Fatty Legs September Rehearsals Planning

To help those who are preparing for the Fatty Legs tour (or shadow-prepping), here's a more detailed sketch of what you can expect at each rehearsal. To be clear, with the exception of the 30 minutes of NEW CHOREO that Claire will be teaching for Womanly Song of God this Sunday, all of the September rehearsals are meant to facilitate your personal preparation. What I really care about is that everyone has the show fully memorized and ready for our brief period of full company rehearsing beginning on October 8th. I will make some suggestions about the goals you may want to set for yourself through September but it's really up to you how you make use of this time!

Aug 26 - Music only

Sept 9 (1:00-3:30)
New choreo for WSOG (40 mins) + Prep Session for our role as educators
Suggested Prep: Have music and existing blocking for Womanly Song of God memorized

Sept 16 (1:00-3:30)
Full blocking rehearsal
Suggested Prep: Have all blocking written into your scores; identify ahead of rehearsal what your questions are so you can be sure they are all answered during the session; having as much of the show memorized as possible by this rehearsal will be helpful

Sept 30 (12:45-3:00)
Stumble Through of the show (without Sarain or Lisa - Erin will narrate)
Suggested Prep: Everything memorized

In the tentative itinerary Andrew posted to our FB group the focus of each rehearsal from Oct 8 onward is listed. I cannot stress enough how critical it is that you be completely solid on your memorization of the show by this date.

A note to those who have done the show before: Our new company members have a monumental task in front of them. Thanks to Rachael and Rhian, we know that it's possible to do what they have taken on. It is critical that you do everything you can to be encouraging and supportive of them. When people are under stress (even good stress), positive energy goes a long way to making the process meaningful and rewarding. If there are things they aren't mastering right at the start, trust them and their learning process to integrate it all over the course of our pre-tour rehearsal week.

Composite Fall Schedule (Zuppa + Fatty Legs + Other Stuff)

Hi all,

Many of you have been asking how the rehearsals for the Zuppa Ensemble and the Fatty Legs ensemble line up. To clear up any confusion, here's a composite schedule for the first part of the fall, taking into account every Xara activity happening in August/September!

Aug 26, 1:00-3:00, Zuppa Ensemble, St. Matt’s

Aug 26, 3:30-6:30, Fatty Legs, St. Matt’s

Sep 8, 3:30-10, Mysterious Barricades, Dal/Cohn

Sep 9, 1-3:30, Fatty Legs, St. Matt’s

Sep 9, 4-6, Zuppa Ensemble, St. Matt’s

Sep 16, 1-3:30, Fatty Legs, St. Matt’s

Sep 16, 4-6, Zuppa Ensemble, Dal/ Architecture

Sep 17, 7-9, Zuppa Ensemble, Location TBD

Sep 19, 7-9, Zuppa Ensemble, TBD

Sep 24, 6-10, Zuppa DRESS, Dal-Architecture

Sep 26, 6:30 call, Zuppa SHOW, Dal-Architecture

Sep 27, 6:30 call, Zuppa SHOW, Dal-Architecture

Sep 28, 3:00 call, Zuppa SHOW, Dal-Architecture

Sep 29, 3:00 call, Zuppa SHOW, Dal-Architecture

Sep 30, 12:45 - 3:00, Fatty Legs, St. Matts

Sep 30, 3-4, Xara AGM (all Xaras required), St. Matt’s
Sep 30, 4:10 call, Zuppa SHOW, Dal-Architecture

2018-19 Season Announcement!

We're heading for our final show of the 2017-18 season so it's time to release some information about what will be happening in the year ahead!

With ten years behind us and a whole future in front of us, the 2018-19 season is going to be quite differently structured than in the past to allow the organization to do some much-needed strategic planning and artistic visioning. Over the last 18 months, there have been many exciting developments and a few surprising changes to the way we work as an artistic collective and from an administrative point of view. All of these things make it really important that we move forward in a way that is sustainable and fulfilling for as many of our constituents as possible!

