was involved within the Christmas Cabaret Season Show at Pendleton College. This overlap did mean that my training had to be adapted and modified.

However, it was the Christmas Cabaret rehearsals that helped me to distinguish stamina as a skill I wanted to improve upon. Whilst in rehearsals of a number called Me O'l Bamboo for the show I noticed that my singing was becoming poorly projected as a sacrifice for my shortness of breath due to the dance.

During rehearsals I worked hard to sing and dance full out to see how quickly my fatigue overtook my singing. Doing this every time I rehearsed the number meant my stamina gradually increased and I could make it further into the song each time without stopping to catch my breath.

As evidenced by a video on my Youtube channel, I managed to complete the whole song with full out performance by show week. Video

This was a big improvement, however I definitely want to continue to work on this skill for in the future if I am performing songs higher in my range or with legato phrases or quick words whilst being fatigued.

I also included a third physical skill within week 2 of my programme. This is the skill of ankle strength. I chose this skill to work on as I understand the importance of strength and power from the ankles. For example it is essential to be able to snap up into relevee with power and control in order to pirouette successfully. This power and control comes from the ability to center the weight over the ankles, to avoid rolling on them. This allows to body to shoot up straight with the help a strong core to maintain a centered and well balanced preparation for a turn.

It is also important to have strong ankles as you execute the rotation o a pirouette. Strength within the ankles helps to create a two way pull, helping to add resistance which therefore demonstrates control and tension where needed in the body.

During this week, I have filmed myself carrying out pirouettes on both legs to hopefully see an improvement when filmed again in five weeks time. Video After undergoing research into what methods are best used for developing ankle strength I focused my first weeks training into rises and relives. Video This was important for me to start at the basics to make sure I wouldn't take any bad habits such as rolling inward or outward on my ankles further into my training.

Starting with these exercises helped me to understand the resistance I should feel in my legs when carrying out a rise. I also carried out sets of rises in both jazz and ballet first and second position. This helped me to distinguish any weaker areas to work on.

Improving upon this skill will help me in my short mid and log terms goals, as I will need to demonstrate good ankle strength and control to show good technique when trying to achieve my short term goal of getting into drama school. This foundation technique will also help me when doing auditions in the future and when being in shows such as Mamma Mia in which pirouettes are included a lot in the choreography.

In week 2 I have continued to work upon my interpretive skill on dynamics. Following on from week 1 in which I undertook research in order to understand more about what dynamics are and how to execute them I focused on more practical work in week 2. I thought about my audition solo for drama school and focused on where I wanted to showcase that I had thought about and executed several different dynamic changes.

I filmed me performing my solo and watched it back to think about where the moments for highlights could be. Video I also tried to think about where I could include moments of contrast to add texture. For example, I identified a point in the dance where I slowly ripple down to the floor. I wanted to use the sustained dynamic to show control and resistance within my movement, which then contrasted to a sharp, explosive moment to get me from on my stomach to my knees.

I found that adding this small moment created another level to the movement, making it more engaging to watch.

I will continue to break down dances in my head to discover moments of highlight when working professionally, to show a level of care and understanding for the piece.

In the next week of my training programme I will focus on each individual dynamic in more detail to really understand where I could use them in the future.

WEEK 3 REVIEW-

As I approached the half way point in the programme, I prioritized my training for week 3 around what was best to achieve my goals. I continued to work on my flexibility, especially in my hip flexors over the course of this week. My goal for week 3 was to be 2 inches closer in each of my splits. Whilst researching training methods for my chosen skill, I found flexibility within the hips is essential in order to improve in the splits.

I continued with the same stretch routine from the prior two week but focused on adding more stretches from the research I had found. Video For example, I included extra stretches such as the frog and knee to chest. Video I also held stretches that I had already been doing for longer, such as the arrow and pushing into my front hip in a lunge.

