Senior Project Reflection

1. Positive Statement

The thing that I'm most proud of is that a lot of people actually enjoyed my presentation and the activity was engaging. I was most proud of this because I really wanted my presentation to be engaging so people won't get bored and sleep. It was heavily activity based.

2.Questions to Consider

a. I would give myself a P+ on my Block Presentation
b. I would give myself a solid P on my overall senior project

3. What worked for me in senior project was that I actually found a mentor and I was surprised to find a decent amount of sources. Dancing is a pretty hard topic to find research on.

4. What didn't work was my 10 minute presentation because I had so much to say for so little time. The exit interviews also didn't work for me because it was a bit difficult to get your message across about dance.

5. Finding Value

This senior project has helped me in future endeavors by preparing me to be confident in what I'm going to talk about. In order to get more attention, I need to find a way to energize my presentations. An example would be that when I was presenting, I really enjoyed my topic and showed energy, thus causing the audience to enjoy it as well. The concept of showing energy also applies to my senior project topic. Overall, I feel like I've gotten better as a presenter.

Sorry for the Late Extra April Post

Their Schedule

Mentorship

Content:

Literal:
Mentorship Log
Heather Gonzalez, The Lab: Creative Arts Studio

Interpretive:
The most important thing I've gained from this experience is relating what you've learned and researched to real-life situations. My EQ is more of "How to" question rather than a "What is" question. During research and mentorship, I got good information for my EQ, and I got actual observations on how my mentor does her tasks. After reflecting on what I've learned and what I've experienced, I've applied them in finding answers for my EQ.

Applied:
Shadowing dances have been really helpful to me in finding answers to my EQ. I even took a few classes. As I was shadowing the classes, I was able to see which moves complemented the song and which moves looked a bit odd. Not only that, I got to see different teaching methods and how it worked and how it didn't work, affecting how far into the song the dancers progressed. Taking classes helped me see things in a dancer's perspective. Some dancers can pick up choreography quite quickly while others can't, thus taking the difficulty of the dance routine in mind.

Exit Interview

Content:

1. My EQ is "How can a hip hop dancer best prepare a routine for an audition?" My following answers are:
-Immersing yourself in a song helps you find ideas on how you're going to convey its theme.
-Taking hip hop classes helps you find ideas on how you're going to make and teach your routine.
-Freestyle dancing can help you highlight certain moves you did that can be used for your dance routine.

My best answer is "Immersing yourself in a song helps you find ideas on how you're going to convey its theme."

2. To get this answer, I had to listen to many songs many times to figure out which types of moves really compliment the song. From the beats to the various sound effects and to the lyrics, I've thoroughly analyzed each element of a song. I've done this many times long before I chose my topic and gained more experience by mentorship.

3. The problems I faced were running out of ideas, the song going a bit too fast on certain verses, and knowing whether or not we can actually pull off certain moves. To solve running out of ideas, I looked on Youtube and dance routines in the studio to borrow moves. For fast verses, I had to think of alternative moves that had less movement and memorization but still looked cool to the song. For moves that we can't pull off, I had to think of easier moves that still looked attractive.

4. The two most significant sources I used to answer the question are sources from two different websites-- Dance Spirit and Human Kinetics. The source from Human Kinetics talks about what specific elements make dance routine more attractive. The source from Dance Spirit talks about how to get ideas for your dance routine, what the audience expect you to show, and being original with your own ideas.

Independent Component 2

Literal

a. I, Mark Patena, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b. -Interview with Val Ramirez
    -Arney, Juliane. "Sample Class: The Kids Wanna Dance!" Idea Fit. Health & Fitness Association, Mar. 2005. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/sample-class-kids-wanna-dance-2>
c. My Independent Component 2 Hours Log
d. I've planned to make another choreography that will be used in my final presentation. I've first asked people on what they want to see in a hip hop routine. Considering their responses, I had to do long planning on how I should teach it to the audience as well as keeping the difficulty appropriate to the "new" dancers. I've filmed myself dancing to the chorus of "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. It would be impossible to finish the whole song during the final presentation.

