Big School Project end

This is it! I have finished the project last week. I managed to put on, a one hour production with 100 kids. I am really proud. It was hard and stressful but it was worth it. Most of the kids were quite sad that it was all over.

Since my last post I have been working on setting more and more of the choreographies. As the weeks passed the show was taking form. The media department was able to show me what they had done which allowed me to adapt the choreography.
In the after school sessions I worked with the time travellers. I came up with a script and we worked on it together. The three students would suggest changes so that they could say and learn their lines better. We worked on basic acting skills such as projection, articulation and timing.

Three days before the show we put everything together for the first time, the time travellers' scenes between each dances and the projections. I made a couple of adjustments with the time travellers. I had warned them to be ready for small changes at the last minute. It was very good that everything was ready at least a week before the show because when we got on stage to rehearse, the students could concentrate on all the new information they were getting. They didn't have to think about the choreography as they new it very well. They could work on their focus, their spacing and their entrances and exits.
These little details make a very big difference in the quality of a production.

The day before the show we did a dress run which went very well. It was a long day for the students. Technical rehearsals and dress runs can be hard for young ones as there is always a lot of waiting. The kids get easily bored so you have to make sure you have a good amount of staff to look after them and keep them busy.

On the day of the show we managed to do a rough run through, but not on stage. It allowed the students to have the choreography fresh is their heads.
The show went very well. The time travellers were brilliant and all the choreographies were beautifully danced. The projections were amazing and everything came nicely together. The audience (parents and school staff) loved it. It was rewarding for everyone. The hard work paid off.

One of the feedbacks I received was the fact that you could really see the kids' input. This is something that is very important to me and I am glad that people were able to see it. I questioned myself a lot on that matter. I could feel that some people along the process thought I should be teaching the students more moves. That is not what I wanted to do and I am glad I didn't. The choreography was made by the students and I. I came up with many ideas and moves but so did they. It was a collaboration.

The point of this adventure was to develop the students' creativity and it did. I had the last word on everything and I directed the whole thing but I got helped by the people dancing in it.

It might have been easier and less stressful to just come to each sessions and teach them every single move of the choreography but I strongly believe that it wouldn't have looked as good.

I am glad I kept going that way and didn't give in because the result was stunning.

Reassessment

Reassessing, although very hard, is fundamental.

I find reassessment a brilliant challenge. Every time I question something about my class I start thinking about answers and solutions. Even if I don't reach a conclusion I always feel stronger and more prepared afterwards. It triggers new ideas that I want to try out. It keeps me on my toes. I can not find any good reason why not questioning the way you do things. Obviously, like anything, it is important to do it moderately.

The danger lays in what you do after questioning your class. I noticed that small changes are often the best way to go. It allows you to back track and take an other route if necessary. Sometimes not changing anything is the best option, you only need to try again and observe more. Some students need to hear things more than once, others simply need time.

It is also important to wonder if you have asked yourself the right question.
A student once shared with me the fact that she finds some of my exercises completely useless. If I had been inexperienced I would have simply stop doing these exercises or I would have tried to change them. That's why I think the question has to be carefully asked.
Where does the problem come from? The exercise itself or the fact that I haven't explained why we are doing it? If I have explained why we are doing it, then why did one of my student not get it?
It would be too simple to blame it on youth (she was a teenager), or lack of enthusiasm. It is important that all students understand the information.
In this case asking the right question is very important. You might find that the student wasn't paying attention or that your explanations weren't clear. It's necessary to check all options, always asking:
Could it come from me?

Some of the most interesting moments to question are the successful ones.
Why did it work?
Because once you know why something works then you can push it further and play with it. It is always a shame to find a class that works and keep teaching it the same way for the rest of your career. The students change enormously from one class to the next (age, level, abilities) so we can't teach them all the same way.

To conclude I would say that it is important not to take reassessment as a criticism but as a constructive challenge. At first I thought it was important to always have an answer but I now find that it is better to look for an answer by experimenting with new things. There is no rush to find a solution to a problem. The most important thing is to keep trying to find the solution.