I found that increasing the amount of stretches targeted at improving my hip flexibility definitely helped me when assessing my overall improvement in my flexibility. As evidenced in my videos it is clear that I am a lot closer to achieving all of my splits, especially my right leg. Video I found that when taking my weekly check up video for my splits is felt easier and more controlled. This may be due to the decreased tension and increased mobility in my hips.

I think this week has been successful in order to help me to understand the several areas that need to improve in order to see an increase in overall flexibility.

I will continue to use these stretches going forward in the second half of this training programme to hopefully allow me to achieve my final goals.

Due to my taking part within the season show I couldn't train my second technical skill of cardiovascular endurance the way I had previously planned. However, performing the show helped me to train my stamina as it was an insight into the world of professional work, as I understood how important it is to be fit enough to perform a show everyday with full out performance.

Now that the show has ended I started to train to build up my stamina. After undergoing research into successful ways to improve endurance I found that running was a common method used. I incorporated this knowledge when training this skill. As evidenced in my videos I underwent a 3 minute long HIIT style warm to target stamina. Video

For example, I did a series of star jumps, running and sprints to create a physically demanding, non stop exercise.

I was pleased that I made it through the whole 3 minutes without stopping, so to push myself to see improvements I will extend this time week by week adding on thirty seconds of working time to help my cardiovascular endurance improve.

Another area within the skill of endurance that I wanted to work on is its knock on affect with other disciplines. After completing my first warm up I attempted to sing through my songs for drama school auditions. As seen in the videos, it is clear that the fatigue effected my projection and control of my voice. Video

This is something I am going to monitor and my track progress within to see my overall improvement.

In week 3, I focused on the bigger picture and thought about all the areas weak ankle strength can affect. After focusing on my rises last week I wanted to work on using this strength to add more control to my movement. I used an exercise we learnt in jazz last year to assess my control.

This exercise requires me to carry out a prepare on demi point followed by a half turn then a full tern then a double. Each of the elements are carried out over a count off 8. This requires lots of strength and control from within the ankles to not roll or lower the demi point on the prepare. Video

I noticed that I hopped in order to not lower my heel, this is something I hope to improve in order to show technique. With this in mind I am going to focus on staying on a rise with one foot in pirouette position in order to add more control. To target this, I will continue to carry out my rises and slowly bringing my leg up to retire. I will complete this exercise every week of the training programme and time how long I can stay on my demi point before hopping or lowering my heel. This will help me to track my progress and I will see that my ankle strength is helping to improve other areas.

I didn't hit my target of being able to stay on a rise in pirouette position for a count of 8 without lowering my heel. However, this week has helped me to identify specific areas to work on, so hopefully I will be able to meet my goals further on in the programme.

After reflecting on the positive impact dynamics created on areas of my dance solo I decided to learn more about each dynamic to fulfil them. Over the course of this week I went into more depth with the sustained dynamic. This a steady and consistent movement that creates a calm and smooth aesthetic for the eye.

I watched several videos that broke down the execution of this dynamic further to help me to understand what is needed to make this work. These videos identified which muscles were needed to be engaged and how the body is required to move. Video Video 2

Understanding this allowed me to see the inner workings off the body to create the fluid and resistant nature of the movement. I then copied some of the actions within the videos to get used to the movement.

I then thought about where in my dance solo I could used sustained movement to show control and resistance. I identified a highlight where I face the audience and plie in a crossed leg position. I wanted to add fluidity into my movement as prior to this demonstrate power with a kick in second.

I worked on sustaining this movement as well as other parts of the solo, this helped to demonstrate thought behind the performance and good knowledge of dance technique.

