Alston - Overdrive

This dance was about angles, energy and use of different directions. Whole piece looked really good and our, as a group, dynamics were really good. Most of them time my angles were really sharp. I found use of different directions to be a bit difficult in the beginning, I used to lose my balance, but I did improve :)

During whole dance I was really focussed and confident, my face probably showed it and I really wanted audience to notice it.

I think that in 1st section’s first phrases of this piece my timing wasn't really good, unfortunately. Also I remember that at one moment I lost my balance, so I didn't extend a move as I could, but it wasn't really noticeable for the audience. My feet could be more pointed and I think I should have put more energy in the beginning when we were running through our first phrases. I remember that I tried my best with putting energy but maybe because I was quite nervous in the beginning and it happened because when we just went on a stage I saw that the audience was really big. Although it didn't look like I did during a few moments. I found it easy to do back kicks when I put my arms up and then flipped them to the back and at the same time kicked my leg back and spinned 180 degrees, but it was harder to do a butterfly because I didn't feel that I spin my arms enough and a jump could be higher. A rond de gambe move was quite difficult as well, it was hard to keep my back straight and turn 180 degrees when my one leg should have been straight and on 90 degrees in the air.

Mine and Cagla's part looked really good and it was really strong, even face expressions have improved, angles were really clear. Crossings with Ruth, Sonia, Daneille and Nancie were quite good, but at one moment I needed some more space, because of it I accidently hit Daneille, but I did not lose my focus and carried on.

I think we did really well in creating our motifs because it looked really nice with the whole piece. 

I really like how I performed in Section 2 in first and second phrases. My moves were sudden and strong, but they could be more extended. But I found it hard to do the jump in last phrase. My jump in last phrase should have been more high and extended, leg wasn't straight. Also I had a lack of space in 3rd phrase when we all run to the one corner.

Also I really liked our going on and off stage. Especially before repeating the first section. We did a circle thing and it looked really nice, I did a great dancers walk ! And going off stage after the first section looked interesting, when we directed our arms to the left and half of us run in that direction and other half run to the other side, it looked as a good opening for Nancie's and Daneilles section as well.

Here are couple pictures from our rehearsals:

We practised a lot especially on the day before performance and it did show its results.  To be honest, in the beginning of rehearsals I didn't really feel this music, and in order to dance at the same time for the whole group we used to not listen to the music beats, but to watch at certain people and start at the same time as they do. My weakness was lack of energy, moves were not extended enough and angles were not sharp enough. But in the end I got it and I was happy that I learnt all the moves, and didn't forget them. There were quite a lot of them :)

In my opinion during the last term my flexibility has improved and my pointed toes improved a bit. Also my balance got better, but I still need to work on these things. After this performance I really saw that my class can do really well and it encourages me to learn more and more dances, it kind of motivates me to work harder.

I'm setting myself a couple targets to improve my dancing in future dances:

• Add more energy (I will do it by going  to sleep earlier so I can get enough sleep and energy, also eat more fruits :D)
• Work on flexibility (I will do stretching exercises every day, even if I don’t have a dance lesson)
• Work on balance (there are some good exercises to improve it: http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Balance-Through-Exercise)
• Be focused during every lesson
• Look more carefully at my spacing next time