For 2018-19, Xara will be functioning on a project-based model and will be opening performance opportunities up to our singers in a variety of configurations over the season. This means that there will be times when a large choir with people of all age categories are needed (like with RISE) and there will be other times when only small groups are required. Over the last ten years, over 100 singers have passed through our organization and approximately 60 of you remain active, on and off  (you are, effectively, part of a pool of singers upon which we draw for each show). There are several types of personnel (singers) who will have the opportunity to be part of the 2018-19 projects. They are:
1. Regular Xaras: 18-30 year old singers who have successfully auditioned for the main ensemble.
2. Pro-Xaras: singers of any age with extensive experience/training who have auditioned for or been admitted to the Pro Pool.
3. Xara Alum: singers of any age who have sung at least one show with Regular Xara or Xara Youth Ensemble
4. Youth Mentorship Artists: singers in grades 9-12 who have successfully auditioned to take part in the Youth Mentorship Program.

Instead of practicing, by default, every Sunday afternoon, for each project in 2018-19, rehearsals will be scheduled when they are needed in order to prepare for a show (largely on Sundays still). There will be really busy times and then there will be stretches of time when there are no rehearsals or performances. For each project, I will announce the show concept and the type of personnel required  and then request singers' availability in order to form a balanced choir.

So, to get us started, I'd like to announce the first two projects for the year!

THIS IS NOWHERE  - collaboration with Zuppa Theatre
Performances: September 26-30, 2018 (5 shows: Wed evening; Thu evening; Fri, Sat, Sun afternoons)
Rehearsals (max): Sun, Aug 26 (1- 3:00 PM); Sept 9 and 16 (4-6 PM); Sept 17 and 19 (7-9 PM); Sept 24 (6-10 PM)
Location: Halifax
Show concept: Learn more about the show concept here. It's SO COOL!!
We will be the closing act of this show along with the Nova Scotia Mass Choir. We will carry the bulk of the final 30 minutes of performance time. Music will be distributed at the first rehearsal. The music will not be very hard and does not have to be memorized.
Personnel Needed: Open to all. There is no limit to the choir's size, but the ensemble will need to be balanced so I will only be able to take as many singers as will allow for a balanced group. Anyone who would like to participate must be available for the dress rehearsal and cannot miss more than one rehearsal or one show. Please spread the word amongst Xara alum or anyone who is interested in auditioning for Xara! If you have already sung with Xara in the past and you're available/interested, register for the project now!

FATTY LEGS - ONTARIO TOUR
Performances: 19 shows from Oct 15-27
Rehearsals & Time Commitment: Sun, Aug 26 (1-7:30 PM); Sept 9/16/30 (1-3:30 PM); Oct 8-12 (6-9:30 PM); Oct 13 (all day - local show); Oct 4-28 in Ontario (touring)
Location: Ontario
Show concept: fourth tour of our acclaimed collaboration with several indigenous artists telling the story of one little girl's experience in residential school.
Personnel Needed: 14 Pro singers (paid). If you haven't sung with Xara Pro before but are interested in auditioning/being considered, please email me.

Lines & Solo Reassignments - June 3 - RISE

Here is the June 3 version of the script with all changes highlighted in yellow.
Erin, Maiti, Gabrielle, Theresa, Kallie, Molly, Raquel, and Antoinette - you all have at least one new line to learn. Please go through the script carefully!

Solo Reassignments:

• From Rivers: Leah take Mackenzie C's solo
• Famine Song: Kallie take Georgia's solo

I don't have the location for our June 1 rehearsal finalized but as soon as I do, I will post it on the Facebook group. We will rehearse from 6:30-9:30 PM (max ... hopefully less!)

It is CRUCIAL that you review everything from the show before June 1. Anything that was shaky up until show week may well be shaky again as it didn't have a super long time to "sink in". In particular, Winter Sun just barely made it to solid so that's the one I'm most worried about for you.

All new lines and solos need to memorized in time for our June 1 rehearsal.

Tickets are apparently selling well in Annapolis Royal! I'm excited to have one more chance at this lovely show!!

June 3 in Annapolis Royal

Let's get things firmed up for our Annapolis Royal show on Sunday, June 3rd!

DATE :: TIME :: LOCATION

First of all, there will NOT be a show on Saturday, June 2nd so this will just be a single run out on June 3rd.

Location: 209 George Street, Annapolis Royal, NS
Call Time: 11:00 AM
Show Time: 2:00 PM

The refresher rehearsal will be on Friday, June 1st (6:00-9:30). (Location TBA)

I will be reassigning lines and solos for the performers who are unable to be at this show. That will come in a separate blog post at the beginning of next week.