Interpretive 
Getting feedback from people is one good way to improve your dance routine. Keeping their responses in mind will require some editing in your dance routine. Also, the speed of progress when showing your choreography depends on your teaching style.    

Applied

This component helped answer my EQ because I got more experience teaching new people a dance routine. It got me thinking on how to get your dance choreography across more effectively. With the right moves for a song, you keep your dancers more interested. 

Check these 'Skittles'

Wish I could do this :P

Third Answer

"How can a hip hop dancer best prepare a routine for an audition?"

"Freestyle dancing can help you highlight certain moves you did that can be used for your dance routine."

-Randomly doing any moves to the beat of a song can help get your mind and creativity going.
-Freestyle dancing always helps you be original when it comes to planning your dance choreography and not look like a copy of one.
-When you make a mistake, freestyle dancing helps improvise dance steps to help you get back on track with the group.

http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/07/warburton-dance-study.html
http://www.hiphopmoves.org/freestyle.html

Due to it's improvisational nature, freestyle dancing gives you many brainstorming for ideas and helps you during the actual performance.

Fourth Interview Questions

1. Is there such thing as a perfect choreography? Why or why not?
2. What are the good things of creating a dance routine as a group rather than on your own?
3. How does taking classes help one make a dance routine on his/her own?
4. How is it that some dancers can pick a new dance routine they've never danced to so easily?
5. Do you ever feel like you added something so random to a dance routine? Please give examples.
6. What is the best way to show more energy in your dance routines?
7. Is it easier to work with a group of a lot of dancers or fewer dancers? Why do you think so?
8. Why is it that sometimes dancers can follow a dance routine easily but can't freestyle and vice versa?
9. What are some things that unexpectedly ruin a dance performance considering the routine is practiced thoroughly?
10. What are good ways to get more ideas for a choreo when you can't think of anymore?
11. What do you think is the best way to teach your choreography to dancers?
12. How do you keep your dancers interested in learning your routine?
13. When making a choreo that requires dancers to have different moves at the same time, how do you manage to teach it to a large group of dancers so that it flows well with each other? Or is it best to have the large group do the same moves the whole time? If same moves, why?
14. What do you think is the most important factor of a dance routine? Why do you think so?
15. What is the most crucial thing to have in your dance moves?
16. How do you make transitions in dance routines really smooth so that it won't look to obvious?
17. Is it okay to copy another dance routine for a performance? Why or why not?
18. How experienced are you with freestyle dancing?  Please tell of your experiences.
19. When is the best time to include a freestyle part to a dance routine?
20. Why is it that you can find many ideas when freestyling but can't seem to remember what you did in your freestyle at times?
    

Meanwhile at Mentorship...

That's what's going on...

Advisory Meeting #2

"How can a hip-hop dancer best prepare a routine for an audition?"

Answer 2:
Taking hip-hop classes helps you find ideas on how you are going to make your routine.

-Example 1: As you you follow the teacher's moves in class, you'll learn more moves and become more familiar with them.

-Example 2: Hip-hop teachers may throw out some random steps and moves that help you think of better moves in place of the teacher's random move.

-Example 3: You can think of better teaching methods to get your moves taught to the dancers more efficiently.

Research Source(s):
-My Interview with Heather
-Articles One

Concluding Sentence:

  You can learn new dance moves you've never seen before to add to your dance routine. Not only that, you can also decide how you will get your message across your dancers.

Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  I will be going around doing a survey with random people on what they would like to see in hip-hop dance and if they are more interested in the beat of a song, lyrics, or musicality, however this will not count for any hours. Starting my 30 hours, I will be applying the people's response by filming myself dancing a bit according to the responses. I will also work more on my dance routine that I've been working on with the junior back in IC 1 by editing some moves according to the people's responses and/or how I think after recording ourselves   

2. I would be showing pictures and short clips to prove evidence of my 30 hours.

3. This helps me explore my topic more in depth because I'm actually asking what the audience likes to see in a choreo and taking them into consideration when polishing up the dance routine

4. Done

Independent Component 1

• Literal

a. I, Mark Patena, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b. -Interview with Heather Gonzalez
    -"Making Choreography." Hip Hop Moves. N.p., 2010. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. <http://www.hiphopmoves.org/choreography/making.html>.

c. My Independent Component Hours

d. I've completed making a dance choreo to the song "Good Time" with a partner to perform on the talent show

• Interpretive

Making a decent choreography is not as easy as it sounds. It takes much time to plan and experiment with moves. Spending three minutes planning and experimenting gives you around 10-15 seconds of the choreography.

