Prep for March 4 Rehearsal

Claire and I were both really pleased with your work on Sunday - we got A LOT done!! We are now in the home stretch of learning all the elements for our Xara-only portion of RISE. We will begin running portions of the show over the next couple of weeks so you can get a better feel for the arc of the story.

Homework:
1. Memorize Pallaanda
2. Memorize the Storm Soundscape but please note that there are two small changes to the order of things from last Sunday!! Please see the separate post on The Storm in order to memorize it correctly! The linked Google Doc there has been updated to reflect everything that your teams composed last week.

Famine Song Solo Audition Results:

Soprano - Georgia

Alto - Morgandy

Rehearsal Plan:
Alto 2s on snack and snap!

1:15	Warm ups
1:35	Pallaanda & Storm (memory check)
2:15	Choreo: Pallaanda
3:45	Break & General Meeting (election)
4:05	Blocking: Storm
4:30	Choreo review: WSOG, Famine Song
5:00	Music: Wanting Memories, Warrior

Storm Soundscape - FINAL Chart

Please note that there are two changes to the final plan/score for the storm and that these are NOT reflected in the video of our run-through:
1. The text for the melody has been slightly re-ordered for better text stress/flow.
2. The S1 "ShhhhAAA!" will now happen after the melody instead of before it.

Here is a video of the individual body percussion elements.

Here is the updated Google Doc which serves as the “score” for this soundscape.

Notes from Feb 25 Rehearsal

Storm Soundscape - Video

Unison Melody - Part 1
Jess, Erin, Molly, Rylee, Gabrielle, Raquel, Mackenzie C, Morgandy, Rhian, Kallie, Kaitlyn

Chord Progression - Parts 2 & 3
Anna C, Antoinette, Genevieve, Sophie, Maiti, Mack, Leah, Talisa, Theresa

Body Percussion - Parts 2 & 3
Altos - with a partner
Sop 1 & Sop 2 - do the progression from clapping, to stomping, to snapping, to rubbing hands

Section 2 into 3
1 finger - 'A's switch down a level of body percussion
2 fingers - 'B's switch down a level of body percussion
3 fingers - 'A's switch down a level of body percussion
4 fingers - 'B's switch down a level of body percussion
Altos switch as things get calmer to just random claps


When the Earth Stands Still - Video
Pre-A Section
Daughters in mixed scattered formation.
Mothers begin at the back and move forward through the space, looking at the daughters with love and care. Daughters look back and receive that care, but not necessarily returning it (not hostile though)
Leah, Hayley, Erin, Mackenzie start closer to  Stage Right
Kallie, Camila, Rhian, Jess start closer to Stage Left

A Section
M 11 - 12 : Mothers reach out to touch some of the Daughters (one or two each)
M 13 - 14 : Daughters who are being touched shake off the mothers' hands and move upstage centre
M 15 - 16 : Mothers react with sadness and pain
M 17 - 18 : Mothers reach out to touch some of the remaining Daughters
M 19 - 20 : Daughters who are being touched shake off the mothers' hands and move upstage centre
M 21 - 22 : Mothers react

B Section
M 22 - 27 : Daughters who did not already move, drift in to join  the others in a clump upstage centre. Mothers in diagonal lines spread out on Stage Right & Left. (Leah, Hayley, Erin, Mackenzie on Stage Right
Kallie, Camila, Rhian, Jess on Stage Left)

M 28 - 32 : Mothers and Daughters look at one another

C Section
Daughters drift forward to mixed scattered, mothers move slightly to the back and weave through the Daughters (just like Pre-A Section)

D Section
Same as the A section

E Section
Same as the B section

F Section
Daughters spread out to mixed scattered. Mothers move toward the back and walk through the Daughters and touch them as you go by. As Daughters are touched, they melt to the floor and sit for the rest of the song.



KNT
We established groups and tweaked formations. Please see the notes linked here. Changes are in red.




Here is a link to the full script with blocking notes (in red text) for the parts where people are speaking. Today we blocked the text for Scenes 1, 2 & 3. Eventually, I will integrate the music blocking into the script as well.

Word for word translation of Kuka Nukkuu

RISE - World of the Show

For as long as these women can remember, and as long as their ancestors’ stories reach back, a great drought has plagued the earth. Fires have raged uncontrollably and, for generations, people have been at their mercy. No one knew when or where the fires would start so tragedy would strike often, killing or harming many. This group of mothers met when they were young - some pregnant, some with tiny daughters in tow - and they were determined to find a safer way to live. They risked everything and set out across the land in search of a safer place. 

They fought fires along the way but they finally found their way to a forest. It had already burned so the risk of another fire was low. The land was cool and scrubby; new life was beginning to emerge. There, they built a place for themselves. They tended and nurtured it and raised their daughters, living off the land. For many years, they have kept themselves safe and have kept the fires at bay.