DRIVES

Everyone who is participating in this performance needs to fill out the Drives Form so I know that all are accounted for. If you HAVE (or can get) a car, please list your name as the driver and then list the number of seats you have available (as per the example). If you NEED a drive, please choose a seat in a car that has been listed by a driver. If there are no seats currently available on the form when you go to fill it out you can put your name (and any notes) in the extra column marked "I Still Need a Drive". Please note that the drive is about 2.5 hours and you should leave time for any pee breaks that become necessary, etc. I would recommend leaving Halifax not later than 8:15 AM.

WHAT TO BRING

• All Xara music in your possession (even things not from RISE - it all must go back to Erin)
• Your complete costume, including shoes, tights, etc.
• Make up and hair items as required
• Tuning fork, if applicable
• Bagged lunch if you don't want to buy lunch
• Snacks, water, etc

We should be able to leave the theatre by about 3:30 PM so you should be home in time for dinner. :)

Show Order

Prologue 

Womanly Song of God

Rebecca’s Piece
Night Yoik

Warrior

Maia’s Piece 
From Rivers

God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child

Michelle’s Piece
I See You

Xara’s Piece

Kuka Nukkuu Tuutussasi 

When The Earth Stands Still

Famine Song

Pallaanda 

Storm Soundscape

Wanting Memories

Winter Sun

Epilogue

Rise Up!

Hair and Makeup

HAIR OPTIONS
Guiding Principle - your hair needs to be completely off your face and we are going for a slick, clean look (so no strands, whisps, or intentional fly-aways).

Straight hair: tidy high ponytail (all hair off your face):




















Straight hair: tidy half back (all hair to your ears pulled back)

Curly hair: half back




















Curly hair: all back

MAKEUP
Here is a tutorial for what we're after for the eyes. It's basically a smoked out winged eye. So, no hard black liner to create the wing ... use tape and dark shadow. You can use you're own shadows (or mix and match with friends!) but it should be neutrals, not bright colours. Also, falsies aren't needed - just a couple of coats of black mascara.


As for the rest of your face, we're going with standard stage makeup. If that doesn't mean a lot to you, here are the basics:

• foundation (important) - could be slightly darker than your regular shade - beware of anything that makes you look more "porcelain" or lighter than regular ... you'll look like a ghost!
• blush about 2x darker than you would normally be willing to wear
• a lip colour that enhances your regular lip colour but is not dramatically brighter or darker.

Here's a video tutorial if you'd like one. Just remember that the eyes are going to be as above, rather than the standard that this woman is doing.

Show Week Details

McNally Theatre Location:
923 Robie Street (South of Inglis)

• Enter through the big main entrance of the building and go straight through the large corridor
• Theatre lobby entrance is at the end of the corridor, facing the main entrance
• You can enter the actual theatre space on either the right or left side of the lobby area

Parking:

• After 6 PM street parking is free
• After 6 PM you can park in the SMU general parking lots but you cannot park in any spots that are labeled for faculty, president, etc. The lots are on the four corners of the campus.

To Bring Each Night:

• Your costume (blacks, red, anything else Jordyn gives you)
• Xara shoes
• Nylons if you aren't comfortable in bare feet
• Music/Script
• Black Folder
• Tuning fork (if applicable)
• Water & snacks
• Whatever you need for makeup/hair

Schedule:

• Wednesday (Apr 25) 6-10 PM
• cue to cue: purpose is for Matt to establish all the lighting cues; we will not be running the full show but will be starting and stopping
• we will work in show order (WSOG, Rebecca, Maia, Michelle, Xara-only, Rise Up!)
• Costumes required but no makeup or hair
• Thursday (Apr 26) 6-10 PM
• Tech Dress: full costumes, makeup, and hair
• You will have 20 mins (6-6:20) to get dressed/made-up when you arrive
• The first part of the rehearsal will be for anything that still needs tech attention
• The second part of the rehearsal will be a full run of the show
• Friday (Apr 27) 6-10 PM
• Dress Rehearsal: full costumes, makeup, and hair
• You will have 20 mins (6-6:20) to get dressed/made-up when you arrive
• The first part of the rehearsal will be to fix any music/movement things that still need work
• We will start the dress rehearsal at 8 PM (same time the evening show will start on Sat)
• We'll finish in time for some final fixes and notes
• Saturday (Apr 28): 12:30 PM CALL TIME
• Come as close to ready as possible (hair, make up, blacks) as there may only be 30 mins backstage to finish getting ready after our warm up and sound check
• 12:30-2:30: warm ups, final fixes
• 3:00: SHOW
• 4:30 Break
• 6:30 CALL for warm ups, fixes
• 7:30 Backstage to prep
• 8:00 SHOW
• 9:20 RECEPTION
• 10:00 TEAR DOWN
• All singers will have jobs to do to help with the tear down. This ensures that Matt isn't there until 2 AM by himself. It shouldn't take more than 45 mins with everyone contributing!

