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Discuss your development within commercial over past ten weeks
Over the past ten weeks, I believe I have made improvements in the commercial style, I definitely still have a long way to go, but progress has been made. Previously I struggled majorly with picking up and retaining choreography, I noticed that I would always depend on mirrors or my peripheral vision to look at others. Recently I have not been doing that as often, I have been trying out new ways to find a technique that works for me. When marking or drilling, I do the arm work as full out as possible, in the space provided, this definitely helps with my muscle memory. The next step after getting the choreography correct, would be to add individual style and flavour into the choreography. This will make it more unique and entertaining as well as using levels and dynamics.
Previously I would be too focused on trying pick up the steps that I don’t work on my performance at all, I had a bad habit of looking at the floor. I believe performance is the main area that needs improvement for me. Although it’s a small progression, I try to make a conscious effort to at least have a raised eyeline and look present. When I am feeling the choreography e.g., cute heels dance, I naturally use my face a little, but as a training performer, it needs to be a lot more obvious.
My ability to adapt to new skills has improved. I used to find many commercial styles e.g., afro and street dance very uncomfortable and awkward to do. I just put it in my head that I didn’t like it and that the styles didn’t suit me. I now really enjoy afro and dancehall routines. Although there are styles that I'm still not too keen on e.g., break and street dancing, I do understand the technique and the characteristics a lot better. I try my best to learn new techniques and understand that not everything is going to look pretty and comfortable, like how I would feel in a jazz routine. One of the most difficult routines this year was ‘Vybz Kartel- dancehall piece’, because it was very masculine and nothing like I'd ever done before. In the first lesson I practically marked the routine the whole way through as my body just couldn't do the moments. The second time we did the routine I took time to look at the detail and characteristics of the style which made it a bit easier to do. I was a lot my grounded and put the energy in the right places as opposed to having the same dynamics the whole way through.
I'd like to think that my posture and technique has improved the most during these ten weeks. I would never engage my abdominal muscles which created an arch in my back. Due to the fact that my back is quite flexible it extenuated the arch and it looked very unpleasant especially in commercial styles such as jazz. In jazz I now make an effort to apply technique as well as performance into the routine instead of just focusing on how high I can make the jumps and kicks.
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