WEEK 4 REVIEW-

In week four I felt it was important to keep consistency with my stretch routine. This is due to the improvement I have seen over the past four weeks, by continuing consistently this week I have found to be ahead of my goals for the end of the programme. I carried out the stretch routine that I have created as the weeks have progressed several times this week. After adding the extra stretches to target my hip flexors I have seen progress within my splits I have continued to take this forward into my weekly stretch routine. Video Video 2 I have also filmed my splits this week to continue to see the weekly progress. Video 3

I also managed to hit my target for this week of being able to hold a stretch with my head to my knee in both pike and straddle position. Hitting this target has definitely helped to keep me motivated and meant I had a very successful few training sessions this week. Video Due to a drama school audition this week I haven't been able to carry out as many pre planned stretches as usual. However, I carried out several stretches as part of the dance section of my audition which will allow me to stay on top of my progress. The dance class started with a full body stretch, which contained many elements from my weekly routine. Due to stretching the night before my leg muscles, especially my hamstrings, felt a bit sore, this was a good indicator as to the limit I can push my flexibility to with sore muscles.

Even though there were similarities in the stretch routines, I was also introduced to new stretches that helped me to assess other areas of my flexibility. Such as leg holds at the barre, this exercise consisted of leg hold to the front into a bend to extend again into second then bending towards the barre. This was repeated twice on each side. This exercise allowed me to see a major improvement as I have never been able to do a leg hold holding my ankle instead of my calf. I believe this is progress is definitely due to a consistent and thorough stretch routine as a result of my personal development programme.

I am going to use this exercise now weekly until the end of the 6 weeks training to provide another way of tracking my progress.

The audition helped me to identify areas of weakness within my cardiovascular endurance that I had not yet thought about. I completed the upper body and abs section of the workout feeling not as out of breath as normal. This showed me that my training revolving around HIIT and endurance style helped to strengthen my endurance in other areas, therefore I will continue to train in the same way to hopefully improve even further. However, I found that my breathing did get more erratic and less in control during the cardio element of the warm up.

I felt out of breath at the end of the combination, however I do feel as if there has been improvement in my endurance within HIIT style workouts. This improvement I feel has come from the ability to control my breathing during the work out better and being able to regain a steady breathing pattern my swiftly after finishing the exercise. In order to improve on this further I have continued to create endurance aimed workouts elongating the time each week to stretch my ability. This week I managed to complete two 3 minute 15 second warm ups without stopping. This is an improvement of 15 seconds from last week. Video Video 2

I am continuing to hit my weekly targets for this skill, this is helping to keep me motivated as I can see the training is working. I can also see that my body is responding well to the short extension of the workout each week.

Going into next week I am going to focus more on running as I have found research to suggest that running is the best way to target cardiovascular endurance and force adaptations. I will carry out several run based endurance workouts, once again starting at 3 minutes. I will then time how long it takes me to regain a steady breathing pattern. This time will hopefully decrease over the coming weeks to show progress.

Upon reflection of last weeks training for ankle strength I focused this week on holding my relive with one leg in retiree. This is because during last weeks exercises I noticed I struggled to maintain a pirouette prep position on demi point without hoping. This week I focused on holding my demi point at the bar to strengthen my ankles and to understand what part of my feet I needed to work.

I then moved my hands of the barre to test my balance and to see how long I could hold a correctly aligned and strong relive before lowering my heel. After repeating this exercise on each leg several times I moved to the centre. This really allowed me to test my core and ankle strength as there was nothing to grab on to if I wobbled.

I had to repeat this exercise quite a few times on each leg to secure the feeling within my ankles. This repetition will have also helped to strengthen my ankles for future exercises. Video Video 2

After focusing in depth on my relive I used another training session from this week to repeat the exercise from last week. I found that my preparations were a lot more controlled with less hoping. This allowed me to see a clear improvement from last week, therefore refining and changing my initial training for this week has actually helped me more for the future as I have secured and strengthened the basics.

Following my plan for this week of focusing on relives and rises has helped me to achieve my goal of being able to hold a rise on each leg for 20 seconds. Achieving this target has definitely helped me to understand that it is imporatnt to refine my plan if I need to go back to basics as it will benefit in the long term. Video Video

As previously mentioned my training programme was altered this week due to multiple auditions. However, my interpretive skill of dynamics I was unable to find time to train at all. Due to auditioning and travelling I didn't manage to schedule time to train this skill and I didn't feel as though it was directly trained within my auditions. Therefore, I didn't manage to achieve the training plan I had outlined for this week at the beginning of the programe.