Videos from April 22 Rehearsal

RISE - Video of Full Run


I See You - Video

Reminders & Schedule for Apr 22

Schedule
(Alto 1s and Alto 2s on snack!)

12:45	Arrive early to get your costume from Jordyn
1:00	Warm ups
1:20	Concentrated work on Xara-only material WSOG (1:20-2) Pallaanda (2-2:30) Wanting Memories (2:30-2:50) Winter Sun (2:50-3:10)
3:10	Break (Alto 1s snack) & Prep for Run (incl costumes)
3:30	Run Xara-only section of show
4:00	Notes/Fixes
4:30	Rise Up!
5:00	Break #2 (Alto 2s snacks)
5:10	Maia’s piece
6:00	Michelle’s piece
6:30	Home

Important Reminders:

• Wear or bring you all-black base for this rehearsal (we will be working with full costumes for the run)
• Bring your Xara-shoes 
• Sell your tickets!
• All of everything that is supposed to be memorized should be completely off book (the only things that do NOT have to be memorized are Rise Up, God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child, From Rivers)
• Please keep working on your facility/ease/accuracy with the three unmemorized pieces so you don't need to be glued to your music and you aren't making mistakes while you sing. We want to be expressive, even if we are using folders!

Finalizing the end of Michelle's Piece

Thank you, everyone, for your honest feedback about the last segment of I See You. We will omit offering a hand to an audience member and focusing on a specific person and will, instead, walk up the aisles, making general eye contact with the audience while genuinely attempting to carry Michelle's invitation to connect and see her as a real person forward. What is most important is that we support her in making a statement to the audience about her willingness and desire to be seen and known as a genuine, multi-faceted person rather than as a caricature. 

Standing Formations for Maia's Piece

• God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child
• begin in our standard U
• at m. 78 the small group who sing beginning at m. 89 form a small U directly around Maia and the rest of the choir breaks open/spreads out the U to look more like a slightly arched mixed scattered formation behind the small group.
•  From Rivers
• During the open measures of cello (which we may extend to accommodate the formation shift; return to our standard U.

Standing Formations for Rebecca's Piece

• Night Yoik
• Sectional "scattered" formation filling the stage but with a space DSC for Rebecca
• Piano transition
• Rebecca will walk to the back
• Xara should fill in the gap
• Warrior
• 1st verse remain mixed scattered
• 2nd verse form two straight lines across the width of the stage space
• 3rd verse back to mixed scattered
• During the last chorus, Rebecca will come back to the front (make room for her)
• Once Warrior is over pivot slightly to face Rebecca while she recites her second slam poem.

Prep for Apr 15 Rehearsal

Hi all - I hope that my detailed blog post last Sunday have been helpful in guiding your personal rehearsal this week. As I said then, what's contained in those notes are your homework for this week!

Pacifico Night
TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!!! Bring as many people as you can, bring your own $10 for your ticket, and have funnnnn!! If you aren't sure about where to get your tickets, please review Hayley's FB post.

Rehearsal Plan
Soprano 1s and 2s on snack
(Two snack sessions!!)

12:45	Arrive early to pick up your tickets
1:00	Warm ups
1:15	Michelle’s Piece
2:15	Music: Rise Up!
2:30	Maia’s set
3:30	Break #1 (Sop 1 snacks)
3:45	Rebecca’s set
4:45	Break #2 (Sop 2 snacks)
5:00	Prep for run of Xara-only piece
5:10	Full Run
5:45	Fixes
6:10	Run WSOG + fixes

Show Tickets and Pacifico Money

Jess, our General Manager, will be at the church from 12:30 onward on Sunday to hand out packages of tickets to everyone. Each of you will receive 5 tickets for each show and you are expected to do everything in your power to sell all of them! Please arrive no later than 12:50 in order to retrieve your tickets before the start of rehearsal.

