Friday Lessons

Revue

Light theatrical entertainment consisting of a series of dances, songs and variety acts.


- Fun
- Thematic
- Strong facial expression/character

There's No Business Like Show Business

Which actions demonstrate different styles?

- can can, kicks, clapping
- use of skirt holding
- hair, bell ringing

Scottish:
Traditional scottish dancing

French:
Traditional can-can, high kicks

Big Finale:
- everyone on stage
- colour scheme


Easter Parade
Drum crazy:
How does Fred Astaire use prop?
- Incorporates the setting (toy shop) into the choreography
- Uses the drums to create routine
- Adds drum playing into routine and also uses them to hold and dance with
- Used moving and non-moving objects e.g jumping on the desk, hitting feet on drums
- Used drums to change dynamic
- Effortless when using props
- Used the child to turn
- Used rabbit to turn

A Couple of Swells
How do the two dancers show characterization?



- through prop/costume teeth, hats, coats - beggers, poor
- stylistic features, the way they walk etc.
- satirical, pretending to be rich
- strong facial expressions - raising up chin
- physical, sticking out pinkies
- actions match lyrics "sail down the avenue" etc



Singin' In The Rain
Make 'em laugh:

How does the dancer show comedy?

- weird jumps, floor movements
- contact with person he wants to make laugh
- funny up movements, facial expression
- falling, fake fight and contact with pillow figure/rag doll
- spins on the floor
- flips off the wall, then goes through the wall
- random mistakes, slapstick
- taking the mick out of himself
- actions do not match words

Duet between Gene Kelly and Cyd Cherise - Dream Sequence:

How does she show her personality through movement?

- Hip wiggles/bum shake
- Shimmy
- kicking of objects
- interacts closely to him then stops at last minute, playing hard to get, teasing
- quite bitchy, up herself personality

Gentleman Prefer Blondes

Diamonds are a girls best friend:

Which steps are often used in the choreography of a large scale musical theatre production number?

Spins, hip bounces, poses, chest touching, shimmy, hand shakes, hops/leaps, kicks, hand on hips upside down, arm rotations, active stillness

White Christmas

Mandy:

Uses claps, step turns, box step, knee claps, body ripples, hand twirls, shoulder popping, stamps, long walks/steps, leans, leg extensions, back bends/high releases, step ball change, lifts

Gee, I wish I was back in the army:

Uses triple step, arm gestures, linking arms, contact gestures, marching, cross steps, facial expressions, twists, jive based steps, bends, falls, use of props

Moulin Rouge
ACTION:
- Slaps roses away as she is not interested in romance, only material goods

SPACE:
- Use of level, main character higher up than everyone else through lifts and staging which shows authority and her thinking she is better than everyone else
- The moments where she was being lifted by everyone flying around at beginning in the high up chair

DYNAMICS:
- sharp hands and arm gestures
- fast paced, upbeat
- matched the music
- frantic, wild, excitable mood through dynamic

RELATIONSHIPS:
- audience were rich men, all wanted the same thing which was her
- drawing people towards her then pushing them away, teasing

Viva La Diva
What can you do with a cane?

Isolations, walk with it, spin holding it, twiddle it, tap dance with it, tap the cane on the floor, windmill with it, lean with it, make rhythms with it, pose with it

What can you do with a chair?

Lean on/off the chair, walk round it, jump off it, spin/drag/move it, stand on it, push down on it, pose on it, isolations, sit on it

Vaudeville & Review History

Vaudeville was a variety show which was extremely popular in America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Vaudeville was a form of light comedy and satirical songs, which was much more respectable than the burlesque show. It usually included 10 to 15 acts which featured dancers, singers, comedians, acrobats, magicians and trained animals. Humorous sketches were also performed by a variety of performers, and they were each on stage for around five minutes at one time.

Vaudeville became a very popular form of entertainment for families, and this was because it wasn't offensive to men, women and children. Acts who violated rules were dismissed.

Vaudeville's decline was caused due to the popularity of radio ad motion pictures, therefore many established performers moved into the new and improved media. However, shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live continue the traditions of vaudeville.

Revue began in the 1890s and was originally a collection of songs, dances, comic interludes, sketches and short plays. It was different to to variety as the acts were linked by a topical idea or theme.

In 1903, the latest dance craze was created due to the first black revue 'In Dahomey' being performed at the Shaftesbury Theatre, introducing 'The Cakewalk'. The revue 'Blackbird' starring Florence Mills also became a successful box office in 1926.

Some music halls then introduced revue as part of their regular programmes, and they featured very large casts and extreme sets. By 1912, revues were very common because they included the latest American ragtime songs like 'Everybody's Doing It' and 'Alexanders Ragtime Band'. The first big American-style spectacular revue show was 'Hullo Rag-Time' in 1912.

Revue then became the perfect entertainment for post-World War I (1914-18) audiences as they wanted topical, light, fast-moving and sophisticated entertainment. A more intimate revue then developed, and this showed wit and style rather than music and spectacle. The two biggest producers of intimate revue in the 1920s and 30s were C.B Cochran and Andre Charlot. Cochran produced 'Odds and Ends' in 1914 which starred the French actress Alice Delysia and ran for over 500 performances.

Andre Charlot introduced big-scale revue at the Empire Theatre before Chochran's intimiate revues. Andre was inspired by their success, and so he branched out on his own. He introduced young talent in Beatrice Lillie, Gertrude Lawrence, Jessie Matthews and Jack Buchanan. His writers included Noel Coward. Many Charlot revues then toured to America and therefore British revue stars enjoyed a high profile on both sides of the Atlantic.

http://dance.about.com/od/historyofdance/f/Vaudeville.htm

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/theatrical-revue/