Even though the skill wasn't directly targeted within the audition process I tired to apply what I have learned from the previous weeks to the routines I was taught. This helped me to show an understanding of the material I was taught. I hope the dynamics I did add helped me to stand out from other auditionees as it showed an understanding of performance and delivery.

Due to the lack of training this week, next week I am going to focus on rounding up my training to collate all the skills and areas I have improved upon within the skill of dynamics to see my overall improvement.

This week I have identified and introduced another interpretive skill to work. I wanted to improve upon a skill that transfer over all three disciplines as improvement will develop me more as a performer. Therefore, I chose the skill of facial expressions. After undergoing research into the best training methods, I found that exercises that will help my facial muscles to relax will allow me to explore my full range of facial expressions.

As seen in my videos, I underwent an exercise called happy, sad this stretched the muscles in my face and warmed them up ahead of training session. I found that this exercise helped me to understand how I have only scratched the surface in terms of how big I can make my facial expressions and face shape. Video

During this week, I have recorded one of my audition dances for drama school. After watching the video I noticed the concentration that overcomes my face, therefore stopping me from expressing in my face. I see this as a definitive area to work on as within auditions I hope to keep the panel engaged in my performance and I understand a concentrated face will not achieve this. Video

Over the rest of my training sessions this week, I have used acting techniques to aid my performance by establishing a mood for the piece. This allows me to create a character in my head, with an end goal giving me a purpose behind my movement. I first started this training session with a facial massage I had gathered from my research. Video

This helped to warm up my muscles, therefore allowing me to create big and exaggerated facial expressions.

I have identified the three adjectives, cheeky, bouncy and creative when thinking of my character for this dance. I intend to go into next week, keeping these adjectives in my head to reperform the dance and make it more exciting and engaging to watch.

In the last remaining weeks of the programme I will establish how to improve my facial expressions in singing and acting to make me a more well rounded performer.

The last interpretive skill I want to work on is vocal phrasing. I will use this skill in both singing and acting in order to convey a character's thought process and emotions. For example, adding a pause or front phrasing can be really effective within a performance to show another layer of emotion.

This week I went through all of the songs in my rep and highlighted where I wanted to use pauses and where I felt it would be effective to speed up. Taking the time to do this really made me think about my character and think about how I can convey the story more through the use of phrasing.

I also went through my monologues once again marking on places for emphasis. This challenged me to think about my monologues as if from scratch as I hadn't realized how robotic I had become, doing them the same way each time. I then filmed my monologues with exaggerated choices so that I could become comfortable with pauses. This would therefore stop me from cutting off pauses to early out of fear of the silence.

I also filmed my songs acapella thinking less about the singing and more about the acting through the use and manipulation of vocal phrasing. This helped me to see that I will need to work on my breathing technique in order to sustain some of the phrasing. Video Video 2

Therefore, I am going to focus on breathing exercises next week and see how the improvement from their will help me to achieve my performance and phrasing choices.

This helped me to achieve my goal for this week as I really began to feel a deeper connection to the words. I think this will be good for me to do as I carry on through my career to dig deep into the truth of the acting, making my story telling honest and raw. This is essential in my dream shows such as Les Misérables and Anastasia to deliver heartfelt genuine performances.

Week 5 Review-

This week I have stuck to the same stretch routine I have been doing throughout my training programme. Video Video 2 I have definitely noticed a difference as the stretches seem easier allowing me to push my muscles a bit further every time. An example of this is when going from a lunge to two straight legs my head is much closer to my knee than when I first started. This week I also remembered that I had filmed a kick sequence in the first week of my training programme. Therefore, I decided to carry out the same exercise a month later to hopefully see that my increased flexibility is improving other areas not just my splits. The first video is from the first week in the training programme, the second video is this week. Video Video 2 This difference has helped me to build confidence knowing that my commitment to improving my flexibility is having a positive affect on other areas.

