Blog Post 3 - Costumes

Costuming is an essential part of dance, and so it is very important that as a dancer I know how to repair, care for and maintain them. This may mean sewing and gluing. Sewing is most suitable for structural repairs on thinner fabrics. Gluing is better for quick fixes, like reapplying sequins and appliques on thicker and more durable fabrics. 

Two very commonly used cleaning agents are soap/detergents and chlorine. Three types of fabric that are commonly used for dance costumes are Lycra, cotton and chiffon. Detergents don't have an effect on Lycra as long as there are no softeners, can shrink cotton in the wrong drying conditions and no effects on chiffon. Chlorine can bleach Lycra and chiffon, and thin cotton.

CUAMUP301 Task One Hair and Makeup

When preparing my personal appearance for a performance it is incredibly important that I consider the manner of which I conduct my personal and work required health and safety. Workplace health and safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. In the case of preparing for a dance performance this means that many precautions must be taken when doing makeup and hair. These health and safety requirements are having a towel down to protect surfaces and keep products sanitary, cleaning products after use, allergy testing each product prior to full application, not sharing products that may lead to dangerous cross-contamination, spacial awareness when spraying aerosol products and cleaning work space during and after use. By implementing all of these, a healthy and safe workplace can be maintained.

It is incredibly important that lighting is considered in the application of stage makeup. This due to the potential that light has to impact the tone, colour and expression of a dancer. The three point lighting system is the fundamental system of lighting, being built of the natural perception of light to create shapes and dimension. This lighting system requires a light on the side of an object to create depth, called a fill light. In dance performance lighting there is more fill light and so to compensate for the lack of depth make up is used to define the line and shadows of the face. Further, due to the intensity of the lights on the dancers, makeup must be heavier and darker as to be apparent. Colour is another lighting element that impacts makeup application. If the colour of the light and the colour of the makeup match then you will be washed out.

When using makeup on such a regular basis it is important to know what it contains and how it impacts your skin and hair. Two ingredients generally found in makeup are emulsifiers and preservatives. Emulsifiers are used to keep water and oils from separating in make up products. Preservatives in makeup are used to stop the product from spoiling. These same ingredients can be found in hair products and ultimately they don't impact the skin and hair in any negative way.

Makeup is a pivotal part of developing character in a performance. The look and appearance is the most identifiable part of a character. By simply applying makeup a person can become a different person, different gender or different species. I use a variety of basic makeup application techniques to define my physical features for a performance such as; blending, contouring and highlighting.

Overall, makeup is an essential part of dance and performing.

CUAMUP301 Task One Various role and responsibilities of the production team

There are many people that work together to make a production, on stage and off. Some roles are more obvious than others. But none the less, they all work equally as hard and are all equally important in creating a good performance. Some of these roles include but are not limited to- choreographer, costume/set designer, dance performer, lighting designer/technical, producer, director and makeup artist. 

The first and most obvious role is the dance performer. This is a dancer who goes through an auditioning process to be chosen to get on stage and dance, to the requirements of the choreographer, director and producer.

The choreographer is the person who choreographs the movements of a dance performer, based on the intentions of the director and producer.

The director and producer have similar roles, although still very different. The director is the person you give instructions on the stage performance part of the production. A producer is the person/company in charge of a production as a whole, meaning the auditions, the location and performance space, the story and more is all run by the producer. This includes the funding and economic outcome of the production.

More behind the scenes, there is the lighting designer- who chosen the way the stage is lit, the costume and set designer- who chooses props and what the dancers wear, and the makeup artist that chooses the appearance of the dancers. All following the guidance of the director and producer.

In my performance career I have performed in quite a few different venues, under varying conditions. Most of the performances that I have been apart of were with a dance school. Based on the school I was at the performance was reflective of the school. While at quite larger schools with larger productions the performance would generally be a better experience, being more organised and prepared, with greater success, not many production mishaps and a more enjoyable overall experience. With smaller productions that I have been apart of, the whole production will seem rushed; costumes being handed out the day before performance, incomplete and changing choreography in rehearsals and general lack of organisation. Due to this the main issue that will occur is that there will be a lot of frustration and tension, which leads to the decreasing attitudes of the performers. Another issue that can be apparent is that when stress builds safe dance practise gets put to the side, causing lots of injury both minor  and major. A way to overcome these issues is to be self aware of your physical and mental health. While this won't contribute the way a production is arrange, it will give you the ability to handle any issues thrown your way. In regards to issues with production organisation, you can always air you opinions to an informant. In conjunction, making lists and organising elements of your control can put you a step ahead.

Mock Auditions

Over a couple of past weeks in term three we had mock auditions. These assessments were probably the ones that I was most nervous for. I feel like I did better than I had expected, although there is still a lot of room for improvement.
The part that  I found to be the most challenging was the improvisation. Improv is something that I would previously approach with a lot of nerves, but after working on some techniques in one of our course units I feel a little bit more comfortable with it.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience, with lots of knew knowledge.

Mid Year

Here is an image from the finale of the 2019 RAW Company Mid-Year Performance. There were a lot of ups and downs , both on and off stage. But of course,  everyone pulled through and we were able to pull of a great show. I had a lot of fun during this performance and the environment was very different to the usual high tension nerves. There was a very chill and relaxed vibe and I feel that was conveyed well to the audience, with lots of great feedback about the overall performance.

Preformance Make Up Assessment

In this week we got a break from the regular work load and had the opportunity to learn some different. The lesson that we had with Dyan was very enjoyable, with lots of new and helpful information. Below you can see some of the work that our lesson led up to; the Mid-Year performance makeup.