an analysis of pied piper

 

An analysis of “pied piper”

Throughout unit 4 combined arts I have maintained a reflective and analytical review of my progress in developing and applying skills for a combined arts performance.

The final assessed performance of our reimagined version of a “pied piper” took place on Monday 24thjanuary 2022 in the performance space at Suffolk one.

I will now complete a SWOT analysis of my final performance.

Strengths-

Following the performance I received feedback from the audience members. The following comments are evidence of the strengths of the performance.

The feedback given from the audience helped us as a performer to realize how the performance went as a whole as they gave us some information that we can now take into consideration during our next performance. We asked the audience some questions after the performance to see just how much they took in from our reimagined piece. The first question we asked was how clearly we communicated the theme story and mood. The audience members explained how they really liked the juxtaposition from being in a trance to then jumping around and acting like children. One of the member’s continued to say that the performance was very “atmospheric “which I highly agree with, I feel the lights and smoke machine really made the performance so much better as we were able to show that contrast throughout. Following on from the atmosphere we asked what they thought of our theatrical effects they explained how overall the both agreed it was really effective and enjoyable to watch.  They explained how they enjoyed the performance so much more mainly because we made it into something relatable today therefore they were more intrigued which is a very important aspect in a performance. We then asked how how effectively we managed to combine our art skills the reply to this was “we really enjoyed your performance we thought it was effective how you combined gestures with vocal as that gave the audience a way to comprehend and understand the meaning of the storyline. This was some really important feedback that we needed to hear as it tell us as performance we met the criteria of telling a story though a performance piece. Lastly one main piece of feedback I got given for me individually was that I remained focused throughout and managed to multitask by doing my movements correctly whilst doing the spoken task.

The teacher and director gave me personal feedback on my performance. The following comments are evidence of the strengths of the performance.

After the performance I received some teacher and director feedback this was really important for me as it helped me realise what things I worked well with and what I can improve on in the future.My teacher explains how she thought  I worked really well during the dv8 sections which in lied arm movements , gestures  and story telling.This made me feel a lot more confident about my performance and this was the particular section that I struggled and worried about the most.Secondly my teacher continued to say “you demonstrated and effective application for skills used”and that she felt that over the progress of the pied piper my confidence in becoming as versatile performer has improved.

 

Responsibilities-

Throughout the performance there were multiple responsibilities that we had to take on during the performance in order to create an effective piece.

One task I was responsible for was my costume choice. For the performance we were asked to wear something relatable to the storyline, the costume had to be earthy colors like brown, green, blue and beige. I feel I was correctly dressed and wore a more brown/beige color this was mainly because my character was a townspeople and they are more high maintenance and well-spoken whereas if I was playing a child I would of most likely worn something more bright like blue or green to show that difference between the both. Whilst performing it is really important to tie your hair back correctly so that when performing your hair doesn’t get in your face and distract you, I took this responsibility into consideration and tied my hair back tightly so that it would interfere with my performance.

Another responsibility I had to take on was the safe and correct use of props. For the townspeople dance piece I had the responsibility to dance safely with a broomstick head whilst also trying to communicate my character. Personally I feel I was able to do this correctly and effectively as I was holding the prop in a safe and correct way.

One really important responsibility I had was wrapping the blue ribbon around everybody on stage in order to show how everyone is trapped by the pied pipers hypnotic piece. Following on from this this also link so my responsibly of my  timing with the music as there was a certain section in the music where I started to take around the ribbon it was when the music changed and there was a sharp beat for me to creep around the side of the stage. I feel I successfully completed this responsibility as I managed to get the ribbon around in the correct timing without any problems whilst doing so.

Chairs were a really big responsibility for everybody as if someone messed up it could easily have affected the whole performance and confused everybody as there would be a random chair on the middle of the stage. The chairs had to be moved to show the contrast between two different scenes. As a whole we completed this task creatively and effectively even though during our tech rehearsal we struggled to place the chairs correctly.

Lastly I feel I had the responsibility of making sure  that I correctly portrayed my key roles especially when performing the rat duets mainly because I needed to make sure I was conveying the animalistic  features and really showing how dirty, sly and revolting rats are. Whilst performing the rat duet I had to make sure I was downstage right because there was another pair behind us and we didn’t want to cross paths. I had to maintain my facial expressions and movement clearly so that the audience members knew that we were rats. By successfully illustrating this I ensured that the audience was able to see the difference from being normal to then becoming animalistic and therefore I made sure the audience really understood and could see me taking on that key role.

Weakness-

Following the performance I received feedback from the audience members. The following comments are evidence of areas that could be developed or improved in the performance.

After the performance while receiving our audience feedback we were also given some weaknesses and things to improve on as well as our strengths and what we done well. By the audience we were told that something we could improve on our the gestures as some of them were flimsy, they explained how if our movement were more sharp and extended to the very end it would have been a lot more effective. During the performance after the rat duets there was a sections where we used repetition and had to repeat a certain section over and over again they continued to say how whilst doing this are movements were sharp and strong to begin with but after a while of repeating it and getting faster we all seemed to throw the moves away more. 

