Fiona Carlone Fall Concert Reflection 11/25/19

As an entirety, I feel that the Fall Dance Concert went extremely well. As a performer,

observer, and peer I did the job that I set out to do. After getting an opportunity to critically

analyze the pieces I performed, I see many things that I was strong in, and others that I can

improve upon.

As an individual in the freshman/sophomore group piece I feel I held my own amongst

my peers. I was able to stand out in my dancing in a positive way. My stage presence lent itself

to this. In class, the goal was to focus on each of the technical elements of the piece. Spacing,

timing, and the general choreography occupied our time in class periods. During this time, I

struggled to focus on the performance aspect of the dance. The message and the meaning.

Before both shows, I reminded myself that performing was one of the biggest parts of putting

on a show for the audience. I knew the choreography, that was not a problem for me. All I had

to do now was perform, and I feel I accomplished this well. A similar instance applied in my

solo. Throughout rehearsals I was so focused on technique, I did not take the time to analyze

my character. After watching the video, I feel I embodied the goal of “looking within” the

standards surrounding women in society. The video camera, which was set all the way in the

back, was able to pick up on my emotion that I so meticulously analyzed. This means that I

projected my emotion from the stage to the back of the auditorium. On Friday night, I put my

all into my choreography, but also into my own personal feelings. As far as technical

commodities go, the solo looked much cleaner than I thought it did. I was happy with my

control and spot, as well as my use of head-to-tail connection and upper body movement.

Overall, this was accomplished in the cleanest way I could manage.

Fiona Carlone Fall Concert Reflection 11/25/19

Of course, the performance was not a perfect one. In my personal performance, I saw

many mistakes. While I was able to stand out as an individual and a performer, I noticed my

spacing and timing did not always adhere to the rest of the dancers. Many dancers went on

their own personal timing, for a lack of knowing the correct counts. I should not have done the

same. Regardless of what the timing is or isn’t, I need to follow my other dancers lead in the

future. Working and dancing together makes the pieces cleaner and stronger. In the duet part

with Madelyn, we both stayed together, watched each other, and moved as one.IN parts such

as the retrograde, this did not apply as well. Our spacing was slightly off and you could easily

tell who was confident in the counts and who was not. A big part of what I wish I could’ve

improved in my solo was my isolations. When I first created the video of my solo, my isolations

were clean, but as practice went on, they got muddier. On stage, most everything was clean,

but my isolations were a little unclear in the focus of them. They needed just slightly more

refinement and they would’ve created such a nice effect to the audience. IN the technical area,

I wish I would’ve stretched more through my feet at certain moments. My legs stretched, my

body flowed, but sometimes my feet broke this line I tried to create. This helps me to set a goal

of working more and more on my feet for future performances and opportunities. IN a group

piece, it can be easier to hide a detail like this, but when it is just one performer, it needs to be

cleaned and corrected methodically.

The audience is always an important part of being a dancer. The audience can fuel the

adrenaline of performing. It can create butterflies and nervous energy. On Thursday night we

had a smaller, but somewhat appreciative audience. They clapped at the proper times and

cheered when the dancer was clean and energetic. I did feel, however, that they were not
Fiona Carlone Fall Concert Reflection 11/25/19

always sure of what was good and what was bad. One of the best parts of an audience is having

an animated one, and I did feel that they were dry throughout many beautiful pieces. Friday’s

audience did not disappoint. While still not extremely large, they were very expressive. I

noticed that they gave the most love for the solos, which is a wonderful sign for the dancers.

During our group piece, they whooped and hollered during some of the especially stunning

parts. This gave affirmation that what we were doing was aesthetic and interesting.

The Fall Dance Concert was a joy to be a part of. I look forward to furthering my journey

with Ms. Little and my fellow dancers.