I haven't quite hit my original target for this week for all of my kicks to be at 120 degrees. However, I am really happy with the clear progress that can be seen between the two videos. Therefore, maintaining my motivation as I can see my progress improving other skills.

When thinking about future career opportunities and what aspirations I have for myself I know that all round flexibility will be important. For example, at a dance call for a dream show such as Mamma Mia there will be several areas in which I will need to demonstrate good flexibility such as kicks, leg holds of jumps.

That is why I am very happy with the progress I have seen so far. Going into the final week of my training programme I am going to film the kick sequence once again and also film my splits to have a final comparison to week 1 and see if I have achieved my goals.

After last weeks training for cardiovascular stamina, I decided that research had proven it best for me to undergo a workout based around running. This is due to the fact that my research showed that running is an efficient way to improve stamina. Therefore, I carried out some 3 minute run 30 seconds based workouts consisting of constant jogging broken up by 10 seconds of sprints every minute. Video

This proved difficult as running feels as though it is a different type of cardio, however I believe it did help me to control my breathing whilst exercising. In another training session I did another 3 minutes 30 second cardio, however this time singing along to a song. Video This helped to push me to control my breathing and conserve my energy. This helped me to begin to understand what working in a physically demanding show would be like. Such as numbers like 'You can't stop the beat' in Hairspray or 'Gimme Gimmie' in Mamma Mia.

Therefore, I will definitely continue to work on my breath control whilst singing and exercising to slowly build up the particular style of stamina needed for performing by incorporating these styles of workouts into my regular training schedule.

Completing a workout whilst singing meant I had completed my initial workout plan for this weekend of trying a new style of endurance workout. Doing this engaged more muscles, made me more aware of my breath control and also allowed me to see how much my stamina has improved from the first week of training when I couldn't sing properly after the workout.

It has also helped me to achieve my goal of this week, therefore I think I have more progress than I anticipated within this skill as I found the singing and working out a lot easier than expected. This is definitely showing my that my training is paying off.

Also this week, I filmed our work out from our set jazz class. This is specifically designed to work all areas of the body and test stamina as well as muscle fatigue. Video I have found that this workout has become slightly easier over the past few weeks due to the extra HIIT workouts I have been doing alongside. Therefore, I do see an improvement on my overall cardiovascular endurance.

For ankle strength this week I am evidencing videos from my jazz classes within college. Video This is slightly different from the training I was originally going to partake in this weekend, however I felt it was a very good fit to progress within my chosen skill. I feel as thought the exercises we have been working in class have really targeted the specifics of ankle strength that I want to build upon. The first exercise consisted of a series of plies and rises throughout turnout and parallel 1st, 2nd and 4th position. When undergoing the rises it is clear from the video that the strength within my ankles in order to not buckle or wobble has improved. I had to use resistance and tension within the ankles in order to maintain balance and correct alignment of the ankles. I was pleased with my rises as I think the work I have put into strengthening them when on demi point has paid off.

The exercise also requires the heel of one foot to be taken of the floor and carrying out a plie. This was a good tester for mw to see if I had a weaker ankle. When watching the video back I could see my alignment wasn't as good on my left side. This indicates that my left is my weaker side. Therefore, next week I am going to double the work I do to improve my right ankle for my left.

The other exercise is tendues. Video Within this exercise the ankle and foot in completely stretched to a tendue before quickly leaving the floor as a degage to return back to the tendue position. This is a really quick action repeated three times in devant, second and derriere. This was a test for my ankle strength due to the speed of the movement. When watching the video it is evident that the movement isn't as slick as it should be and my foot isn't returning to a tendue position every time.

This exercise really requires the feet and the ankles to work consistently in order to achieve the correct movement. This week I am going to repeat this exercise slowed down so I can fully feel how the movement should be carried out and watch positions I need to hit. I will then film the video again to hopefully see an improvement.