Please bring any remaining money you owe for Pacifico Tickets.

To Do in lieu of rehearsal (stormy Apr 8)

I'm sure that all of you, like me, are feeling a bit anxious about losing a rehearsal today. Pulling together the parts of our show with our guest artists has been challenging enough but losing a rehearsal at this critical time makes it even tougher! However, I want to reassure you that I KNOW we are going to be fine and that we are going to reach show week with a beautiful, polished performance in place. In Xara we try to avoid as much "final crunch" as possible but those of you who have done other forms of theatre, etc will know that it's actually not very uncommon to still be mastering aspects of a show right up until the first performance. So, please TRUST me and just focus on the things you are able to control (your own practicing!) and know that I will guide us to opening night with love and strength to support you!

Our make up rehearsals will be as follows: the next two Sundays (1:00 - 6:30 PM). I will provide TWO breaks each week to help us with brain space. Please do your best to be well-rested for these small marathons and bring extra (personal) snacks if that will help you! 

Since we cannot practice today, there are a few things that I'd like you to do to keep us moving ahead. Please consider using the hours that we would have been together today to incorporate the information I'm including below.

RISE (Xara-only section)

• Continue to perfect your memorization, ensuring that all your blocking and the dynamics of the music are taken into account
• Pitches for the pieces will be given by the following people using tuning forks:
• Kuka nukkuu: Kallie will sing the first "Ha-jai-jaa(h) haa___" as a solo and the whole choir will come in on the 2nd half of m.2 at the "Ha-jai-jaa(h)" that starts on an F#.
• When the Earth Stands Still: Hayley, Mackenzie C, Leah, and Rhian (on A2 for just these three notes) will have tuning forks (As) and will pitch their own notes for opening of the song at the back and sing the first "come listen" as a quartet; tutti will sing from "in the silence" onward. Rhian, I've put you on the A2 line for just this moment because both Jess and Erin have text prior to the open and this will ensure that neither of them have to boot it to the back, grab a pitch from a fork, and start singing. The opening chord needs to be super stable to set the key so this seemed like the best way to ensure that. Rhian, after the first three notes on A2, you should go back to your regular S2 for the whole piece!
• Famine Song: Talisa does the first "hmm" (m.1) as a solo (I'll give you an A fork); tutti A2s enter m.2 
• Pallaanda: Talisa starts the A2 drone note and other Altos (on low B-flat) gradually join. I will cue for the F to enter.
• Wanting Memories: Sarah does m.1 as a solo; all A2s enter m.2 (I'll give you an E fork)
• Winter Sun: At Theresa's line "Ready to fight", Sarah sings E and all A2s and A3s join gradually; at Charlotte's line "Ready to discover", all sops + A1s will slowly add the A above until we have a strong A&E being sung by everyone at "Begin". Then I'll cue a breath and we'll start Winter Sun.

MICHELLE RAINE COLLAB

• Please carefully review the blocking notes (and minor musical changes) that I posted yesterday for I See You. Please put them into your score and tweak your memorization to include these things.

REBECCA THOMAS COLLAB

• For Night Yoik, please CUT mm. 49-64 to match the recording. Please memorize accordingly! We will be standing still in our regular U around Rebecca for this piece. Warrior will come directly after it and there will be simple blocking that Claire will teach you next week.
• Here is the sound file for Rebecca’s piece (please note that, under no circumstances can yo  share this with anyone as it is Rebecca’s work and has yet to be premiered - I’m posting it here for your reference only): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EJtw-K9RNb6a3Q2dG1gHn8y59wCqXDZ0 

MAIA BRUCE COLLAB

• Please work on these as much as possible this week using the reference recordings I provided previously to assist you. (Here they are again: Spotify link for God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child; Youtube link for From Rivers)

PACIFICO NIGHT TICKETS

Mack was going to distribute the Pacifico Night tickets today. :( We are working on a plan that Pacifico will approve (since we aren't allowed to stand in front and sell tickets. Mack will post about that soon. At the very least, please continue to invite people!!

