Rehearsal 14 + Bump In, 16 July 2020
6pm – 10pm
Drama Centre Black Box (DCBB)
Before the rehearsal commenced, Adi taped the square in the recording space and was briefed on the safety guidelines in the Drama Centre. He was informed that safety ambassadors carried out regular checks and strictly enforced the mask & distancing regulations.
Haizad started the bump in and rehearsal with a briefing regarding the solos and duets along with the songs that will be used, as well as emphasising on the role of the square in the space. He also reiterated the clear boundary of starting (their performative state) in the square, and “stepping out” when they leave it, and the performance will end when the tape is removed to “release whatever that is inside”.
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The collaborators stepped into the black box to get a sensing of the dimensions and placements. Haizad described how the audience will choose and where the menu options will appear in relation to the collaborators on screen. For the segment after the duets, the rest of the collaborators will assist the “loser” to move their props for the following segment. They then proceeded to go through the flow of the solo segments, the props as well as the lighting cues. As they went along, they considered the filming angles and logistics for the shots.
After going through the rough flow, the collaborators went back into the dressing
room to work on the duets. Haizad clarified that the songs are changed from Saloma
and P. Ramlee’s as their status have been elevated over the years, perhaps to also
reflect or comment on the socio-economic status of the main bulk of jiwang song
listeners. The segment will incorporate movements from Tari Serampang 12, and they
refreshed their memories for the movement phrases before splitting up in their pairings (males and females) to choreograph their pieces. They utilized both the black box and the dressing room to choreograph, swapping over to try the full space. They had to ensure that at the end of the piece, they had to sustain the position for 1 minute for the audience menu (to choose the loser), and the selected loser will solo in the downstage left till the end of the song before preparing to plank in the next segment. A spotlight will demarcate their solo area, which also helps with the filming.
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Notes and observations from the choreography process for this segment:
- Both songs are about breaking up
o Portray similar stories through different songs.
- Parallel / Similar choreographies (apart from the Tari Serampang 12 phrase).
- Syimah and Xiao Jun’s process:
o Portrayed the leading up to the break-up
o Looked up the translation for the lyrics
o Movements deviated / variated from the phrase
o Intentionally more dramatic and cringey
o Story / Narrative driven, had slight cues from the music
o More durational and had a build-up in movements<