Over the last several years, however, the fires have stopped coming. The weather has been changing and, lately, these changes are frightening. It is getting cooler, and they can hear storms in the distance. The mothers believe a great rain is coming that could wash everything away and that their only chance of safety is to stay in their forest and pray that the roots of the dead trees surrounding them will hold the earth fast if a deluge comes. 

The daughters disagree. They are now grown and they have become restless. They talk and plan endlessly about what is beyond the borders of their forest, believing they could find their way to new land, to higher ground, in order to be safer and to flourish. They see the rain as an exciting opportunity to finally fight their own battle and win.

The mothers are frustrated with their daughters and feel they don’t appreciate the years of effort they put into creating a safe space for them to live. They see them as silly, full of hot air, and unaware of how dangerous it is to fight a battle for basic existence. The daughters are frustrated with their mothers and their unwillingness to explore beyond the boundaries they have built. They see them as backward-looking, pessimistic, insular, and entrenched. The two groups are not communicating well with one another any longer.

Prep for Feb 25 Rehearsal

Hi all! I’ve watched all the videos and reviewed Erin’s notes from last week’s rehearsal ... everything was looking and sounding great! I know that University break week has meant that we had quite a few people missing but it looks like you did a fabulous job anyway! For those who could not be there, please remember, it is your responsibility to review the materials on the blog and meet with other singers in order to get caught up on the blocking. It will not be taught again, but rather reviewed and tweaked from here on out so you need to do whatever is necessary to learn it.

As I posted on the facebook group, the memorization schedule has been updated. Please make sure you look at it and adjust your preparation accordingly.

Homework for this week:

- Mothers Group memorize When The Earth Stands Still

- Everyone memorize your text for Scenes 1-3 (up to Famine Song)

- Fill in the Character Worksheet provided by Jennette (if not already complete)

- Read through this “World of the Show” post to make sure you fully understand the context for our story!

Rehearsal Plan for Sunday:

Alto 1s are on Snack & Snap!

1:15	Warm ups
1:35	Text work (Scenes 1-3)
2:00	Pallaanda
2:20	Storm Soundscape (workshop until finished)
3:00	Break
3:15	When the Earth (memory check)
3:30	Blocking: Scenes 1-3 AND When the Earth
5:00	First run-through of show up to Pallaanda
5:30	Home

Notes from Feb 19 Rehearsal

The formatting was wonky on this one, so here is a link to the notes from this rehearsal.

Prep for MONDAY Feb 19 Rehearsal

Hi all,

I left our rehearsal on Sunday feeling really grateful for the diversity of perspectives and generosity of spirit you brought to our discussion. Thank you! 

I was also really pleased with what we accomplished and am looking forward to seeing more of this music with Claire’s choreography.... Womanly Song of God is just fabulous!!

Homework

1. Solidify your memorization of Kuka Nukkuu Tuutussasi 

2. Memorize Famine Song (make sure you go over Erin’s notes about the text change)

3. Fill out Jennette’s worksheet for your character and bring it to rehearsal 

Rehearsal Plan

Soprano 2s on snack!!

Claire and I are still firming up exact timings for things but the most important thing about this week is to remember that we are NOT rehearsing on Sunday but rather on MONDAY evening from 6-9!

We will be blocking KNT and likely Famine Song but we may also be doing some work on Scene 1. 

Mothers please note that we won’t be blocking When the Earth Stands Still this week since both S2s are not here. This also gives you a bit more time to memorize it. 

I will update this post with a form schedule a little later this week but wanted to get back on track with Tuesday posts!

Notes from Rehearsal Feb 11

Minimal notes again this week due to the nature of the rehearsal. If you were absent make sure to connect with your section-buddies for specific music notes! :-)


Famine Song

Text change in measure 54 - "comes the hunger to everyone" (same rhythms as measure 50, but with the notes of measure 54)

Last chord - louder from the people singing F & A to make it more "doom" sounding.

Prep for Feb 11

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your openness and commitment to the acting workshop Jennette provided last week. After all was said and done, I decided not to post the video of the session because I felt it was just too personal. For those who missed it, I'd be happy to give you a run-down at break this week.

Homework
Kuka Nukkuu Tuutussasi needs to be memorized for this rehearsals
For "Mothers" - keep in mind that next week you need to have When the Earth memorized despite that we've had relatively little rehearsal on it. You'll get a good chunk of time this week but it would be great if you sang it through a few times before you came - you'd be that much further ahead.

Rehearsal Schedule
Soprano 1s are on snack!

1:15	Warm ups
1:35	Community Values Affirmation
1:55	Music: - Daughters/Mothers - Famine Song (all) -Pallaanda
3:35	Break
3:50	KNT music check
4:10	WSOG music check
4:30	Blocking: - WSOG review - KNT
5:30	Home!

Rehearsal Notes from Feb 4 2018

A large portion of today's rehearsal was spent on an activity with Jennette. There are not many notes on music.

Reminder that KNT is to be memorized in full next week!


Pallaanda

Measures 3 - 6 The Mothers sing the solo, Choir 2 sings the echo

Measures 7 - 9 Mothers only