Back into the Swing
Oh my goodness. This has been quite a whirlwind of a quarter thus far and it’s only the end of second week. I’ll give little updates!
Spring Awakening has been crazy. We learned all of the music in two rehearsals and are already done with act one. We began act two as well. The show will most likely be fully blocked by next week, which is insane! It’s been an interesting process thus far. It’s so staggeringly different doing a show like Spring Awakening than the shows I’ve been doing recently, which have mostly been dance shows. This process is much more creative and collaborative than what I was expecting, so it’s definitely an adjustment.
Scattertones. Wow. We’ve done well for ourselves in the last two weeks. We completely dominated at Semifinals. Our score was 437/465, which is unheard of. It’s by far the highest score we’ve ever received in the ICCA competition. Also, as a cherry on top, I won Outstanding Choreography this year, which was such an honor. I was telling the people who congratulated me: I never choreograph for the choreo award. I don’t do a lot of flashy choreography and there aren’t a lot of “WOAH” moments in our set because of this. BUT, my emphasis has always been on choreographing to tell a story and to bring out the elements of the arrangement. Also to make our hilariously awkward boys look good onstage. :) To win a choreography award for the entire set was such a wonderful thing, because the choreo award usually goes to a group who does something gimmicky or cheesy and it usually goes to a choreographer for ONE song.
New York City 2013. On that note, we’re going to NYC this Thursday night for the competition. Luckily, we got let out of Spring Awakening rehearsal. I’m going to be staying with the Bird brothers which I’m beyond overjoyed about. It’s going to be nice to have a little mini vacation in the midst of this absolutely chaotic time.
Acting for the Camera class has been awesome so far. I can’t believe how much I didn’t understand. I think I’m okay at it so far, but we’ll see. Our professor posts the clips from class online, and I’m just going to put it out there: I look so weird to myself on camera. It’s really crazy actually.
Viewpoints in Rock Class. We’re using Ann Bogart’s Viewpoints in our Rock singing class this quarter. I used Viewpoints to work on Erendira my freshman year, so this is a lot of review but it’s SO helpful. It honestly is the closest thing to meditation I come in contact with in my life. It’s beautiful and I’m so grateful to be working with Mary Jo again.
Sing Sing by Fosse is what we’re learning in our class with Chryssie Whitehead right now. We’re going to learn how to swing a show in her class, which I’m really excited for because I feel like I could totally be a swing. It’s not the best job for everyone, but I really am interested in it. I kind of get off on knowing a lot of choreography and specifics for different people. I like being as organized as a swing has to be. I’m excited. Also, because doing it to Sing Sing is a remarkable throwback to my days with the Beach Cities Dance company. We did such an awesome competition number to this a long time ago and it really brings me back.
In other news, these things are pretty much taking over my life right now. I now ride a bike everywhere which has been really nice. Although, I have to take her into the shop on Thursday so that sucks.
HAPPY SPRING, Y’ALL!