The Pitch Pipe - January 2009 - (Page 4A) plan they are presenting. There is a fun moment of featuring the director followed by a totally smooth re-entry into the song. Her direction as she turns around is clear and right in the tempo the chorus needs to return to in order to keep the performance going. Consistent Energy Energy is one of the descriptors in every category and is the lifeblood of our performances. Our challenge is to have energy that is flowing freely every moment equally across the ensemble. It takes a lot of repetition and stamina building to bring our highest energy to the stage. Choreography can add or subtract energy — depending on where and how we use it in our moves. Buffalo Gateway (Region 16) explodes with infectious energy at the beginning of this clip and they maintain it. They are enjoying performing and the choreography happens with ease. It is unified and performed in character. We can see and feel youthful exuberance. They’ve allowed energy to help them establish audience rapport. Dancing During An Accelerando Special attention has to be given to planning moves during an accelerando section. A common mistake is to have the choreography speed up along with the singing. This often causes the chords to be out of sync and the musical effect to be compromised. The body doesn’t have to be moving faster just because the speed of the music is picking up. In fact, it is a good idea to see if you can cut the moves in half as the tempo increases. This will allow the singers to keep singer faster and faster but avoid having their bodies look frantic or frenetic as they accomplish this musical embellishment. Watch Channelaire Chorus (Region 11) show off this technique on their accelerando in Alabamy Bound. They start with sectioned moves that travel across the chorus like a train. As the train picks up speed they wisely do the same train-type arm movement two times in a row at the same speed. The visual helps us picture the train and the voices let us know the train is getting faster. these techniques. Their front row and risers do the same moves throughout 90 percent of their visu al plans. The front row comes downstage when they are needed to add another visual layer to the character development. They return to the risers at the end of a musical phrase and come back out again when the music or story calls for it. The blend of front row and riser involvement makes a complete picture that involves all the singers. Small and mid-size choruses can adopt these techniques when deciding how best to use their front rows. The most important consideration is the effect their dancing has on the musical product. Be aware of how your front row movement alters the sound of the chorus, and use them accordingly. Front Row Involvement Every chorus has their own method for using the front row to enhance their performance. Some choruses like to feature their front row and use them as the main characters, while others use their front row to enhance the character and energy of the riser singers as they perform. Some groups like to have their front rows downstage for their whole song while others keep them at the risers. The Melodeers Chorus (Region 3) uses a combination of These ten examples merely scratch the surface of ingredients that go into a visual plan. There are so many things to learn about using comedy, props, parodies and choreographing ballads and TAGS! Check the Web site for future articles! Developing choreography that satisfies all of components listed earlier is very much like figuring out a puzzle. It takes practice, patience, concentration and a system to develop the stage ready version that allows the true personality of your director and chorus to shine through. Each time you begin to design choreography you accept the challenge of finding the solution to the puzzle. Enjoy the process and continue trying new ideas. Your members will enjoy it and your audiences will love it! Digital Edition Feature 4A
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