Standing Formations and Musical Changes for I See You

Hi all! Michelle Raine will be at rehearsal tomorrow to work her piece (and each of our remaining rehearsals). She has reworked things considerably and there will no longer be a soundscape required! The concept for her work is a series of short "letters" to the important people in her life and they are all worked into I See You. To create enough places for text to fit without conflicting with sung text, there are going to be two repeats added to the piece and one section will be hummed instead of sung. I am including that information along with detailed notes for your standing formations, etc. below. Much of her piece is being communicated in relationship to you on stage so she had some really cool ideas for how you could help convey meaning through your placement/simple gestures. We will work our way through these things tomorrow but I know some of you will be happy to have a jump on getting this info into your scores.

• Here are the small musical changes:
• mm.41-48 is repeated - first time sops only, second time tutti (MR speaks over sops 1st time)
• mm.49-55 is repeated - first time altos only, second time tutti (MR speaks over altos 1st time)
• m. 60-64 hummed instead of text
• Michelle will be speaking in single sentence “letters” to various people during the song. The sections are:
• mm. 1-8 (may need to be vamped): “Dear Friends”
• mm. 8-24 (MR movement only; no speaking): Dear Parents”
• mm.41-48 1st time: "Dear Strangers”
• mm.49-55 1st time: "Dear Lovers”
• mm. 60-64: “Dear Self”
• mm.75-82: “Dear Sister”
• Here are the movement/formation directions:
• mm.1-24: choir sitting on the floor in a MS formation, facing different directions (but not to the back)
• mm.25-30: slowly stand, maintaining the non-centre direction you've been facing
• m. 31 on “why go risking the way that I see you”: all snap to look at Michelle (you are embodying the voice of her parents at this point)
• m. 34: slowly turn your bodies to face centre
• m. 49 (first time): choir moves to our regular U with Michelle in the centre
• m. 60-64: Michelle gestures slowly with her hands and the choir mimics her (like in a mirror)
• m. 65-68: tutti slowly bring hands down but 1 singer (I’ve suggested Madelaine based on height/hair colour/expressiveness/age) walks to centre and stands face to face with MR to continue the mirror gestures.
• m.69, beat 2: choir moves to a filled in V formation with MR at the point/front
• m. 91: MR walks to an audience member in the front row and reaches her hand out to them
• m. 97: choir slowly walks out and up into the audience (through the aisles) and makes eye contact with someone and reaches their hands out to them; you can break the hand hold whenever it feels right (depending on the comfort level of the audience member) and then slowly turn to face MR for the remainder of the piece.

Show Week Rehearsal Schedule

All rehearsals will be held in the McNally Auditorium at Saint Mary's University (923 Robie St)

Wednesday, April 25
6:00 - 10:00 PM
Tech rehearsal to set all lighting cues and figure out choreo adaptations for the space

Thursday, April 26
6:00-10:00 PM
Tech Dress rehearsal

Friday, April 27
6:00-10:00 PM
Rehearsal with alumni for Rise Up
Dress rehearsal of the full show

Saturday, April 28
12:30 PM call
3:00 PM show
4:30 PM (approx) dinner break
6:30 PM call
8:00 PM show
9:30 PM (approx) Reception

Please note that the reception is the event that will mark Xara's 10th anniversary so it is a mandatory part of being in this show. :)  More details will be provided by the Xara Board as we get closer to the event but there will be food/drink and various presentations!

Prep for April 8 Rehearsal

Great work on Monday evening, everyone! We did some excellent refining of WSOG and some great initial work with the pieces for our set with Maia Bruce. I heard from Rebecca later that evening and she had a bit of a personal emergency so she wasn't able to come, nor did she have her phone available. She is fine and feels really awful about it but I assured her we made good use of the time and we'll sort it all out this week.

Homework:
1. Memorize Warrior
2. Lock in all of the excellent refinements we did with Womanly Song of God - especial re: dynamics and chord clusters.
3. Review every aspect of our section of the show so that you are ready for a really good run.
4. Listen to the provided tracks of the two pieces with cello and make sure you don't lose any ground on the great work we did on Monday evening.