The teacher and director gave me personal feedback on my performance. The following comments are evidence of areas that could be developed or improved in the performance.

After receiving some teacher feedback I was informed that I needed to woke on speeding up in the repeated section,I highly agree with this I believe I should have sped up a lot more to show that more pina Bausch style and how her dances repeated a movement so much to the point they were exhausted.Another thing I got feedback on was my characterisation during the villages sequence,my teacher explained how it would have been abit more effective if I had used more over exaggerated facial expressions and more over the top mime following on from this she explained how she felt this would come along with my confidence as I dipped in and out of the character throughout as I was nervous to put myself out there and act in a way I wasn’t used to which I also majorly agree with and feel I need to work on .

Responsibilities-

In the section where we leaned towards the left side of the stage and then to the right side of the stage I feel that I was slightly out of time compared to everyone else, I feel if my timing wasn’t off then it would have looked a lot  more polished as a piece.I feel if we worked more as a group to be in unison we could have overcome this.

One thing I feel I could have improved on was the singing of the song “oranges and lemons”we were responsible for singing this song in a way that was believable for the audience.The beginning of the song was supposed to be slow and creepy in order to show the audience that we had been hypnotised by the pied piper.The second time singing the song we were supposed to get louder and show that contrast but I feel I could have majorly improved on this and worked on showing the piece as more slow and odd.

Another weakness I was responsible for was my rat duet, during the rat duet even though I was able to use my facial expressions and characteristics effectively I could have worked a lot more of the dance it’s self,I knew all movements but once on stage I felt I just threw movements away whereas if I extended the movements and finished them correctly the duet would have looked a lot more polished.

Lastly another responsibility I feel I could have improved on was my hand gestures and sharpness during the first section of the performance whilst joe is reading “now let’s take a look to the story of the pied pied piper”.my group and I were slightly out of time with each-over purely because we didn’t communicate properly.I feel if we were to be more in time and I had made my movements more slow , sudden and sharp the piece would have been more effective for the audience to view.

Opportunities-

Unit 4 combined arts and the creation and the performance of the reimagined version of “pied piper” has provided me with many new opportunities to develop my range and versatility as a performer.

 One opportunity given was the influence of professional artists who work in a combined arts style like Mathew Bourne. In the skills workshop I watched and analysed the dance theatre approach of Mathew Bourne and developed understanding of the actor dancers who work in his company new adventures. In the towns people section I applied this dance theatre combined arts approach in creating and performing the character of a townsperson.My movements were gestural with the over exaggerated facial expressions and mime.I feel I have a lot of experience as a dancer and actor through this CTEC course and my experience outside college, this was the first opportunity I had of combining these art forms.Watching Bournes “nutcracker”helped me realise how effective it can be when dance and movement are characterised through incorporating facial expressions and character intent.I was also inspired by watching dv8 “to be be straight with you”how they perform an informative piece of cultural and social information by combining spoken word and hand gestures.

Another example of an opportunity was the study of the music and sound.In the skills workshop I explored the idea of creating movement as a townspeople to a piece of music,I and the responsibility of picking the piece of music, thinking about its mood, rhythm and how it could be linked to the luring of the people.I then had to think about where in the music we used this and how we create this direct correlation between the music and the movements.This piece of music helped create the atmosphere of the serious, high maintenance character.I have a lot of experience as a dancer throughout this CTEC course and my experiences outside of college,this therefore was my opportunity I had of exploring how a piece of music can be selected to effectively covey a mood and character.This is very similar to Pina Bausch’s Approach of the music she uses.

Another opportunity I was given was to enable me to work more effectively in an ensemble piece.During rehearsals and the performance I had to work collaboratively as an art of an ensemble.I was able to take into consideration the awareness of others whilst on stage As well  as knowing the distance between another performer and I.This is really important and no matter what everyone has an equally important contribution to make regardless of the “role”.

Lastly a really important opportunity I had was devising I feel during rehearsals I worked really well and learnt a lot of new rings to work with.I felt I done well beginning with a story and and idea and then devising original material in response to the stimulus.I feel I managed to contribute ideas whilst understanding that some ideas may get rejected or adapted during the process.

Threats-

During unit 4 combined arts and the creation and performance of the reimagined version of “pied piper”there were possible threats to the success of the performance.

With in the performance there becomes a few threats that take place along the way due to many different reasons however, a reason that we all struggled with as a whole was absence and a  member of our group dropped out of the course 3 weeks before the show meaning we had to rearranged certain things and had an uncertainty over the placements of chairs and different props. Having a missing person effected a lot throughout the piece because it effects the movements, duets and group work, dialogue, the flow of the rehearsal and the spacing throughout because we have certain places and positions for each person. This made it quite difficult for us as a class to be able to have a proper full run through without messing up or having a mistake due to people being off and absent. To be able to solves this problem we would prepare ourselves before the lessons by watching the work we completed on film to be able to familiarise ourselves and to learn new material if we had missed something so that we understood and were aware if there was a change in the process.

