My Musical Experience as a Dancer
By Devon and Faye
I really enjoyed my experience of Calamity Jane in the school.We started auditions for the main roles when we got back from Halloween break. I went to audition and in the audition I had to sing and act out a scene. The weeks before this we would do acting and dancing workshops in school so we could get a feel of the musical. the evening after we auditioned, people got called back.
Soon after that they told us everyone else's parts and I was very pleased. I was chosen as a dancer along with 14 other girls. Eleanor, the producer, brought us to her studio on Friday and Saturday evenings to learn our routines. We all picked up the choreography very well and really came together as a group. Our first routine we learned was the Can-Can and that was my favourite routine. We had 5 dances altogether, which took a lot of time and effort to perfect but in the end it was very well worth it.
Shortly after the Halloween break, we had to begin gathering costumes. The cowboys and chorus boys had to form their own outfits by getting chequered flannel shirts, brown/beige trousers, cowboy boots and hats and waistcoats. The lead roles received costumes from Eleanor as did the chorus girls, who wore long sleeve dresses that were many different colours and patterns with petticoats underneath. The dance troupe also received three different costumes. I loved how we had more than one costume because the rush of outfit changes excited me so much and made me feel like I was really a part of a musical. Our first costume was for the opening of the show and they were also used for our Can Can costumes. Each member of the dance troupe got either a red, blue or satin blue dress with colourful ruffles underneath and with fishnet tights and a feather hairband. Our second costume was a yellow dress with a tulle skirt, and we wore daisy hairbands and a yellow garter on our right arm. Our third and final costume was a long sleeve maid’s dress, coloured black and white with buttons, with a colourful duster as a prop. My favourite costume was the yellow dress because it made me feel like a real dancer.
Everyone was in the 5 chorus numbers which we practiced in school. We had to learn dances and songs for these numbers,so the chorus routines were definitely the hardest to master. We had different costumes for different routines. Especially the dancers, we definitely had the most costume changes. But we didn't mind. For the dress rehearsal and photoshoot we would have to come in, in full face of make-up which meant getting up at 6 in the morning to get ready, that part was definitely hard.
Our show was on Thursday 22nd, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th of November. All together we had 4 shows. They all went smoothly On the Thursday we did the play for some primary schools, one of which was Annaghdown, which is the primary school I went to and I remember going to two musicals while in primary school, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat". On Friday our first show was for primary and secondary schools again. Then the one in the evening was for adults and anyone who wanted to come. It was the same for Saturday.
After our last performance on Saturday, we had a disco in the canteen for everyone involved. They had Capri-Suns and chocolate bars for us. The canteen was lit up with fairy lights and that went on for around an hour. I got a lot of things out of doing the musical. I made new friends, learned to work with a team and grew closer to people. So overall it was a great experience and definitely the highlight of TY so far.
Soon after that they told us everyone else's parts and I was very pleased. I was chosen as a dancer along with 14 other girls. Eleanor, the producer, brought us to her studio on Friday and Saturday evenings to learn our routines. We all picked up the choreography very well and really came together as a group. Our first routine we learned was the Can-Can and that was my favourite routine. We had 5 dances altogether, which took a lot of time and effort to perfect but in the end it was very well worth it.
Shortly after the Halloween break, we had to begin gathering costumes. The cowboys and chorus boys had to form their own outfits by getting chequered flannel shirts, brown/beige trousers, cowboy boots and hats and waistcoats. The lead roles received costumes from Eleanor as did the chorus girls, who wore long sleeve dresses that were many different colours and patterns with petticoats underneath. The dance troupe also received three different costumes. I loved how we had more than one costume because the rush of outfit changes excited me so much and made me feel like I was really a part of a musical. Our first costume was for the opening of the show and they were also used for our Can Can costumes. Each member of the dance troupe got either a red, blue or satin blue dress with colourful ruffles underneath and with fishnet tights and a feather hairband. Our second costume was a yellow dress with a tulle skirt, and we wore daisy hairbands and a yellow garter on our right arm. Our third and final costume was a long sleeve maid’s dress, coloured black and white with buttons, with a colourful duster as a prop. My favourite costume was the yellow dress because it made me feel like a real dancer.
Everyone was in the 5 chorus numbers which we practiced in school. We had to learn dances and songs for these numbers,so the chorus routines were definitely the hardest to master. We had different costumes for different routines. Especially the dancers, we definitely had the most costume changes. But we didn't mind. For the dress rehearsal and photoshoot we would have to come in, in full face of make-up which meant getting up at 6 in the morning to get ready, that part was definitely hard.
Our show was on Thursday 22nd, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th of November. All together we had 4 shows. They all went smoothly On the Thursday we did the play for some primary schools, one of which was Annaghdown, which is the primary school I went to and I remember going to two musicals while in primary school, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat". On Friday our first show was for primary and secondary schools again. Then the one in the evening was for adults and anyone who wanted to come. It was the same for Saturday.
After our last performance on Saturday, we had a disco in the canteen for everyone involved. They had Capri-Suns and chocolate bars for us. The canteen was lit up with fairy lights and that went on for around an hour. I got a lot of things out of doing the musical. I made new friends, learned to work with a team and grew closer to people. So overall it was a great experience and definitely the highlight of TY so far.