Emma’s last day…

Day 3
During the final day of my work placement I was able to watch Adaire to Dance in rehearsals for 3fold, as well as taking part in the new free open company class.
 
During the Adaire to Dance rehearsal I had the chance to warm up with the company. They then went onto watching the previous performance of 3fold to familiarise themselves with the choreography. I then observed the rehearsal which gave me the opportunity to see how they worked with the choreography and adapted it for
the next performance. This also gave me a chance to watch Alice in action as the artistic director to see how she approaches the choreography as well as the quality of the choreography she creates.
 
The rehearsals for Adaire to Dance were fascinating to watch. It was brilliant to see the level and standard professional dancers work at and I am now aware of the level I need to work towards to gain the technical ability.

 

The dancers worked quickly with Alice when changing the choreography, and I also gained an understanding of how it helps to step out of the choreography and allow the dancers to play with the choreography in order to see what works and then adapt what the dancers do in order to fit the style of the piece.
 
After this we then took an hour in the office to look at more auditionees. This was useful as it followed the company rehearsals, so I now know how the audition process needs to be as the dancers Alice employ will need the same strong technical ability and be able to fit in with the company. Alice also showed me examples of

strong cv’s and letters of interest.

 

Finally I was able to take part in the open company class. This was a great opportunity as it is designed to give dancers a taster of how Adaire work. I really enjoyed the class as I got to work in the style of Adaire to Dance and dance along side other dancers who are working towards or who are in the industry. I will defiantly go the the open class again and recommend other dancers to try it out.

 

Thank you to Alice Vale for giving me the opportunity to do a placement with Adaire to Dance

Emma’s day two…

Day 2
 
The second day of the work placement allowed me to observe Alice more in her role as the artistic director of Adaire to Dance and as the resident artist at deda.

The day included an Interview where I was able to interview Alice to find out more about the running of a professional company. We also spent some in the office at deda which gave me an insight into the audition process and promotion side of deda.

Finally I was able to shadow Alice during Bounceback (a auditioned youth dance company for 13-19 year olds, run by Déda) This gave me the chance to see what it is like to be a tutor for a dance house like Déda and what they offer to your aspiring dancers.
 
From day 2, I was able to gain knowledge of how a professional company is run, gaining a greater understanding of the role Alice plays within her company and at Déda. I found it interesting to find out the type of dancers which Alice is looking for to join Adaire to Dance in the upcoming auditions. Also the Bounceback shadowing was very
useful as I was able to witness new teaching and training techniques in order to engage her students as well as increasing their ability.

Emma observes Adaire in action…

A few words from Emma, our work placement this week…

 

My name is Emma Turner, I am currently a third year dance student. I have taken up a three day work placement with Adaire to Dance in order to gain an understanding of what it is like to be a part of a professional dance company and how a professional dance company is run.

Day 1
Day 1 of the work placement with Adaire to dance was the filming of ‘cut to the chase’. ‘cut to the chase’ is a project done in the style of a silent movie and pop up theatre as part of a refurbishment of the Pavilion theatre at Matlock Bath.

I contributed to the perpetration of the filming for example clearing the theatre, walking around the space in order for the camera to be set up in the correct space. Finally I watched the rehearsals for the filming which gave me an incite into the style of dance they would be using for the film. 

During the filming I filmed the performance for Adaire to dance for their own documentation.
I felt that I benefited from watching the filming process for ‘cut to the chase’ as I was able to gain a better understanding of Adaire to dance’s style of which they move in. Also I found it interesting to watch the process of how a dance for camera project works and the time scale for that type of project.

I really enjoyed watching the filming as it was useful to not only witness a dance for camera piece being made but the style of the piece allowed me to see how well the mixture of gesture along side of contemporary dance worked. I felt this enhanced the film because of the old fashioned style of film it was supposed to be.