Spotify link for God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child
Youtube link for From Rivers

Rehearsal Plan
Soprano 1s on snack

1:15 Warm ups

1:30 Full run of Xara-only piece + fixes

2:40 Womanly Song of God (run with blocking)

2:50 Rise Up (run)

3:00 Break + Pacifico tickets + show posters/tickets

3:15 Michelle's set (I See You)

4:00 Rebecca's set (Night Yoik + Warrior)

4:45 Maia's set (From Rivers + God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child)

All our guest artists (except our percussionist) will be present for their section of the rehearsal on Sunday! We will get each piece up and running in its totality and film each for your reference.

Pacifico Night
Don't forget to get your people all lined up for Pacifico night on Friday, April 13! Tickets will be handed out at rehearsal on Sunday so you can pass them onto your people.

Prep for MONDAY, Apr 2 Rehearsal

I hope you're all looking forward to a change in pace this weekend ... I know I am! I'm also looking forward to our first rehearsal with one of our guest artists on Monday evening!

REHEARSAL LOCATION
St. Matthew's is no longer available for us on Monday evening so we will be rehearsing at Fort Massey United Church on the corner of Queen and Tobin Streets. Use the Tobin Street entrance. Our rehearsal is from 6-9 PM, which is shorter than usual ... please be a bit early so we can start right on time!

Homework
1. Memorize I See You
2. Keep improving all of your memorization and accuracy on existing repertoire (a reminder that the last three pages of Pallaanda really need work!!)
3. Choose your preferred black base outfit and bring other options with you for Jordyn to look at/discuss with you. If you weren't at last week's rehearsal, our costumes for Rise are going to go overtop a black base. This needs to be something you feel good in, but shouldn't have a lot of excess fabric. Sleeve length is whatever you'd like (but no strapless please); leggings are a great option but a maxi skirt without too much extra fabric would also work (i.e. no fuller than A-line).

Our Guest Artists
Starting this week, at least one of our guest artists will be at each rehearsal. As many of you already know, El Jones is no longer able to be part of our team but I'm thrilled to announce that Maia Bruce will be stepping into her spot. Maia is a remarkably talented African Nova Scotian cellist. She plays regularly with Symphony Nova Scotia, she has two young girls, and she teaches at the Maritime Conservatory. Our collaboration with her will take the form of music for choir, cello, and piano and will provide a beautiful contrast to the spoken-word/monologue sections we are doing with Rebecca and Michelle. Maia is choosing the music (from among things that are very achievable for us!) over the next couple of days and I will have it for us to read through and work on this Monday

Rehearsal Schedule
Alto 2s are on snack!

6:00	Warm ups
6:15	Womanly Song of God music review
6:45	Run WSOG 2x (incl blocking) with notes/fixes in between
7:10	Rebecca Thomas collab work (Night Yoik & Warrior)
8:00	Break + Pacifico briefing + ticket info
8:15	Music rehearsal: I See You Rise Up New Music (cello + unmemorized choir)
9:00	Home

Rebecca Thomas will be at rehearsal and Michelle Raine may come to listen to I See You.

Rehearsal Notes from March 25

COSTUME NOTES 

On April 2nd (next Monday), please bring in what you would like to wear for your black base. This should be something that creates a strong silhouette. Top can be tunic length, but shouldn't be bulky. Varying lengths of sleeves are fine, bottoms should be below the knee or longer. Fabric should not be see-through under lights. 

We will be wearing bare feet, and black dance slippers during the show.

Pacifico Night is April 13th - tickets will be distributed next week, but please talk it up this week in order to get some sales ahead of time! 

Link to Script with all Blocking Notes

Video of Full Run from today

Xara singing "I See You" - Reference Recording. This is to be memorized for April 2 (next Monday).

Changes to blocking for Winter Sun

Letter E

Form 2 double Vs. The front people of the Vs are are Molly,
Laycie, Madelaine & Talisa

M 53 - Place right hand in fist on chest, with left hand covering

M 65 - Hands slowly release and float down

M 67 - Hold hands, facing out, with the people in your V

M 69  - Melt into two straight lines, continue holding hands,
meet in the middle

M 72 - Drop hands, turn to face the centre on low Alto “light”

Letter F

M 75 - Turn head to face audience

M 77 - Turn body to match head

M 79 - Turn the two lines into a Double U

M 83 - Turn head to face audience

M 85 - Turn body to match head