In the performance we discovered having the threat of remembering lines, cues, movement sequences, rhythmic counts, melody and the use of positions within our performance. I feel these were quite big threats due to this could have an inaccuracy on the performance which, would fail to create the appropriate mood for the performance. If I were to forget a like or cue I feel that this would have had  quite a big impact on the others around as well because it would be failing to be able to provide cues for the next person which would then mean breaking out of the flow of the performance and the character which could break the tension at certain points meaning that the clarity of the story wouldn't make clear sense. A way in which we could resolve this would be having rehearsals to be able to develop confidence and movement memory with in the body to help develop the skills as a whole as well as rehearsing outside of the lesson individually to be able to learn and gain the confidence within the piece. 

Finally, I feel another threat that we discovered was working with the broom heads as a prop because it could be a health and safety risk do to slipping, tripping or falling over the brooms.The impact that this had on me was the fact that it could cause an injury if the prop was dropped or was being incorrectly used. This could also have an impact on others due to someone tripping on it . A solution to this would be to adapt the position of my prop so that we can overcome hazards so that no one trips on it and injurers themselves.This is why before the performance I had to think of a safe place to place the prop before I actually used them on stage which I’m this case was safely underneath a chair.   

 

place along the way due to many different, a reason that we all struggled with as a whole was absence and a  member of our group dropped out of the course 3 weeks before the show meaning we had to rearranged certain things and had an uncertainty over the placements of chairs and different props. Having a missing person effected a lot throughout the piece because it effects the movements, duets and group work, dialogue, the flow of the rehearsal and the spacing throughout because we have certain places and positions for each person. This made it quite difficult for us as a class to be able to have a proper full run through without messing up or having a mistake due to people being off and absent. To be able to solves this problem we would prepare ourselves before the lessons by watching the work we completed on film to be able to familiarise ourselves and to learn new material if we had missed something so that we understood and were aware if there was a change in the process. 

In the performance we discovered having the threat of remembering lines, cues, movement sequences, rhythmic counts, melody and the use of positions within our performance. I feel these were quite big threats due to this could have an inaccuracy on the performance which, would fail to create the appropriate mood for the performance. This would then also break the flow of our performance meaning that we could quite possibly dip out of our characters. I feel that this would have quite a big impact on the others around as well because it would be failing to be able to provide cues for the next person which would then mean breaking out of the flow of the performance and the character which could break the tension at certain points meaning that the clarity of the story wouldn't make clear sense. A way in which we could resolve this would be having rehearsals to be able to develop confidence and movement memory with in the body to help develop the skills as a whole as well as rehearsing outside of the lesson individually to be able to learn and gain the confidence within the piece. 

Finally, I feel another threat that we discovered was working with the ribbons as a prop because it could be a health and safety risk do to slipping, tripping or falling over the ribbons'. The impact that this had on me was the fact that it could cause an injury if the prop was dropped or was being incorrectly used as I could quite easily slip and fall on the ribbon. This could also have an impact on others due to someone slipping on it or it being placed to close or on top of a hot floor light which could cause a fire. A solution to this would be to adapt the position of my prop so that we can overcome hazards so that no one slips or trips on it and injurers themselves. Also on my behalf so I don't slip on it I could rehearse with the prop so that i am confident and comfortable with it. 

With in the performance there becomes a few threats that take place along the way due to many different reasons however, a reason that we all struggled with as a whole was absence and a  member of our group dropped out of the course 3 weeks before the show meaning we had to rearranged certain things and had an uncertainty over the placements of chairs and different props. Having a missing person effected a lot throughout the piece because it effects the movements, duets and group work, dialogue, the flow of the rehearsal and the spacing throughout because we have certain places and positions for each person. This made it quite difficult for us as a class to be able to have a proper full run through without messing up or having a mistake due to people being off and absent. To be able to solves this problem we would prepare ourselves before the lessons by watching the work we completed on film to be able to familiarise ourselves and to learn new material if we had missed something so that we understood and were aware if there was a change in the process. 

In the performance we discovered having the threat of remembering lines, cues, movement sequences, rhythmic counts, melody and the use of positions within our performance. I feel these were quite big threats due to this could have an inaccuracy on the performance which, would fail to create the appropriate mood for the performance. This would then also break the flow of our performance meaning that we could quite possibly dip out of our characters. I feel that this would have quite a big impact on the others around as well because it would be failing to be able to provide cues for the next person which would then mean breaking out of the flow of the performance and the character which could break the tension at certain points meaning that the clarity of the story wouldn't make clear sense. A way in which we could resolve this would be having rehearsals to be able to develop confidence and movement memory with in the body to help develop the skills as a whole as well as rehearsing outside of the lesson individually to be able to learn and gain the confidence within the piece. 

Finally, I feel another threat that we discovered was working with the ribbons as a prop because it could be a health and safety risk do to slipping, tripping or falling over the ribbons'. The impact that this had on me was the fact that it could cause an injury if the prop was dropped or was being incorrectly used as I could quite easily slip and fall on the ribbon. This could also have an impact on others due to someone slipping on it or it being placed to close or on top of a hot floor light which could cause a fire. A solution to this would be to adapt the position of my prop so that we can overcome hazards so that no one slips or trips on it and injurers themselves. Also on my behalf so I don't slip on it I could rehearse with the prop so that i am confident and comfortable with it.