Rent- 25/9/15- Built on Rent Opening

25/9/15- Built on Rent Opening

We looked at the song and movements piece 'Rent' that we had been working on in our workshop lessons because it needed more dance like elements. We added extra movements and adapted our movements from before to make some of them more dance-like. We used different levels and added more dynamic movement, traveling from slow to fast. I changed a part of my small groups movements as before we turned around and punched the air as if hitting someone, we now turn slowly then run before I jump and land on my knees and punch the ground (as if attacking someone) as the other two members of my group do the same but standing. I thought this was a creative use of dynamics and levels that the piece needed more of. Other groups also added new movements or changed old ones and once again we all came back together as a class and put them together. We got the whole thing looking and flowing well but the whole thing was still not long enough for the entire song so it was decided we should add some dance duets.

We where put in pairs and we created short duets. Me and Josh were in a group again and took a very conflict heavy approach. We with the idea of someone running from someone, a mugger perhaps. We created two very short movement sequences. The first was us running at each other then Josh turning away quickly as i grab the back of his shirt and pull him back and then run to the opposite side of the performance space. The second was again us running towards each other and as I try to grab him he slides under my legs and we again run to opposite sides of the stage. I proposed we needed a third sequence to act as a climax as so we again devised a last movement piece. So for our third one we again ran at each other and as we got close we pretended to punch each other and then fall to the ground and backwards rolled back out of the performance space. We felt this duet worked well as it fitted with the gang/street/urban theme we had already molded the whole song and movement around and it was fast, dynamic and used different levels. 

Finally we put the duets together, having one on stage at a time but overlapping them a bit to make it seem a bit more hectic and chaotic (which is what we want). We then adding an ending in which everyone is on stage and they face the audience and back into a circle and shout the line 'Rent, Rent, Rent, Rent, Rent Rent!' at the audience and then form a tighter circle and sing the line 'Cus' everything is Rent!' after which everyone drops down lower and crouches apart from me and Luke who play Roger and Mark who stand in the middle and throw our fists in the air. 

The whole thing fits our original, urban, rebellious theme and looks hectic and chaotic just like a busy street in New York.