9am – 1pm
Rumah P7:1SMA
As it was the first physical rehearsal, Haizad decided to start off with stillness in the space and invited the performers to lie down and close their eyes as he played calming music. After some time, he proceeded with leading warm up that included breathing crunches, tabletop plank while extending arms and legs, 20 push-ups and controlled baby rolls. They then walked around the space and at random intervals closed their eyes and brought one leg up while balancing on the other. They finished up with having their own time while Haizad played more upbeat music.
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The main focus for the rehearsal was for Hasyimah to come up with a choreography for Song 7, the Umbrella dance segment. Hasyimah was chosen to be the main choreographer for this segment as Haizad wanted it to include more traditional movements and representations. The form and steps will generally be the same for each option for Song 7, with minor differences in tempo, timing and nuances corresponding to the song. As they went along with the creation process, they tried the choreography with the 4 songs, and were figuring out the unique timing for each song. There were moments of coincidences and deeper connection to the music, despite choreographing with no specific song in mind. The choreography comes to an end with all the performers sitting down in the middle of the space while holding umbrellas.
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Haizad shared that the segment was meant to be “cliché-cringey” (i.e. looking forlorn, fan blowing the hair), similar to the videos commonly seen during karaoke, to which the performers themselves might not be able to take seriously.
Some thoughts during the process:
- The segment is supposedly traditional, yet the gender roles in the dance are not in accordance with the traditional customs.
- To what extent can it be traditional with hybridised bodies performing it?
- The payung (umbrella) can have a multitude of representations (one of the performers commented that it is obscene).
- There was a role swap for Haizad, which might have made it more challenging to process / internalise a new choreography.
- With Jiwang being a recording, out-of-frame assistance can be included, though continuity has to be considered.
- Since there are 4 different songs to the same choreography, does that also mean there will be 4 sets of light cues as each song has a different tempo?
- What is it about each song that makes them have their own textures and nuances? i.e. sounds, lyrics, meaning, vibe
o How will that translate into the performers’ bodies?
Hasyimah shared that it will be up to the performers to figure out the nuances and textures within each song. Haizad added that each of them were to listen to the songs to better internalise them and share when they continue refining the choreography. On that note, the rehearsal ended.
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Final debrief and thoughts.