The Pitch Pipe - January 2009 - (Page 1A) By Renée Porzel, Melodeers Chorus, Region 3 Sudoku are logic-based numberplacement puzzles that has become wildly popular in the last decade. The objective is to fill a 9X9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3X3 boxes contains the digits from 1 to 9 only one time each. They are in the newspaper, books and available online. Solving them takes practice, patience, concentration and a system to figure out the answer. This sounds oddly familiar … Choreographers are charged with developing a visual plan that: 1. Is easily remembered. 2. Supports the musical plan the director wants. 3. Makes sense to the chorus members. 4. Matches the chorus personality. 5. Is congruent with the character in the story. 6. Works well with the chorus costume. 7. Involves facial animation that tells the story of the lyrics. 8. Helps the tempo of the song. 9. Makes every chorus member look great while she is singing with con- sistent vocal skills! That’s nine different elements — Choreography Sudoku! It is a daunting task to satisfy all of these elements. Our choruses are filled with members who love to dance and members who would do anything to avoid it. We have singers who have studied dance standing right next to someone who has never danced in her life. We have members that cover a wide spectrum of skill and experience. It’s the choreographers’ job to design moves that will enhance the musical plan and help her chorus members embody the character and style of each song while singing their hearts out. A tall order — but you can do it! The most important thing to do for yourself and your team throughout the year is to absorb inspiration from every source imaginable. Spend some time attending dance programs, searching Youtube.com for creative and interesting videos, and studying movies and musicals for staging ideas. Collect as many videos and/or DVDs of Sweet Adelines performances as you can find. They are an excellent source for selftraining and new ideas. Contact your Regional Management Team to find out if your region has a library of videos you can borrow, or purchase videos and DVDs of International Chorus Contests from International Sales. Start building your idea library today and file away every visual image that catches your attention. You may never actually form a pyramid with your front row but you might find a way to create the illusion that you have built one right on stage. As you study, avoid getting caught up in analyzing the song, the costume, or the singers with the intent of copying exactly what they are doing. Instead, allow the creativity of other performing ensembles to ignite your imagination. The “How-To Book of Choreography” would take years to write and be thousands of pages long because there are so many different visual details. However, we can learn by watching performances and looking for elements to incorporate in our own planning. The following clips from Harmony Classic 2008 and the chorus semi-finals in Honolulu 2008 highlight pieces of choreography that work well for these particular groups. These ideas are not the only things that will work with these songs, nor are they being suggested as perfect moves to satisfy a judging panel. Appreciate them as a 1A Digital Edition Feature http://www.Youtube.com
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