Thread: Troupe rehearsals for competition

If any of you have done a competition as a troupe, what sort of rehearsal schedule did you have prior to competing? (times per month, per week, hours per session)

Thanks!

Not just a competition either - a big important show maybe, just something that you wanted to be super "on" for as a group.

I was fortunate enough to be a member of a Troupe that won the BD of the Year 2 times, the BD of the Universe and a few more competitions (Troupe Sahah) and the instructor for the winning trio one year at the BD of the Year Pageant as well. (Troupe Shamilla) What you really should consider is using a video or DVD of your rehersals to see where you need to work on things. Watch for hands, arms, intensity of moves, even see if the shimmies are done the same way.
DO practice in your competition costumes and DO perform your competion number as much as you can for the public even if it means doing a few free-bees to pin everything down. If you have the stage info, tape off a space the same size as your stage and practice in it.
The day of the competition, try and watch a few dancers, see where the light falls off and avoid the dark areas if you can. Dont use low stage lights if you can avoid it, better bright than dim and again, use your video to review with your group the weak spots.
Good luck have fun with it!

Ouroboros - what have you got up your chiffon sleeve?? I'm excited for you, sounds exciting!

When we have a big show (we haven't delved into competing yet, but we will soon!) we usually rehearse twice a week for three or four weeks for about 3hrs at a shot. My personal challenge is finding the right balance between working hard and overworking. I've seen dancers who have exhausted themselves prior to perormance, and the performance comes off very weak as a result.

As a group, our challenge is getting everyone in the same room at the same time! So we tend to book a couple more rehearsals than we really need, just to make up for missing bodies. Things we try to pay attention to (on the assumption that remembering the choreo is not an issue) arms are the same energy and height; eyes/head (focus) are same direction; formation changes are seamless.

I'm curious to know whats up, but I know you and your ladies will be amazing!

Originally Posted by ouroboros

If any of you have done a competition as a troupe, what sort of rehearsal schedule did you have prior to competing? (times per month, per week, hours per session)

Thanks!

Before every performance my student troupe (and my troupe when we do something) have to have rehersal three times that week. If it's on a weekend, if it's durring the week, then they have to have rehersal w/me the weekend before and the class night before. It's mandatory or they cannot perform.

Mina

Originally Posted by ouroboros

If any of you have done a competition as a troupe, what sort of rehearsal schedule did you have prior to competing? (times per month, per week, hours per session)

Thanks!

A couple of questions:

Will you be using choreo for the competition that has already been developed and practiced and you just need to tighten it up, or is it something brand new?

Are all your dancers of a high skill level compared to the complexity of the choreo you're using, or are people still working on technique?

Deborah