Saturday, October 24, 2009

Opening "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown"

Friday October 23rd TDAC Junior Company opened for the Old School Theater's production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Students took the stage at 6:45 and presented a 15 minute performance of works from their Western Show. Rumor has it the crowd was the largest yet! Students did an excellent job on staged and off. Our performance has multiple dancers in multiple dances. Many of the students have to rush to change their costumes in about 50 seconds. Their quick change speed was amazing. Practice makes perfect.

As we do each performance I see the students beginning to understand "performance" and "theater" a little bit more. This is exciting because the intentions for the TDAC company are to teach children how to translate the art of dance to the stage. So often we come into class and focus on the feet or the legs. We forget there are other important part of the bodies. First of all the breath. Dancing with out breath is like singing without breath. To breathe properly while dancing can bring a work of choreography alive. We also tend to forget about our finger tips which extends the line of arm infinitely. Last but not least, our faces. We are presenting ourselves as entertainment to our audience. Our faces should reflect the mood in which we are trying to translate through our movement.

There are may other aspects of this performance company that I hope our students take away from their experience in the company this year.

1 Responsibility: It is a Performers responsibility to:
- Remember their choreography
-Always be at every rehearsal and show BEFORE call time.
-Remember dates, performance, rehearsals, etc
- To take care of their "tools" (costume, make up, shoes, etc)

This responsibility doesn't only effect the individual dancer, but the whole group. Anytime a performer forgets one of the key points above it becomes a hinder on the company as a whole.

2. Respect
- Respect yourself and be proud of your accomplishments
- Respect your elders, instructors, producers, and directors
- Respect your "tools"
- Respect your "Teammates".

Being in a company can sometimes be translated like a sports team. If you were to show up to a soccer game without your shin guards after warm ups would your coach let you play? If you weren't allowed to play and you were your teams only goalie would that hinder your team?


We hope that through programs such as the TDAC company that we can begin to establish a foundation for a performer. You're never too young to learn and utilize the characteristics of a great performer or teammate.

The program is free to all students and rehearsals are a minimum of once a week. We've taken a "come one come all approach" opening our arms to introducing our students to this experience.

See the Company Perform Again:

Saturday October 31 1:00-2:00
Pumpkin Festival- Downtown Franklin
City Hall Stage

FREE

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