Due to the lack of training focused on the skill of dynamics this week I wanted to feel as though I have made progress this week. The dance round in the audition last week was a good test to see if what I have learned over the past few weeks will translate in practical opportunities. The dance varied in speeds quite a lot therefore requiring me to adjust what dynamics I wanted to add quickly.

I felt as though the dynamics I did include were effective and carried out well, showing improvement from my training. However, I did feel there were moments in which I could have used my musicality and my knowledge of the six varieties of dynamics to elevate my performance further.

This week, I filmed the dance in the way I did at the audition with full performance and commitment. I then watched the video back and noted down the places I as a few felt something was missing. I then thought about which dynamic would be best suited to these movements and the tried them out in isolation to any of the other moves. I then began to piece the number back together with these added elements. Video

I found the sharp movements quickly followed by moments of sustained movement helped to create a controlled and dynamic performance. This wasn't my original plan for training for this week, however I think that this dance was a great opportunity to see my progress whilst applying my new knowledge in a practical way.

Throughout this week I have been looking at putting my research for facial expressions into practice. I continued to do the massages and face stretches that I carried out over the course of last week. Video I will continue to do these as I really feel they help to warm up and relax my muscles as well as stretching them.

This week, I wanted to really focus on using my facial expressions to add an extra performance element when I am dancing. As evidenced in last weeks videos, I discovered that my facial expressions started to slip as a result of me concentrating on executing the steps. Therefore, I used the adjectives from the acting techniques last week to add purpose to my rehearsal and therefore my performance. I performed the same dance from last week, however this time I really focused on the story I had decided for the character and how I would incorporate facial expressions to convey that story to the audience. Video

Repeating this dance really helped me to have fun and let loose when performing, I think this would help an audience to enjoy it more. The use of facial expressions helped the movement to come alive and added a different layer that was evidently missing in last weeks portrayal of the dance.

I also performed a dance from another audition. Video I applied the same techniques to this dance and found that I felt more confident performing it as I knew it would be engaging for an audience. Both of these dance styles are in complete contrast to each other so it is really helpful to know I can carry over these skills to any dance I learn in the future.

I believe this week I have achieved my target of using facial expressions to engage and audience and create a clear character. When watching my performances back in comparison to previous weeks I felt as though my performance skill set appeared much stronger, making for a better more professional performance.

Next week, I will perform both of the monologues I am taking to drama school auditions focusing on character development and journey.

This week I wanted to continue to explore vocal phrasing and how it alters a performance. I watched a very helpful you tube video that clearly broke down and explained what vocal phrasing is and how important it can be in order to aid a performance. This video explained how significant emphasis on certain words can be to add meaning or emotion. This helps to engage a listener and also helps an actor to choose what words they feel are really important to the story and pivotal to the characters emotions. Video

The video also explains the use of crescendo in order to add a swelling affect on some notes which creates a contrast when backing of on others. The use of crescendo and decrescendo really help to highlight certain melodies or words, it also makes the audience fully engage as they feel the dynamics through the voice.

I went back to my sheet music and noted on where I wanted to add emphasis and swells. These techniques alongside the timing techniques from last week meant my sheet music was marked with lots of phrasing opportunities to make the connection to my character stronger.

In the other training session I had left for this skill I decided to perform my songs again similarly to last week, however I included all the techniques I had learnt and incorporated them where I thought they would be most effective. Video

Video 2

I found that performing songs that I thought I knew so well this way created a whole new meaning of them for me. It made me think about the words instead of just throwing them away. It helped me to understand that every word has a purpose and it is up to me as an actor to identify which I feel have the most importance and how I am going to demonstrate them to an audience through the use of phrasing.

I have achieved my target for this week as I included all of the techniques I have learned about through research into my performance. I also achieved my targets and training plan for this week as I spent lots of time watching professionals to gain inspiration and take notes from to try and reach the same level of performance quality. I watched performances from my dream shows such as Christy Altomare in Anastasia and Ruthie Henshall performing I dreamed a dream. These performances made me realize how effective vocal phrasing is within the connection to a character.