On the 15th January we had our plenary with Anton, Melissa and sue. They started off asking what I would like to do as a job in dance which I answered, musical theatre, cruise ships and commercial jobs like X factor and EMAS.
Anton feedback- Good to work with and hard working and really progressed since first year. He explained that my muscles are now working and shape of my leg is changing. However now he wants me to focus on shining and artistry to add to my technique. He explained I need to be confident in my work as it good and should show off. He finished off by saying he is really happy with me and to continue how I am going.
Melissa feedback- work really well, always in classes and working hard in all classes, my technique has come on really well and she has noticed my legs have changed shape. However she has said I need to work on my feet and stretching them in my own time now and focus pushing my flexibility by over stretching to push my muscles further. Melissa explained I am at a stage where i can start wearing heels in any classes like in ajs classes to challenge myself and start wearing tight clothes to show of my figure.
Sue- sue explained I have come so far since Btec my technique was improved so much and she is really happy with my progression. Now she wants me to focus on becoming a professional in all lessons and using last months of second year really becoming an Individual. She explained she will start sending me to auditions near the end of second year and third year but really push now in the last months.
REFLECTION FROM SEPTEMBER-NOVEMEBR
From September to November we have a had a range of different classes pushing us to be versatile in each style. As a dancer I feel like I have become a lot more confident when performing as it was something I was struggling with in my first year, even though it still is not where I want it to be I am not afraid of doing it in front of others. However it is now time to push it even further bringing it more into my technical classes as I believe they are harder to portray compared to my commercial classes. I can improve this by practicing them in my core technique classes, watching videos of the styles assessing how other dancers perform. Flexibility is not something that comes naturally to me and has been something I have been trying to push throughout my training. As I am in full time training we do a lot on our legs in terms of fitness and dance which means we do not do enough stretching. So, as this is my weakness I have been concentrating purely on that, I have cut out some extra classes to ensure I have more time to spend on stretching, I have been doing it at the gym in the sauna, after classes and at night using stretch bands, also participating in hot yoga. Even though it has got better I do still believe this is a weakness and I will continue to push it further to get to where I want to be by stretching for an hour every night. In terms of strengths, my pick up stands out to me and I feel this is a strength due to all the classes I have taken extra from training. This is a good strength as it will come useful when I go for auditions as you always learn it in a quick amount of time. My goal for the upcoming months is to be in all three splits and to continue have a positive mind set in everything I am faced with as I feel this is where I will this a main improvement.
Aaliyah Baker Core Technique Blog 