• Applied

The component helped me understand my foundation of topic by actually forming a dance choreo and asking for feedback from various people. The feedback then helped me answer my EQ

Lesson 2 Reflection

1. Positive Statement

I am most proud that I engaged the students with my topic because a lot of students tend to get bored easily and thus they won't be attentive during the presentation. I'm also proud that I got to explain everything of my powerpoint because, the last time, I went too overtime.

2.Questions to Consider
a. I would give myself an AP
b. The reason why is because I feel like I didn't make enough content time for my powerpoint and I also forgot to set some things up and the activity didn't really get many students to participate.

3. What worked for me in lesson 2 was how I explained my content, my tone of voice, and the specific examples I mentioned.

4. What didn't work was YouTube and the activity. If I had a time machine, I would've asked if I could use the MPR, bring backup files for the song, and taught a routine to the students instead of making their own.

5.So far, answer 2 for me would be "Being experienced with a broad range of hip-hop dance styles."

Third Interview Questions

1. How can a hip hop dancer best prepare a routine for an audition?
2. What categories are the judges looking for in a routine?
3. What is a really good way to start preparing a new routine to a few or group of dancers?
4. What usually attracts the audience more in a dance routine?
5. Can someone who only has experience in freestyle dancing help when learning or making choreo? If so, how?
6. Is it possible to do a routine right on the spot with one other or few other dancers? If, so how?
7. What is the hardest part about creating a dance routine?
8. What are common things you should expect when creating/teaching a routine?
9. How long does it usually take to teach a routine to a group of dancers? Why?
10. What does it take to become known as a good hip hop choreographer?

Let Me Let You In On Something

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 hours check

1. I am doing mentorship at The Lab 24/7: Creative Arts Studio in West Covina

2. My contact is Heather Gonzalez

3. So far I have done 37 hours and 56 minutes.

4. The first day for my mentorship, I was introduced to the working facilities in the dance studio. Later on I shadowed a hip hop class from Heather. During this time, Jesse who was in charge of the Tuesday schedule for hip hop wasn't available. So Heather was in charge of both Tuesday and Thursday classes for the moment. I just shadowed her classes looking for some moves that I could use for my senior project. Sometimes I would actually attend her classes. After for some while, Jesse who was in charge of the Tuesday schedule was able to teach again. I shadowed classes from him on Tuesdays and sometimes attended his classes. They had different vibes of dancing. Heather was more for the fun and enjoyment of dancing while Jesse was more for the competition of it.

5. Emailed Contact

Senior Project, The Holiday

1. Over the break, I carried on with mentorship hours, worked more on my independent component, and did some more research articles. For mentorship hours, I just kept going to the dance studio. For the independent component, I started make videos of how to do some of my dance moves when I do hip hop.

2. From what I've learned, emotions really make your moves look more legit rather than half-hearted. A dancer can dance by just throwing out popular moves that the audience have seen before but are still cool to watch. However the dancer can lack the passion and feeling for it. But a dancer can really dance if he/she puts the emotion behind it. Even the simplest of moves can look just as good as a difficult move if the dancer can portray the right emotion.

3. If I were to do a 10 question interview regarding on the answer to my EQ, I would ask my current mentor, Heather, or a friend, Josh, who frequently attends the same dance studio to practice break-dancing.
I would interview more on Heather regarding on strictly choreography questions such as how to effectively teach your choreography to the dancers and how to position them. I would interview Josh on different dance moves that go well with certain hip hop music and how to approach those dance moves.