- Charles Baudelaire
There are many categories to choose from in a dance
competition, those being; solos, duets, trios, small groups, large groups,
lines and productions. I have experience in all of these, however I was only
exposed to a duet partnership last year. Competing a duet is a hard tackle. It
takes a great deal of time in effort to perfect the connection and
synchronization in a rehearsal.
Last year I started the first duet of my life with my good
friend Lily Hartney, who is a freshman this year on dance team with me. She has
a lot of talent, is a very hard worker and shares my love of dance. We wanted
to do a duet together despite the apparent height difference. We thought it to
be a good pairing, because we both are flexible, and we would be able to
intricate lifts, due to her smallness. At the time I was sixteen, and Lily was
thirteen. We found a song that matched our scenario very well, falling head
over heels for the Pink's "Conversations with My 13 Year Old Self."
The song gave situation of an adult trying to reconnect with her past when she
was thirteen, wishing she could have someone to look out for her. She didn't
have anyone to help her, but herself. The story we told was of Lily being the
thirteen year old, and myself being her older version, reconnecting to the past
and giving Lily a guiding hand. Another unique aspect on our duet is that we
learned it in one, one hour rehearsal. It was choreographed by Paige Beatty and
Mallory Asplund splendidly, they created it together, making the learning
process go double as fast. Mallory created all of my choreography and Paige
made all of Lily's. The duet really tested us, because it was new to us both,
focus on connection, synchronization and rehearsal is what really benefitted us
in the long run, because the duet was moving, and did very well at every
competition.
There has to be a noticeable connection in a duet, because
there are only two people on the stage you can't just connect to the audience,
you have to be able to connect with one another. Likewise, you can't rely on a
group to show the story for you, you have to have feeling and emotion with your
partner to tell a story, or create art for the audience. In jazz dances you
need to share a common energy, working off of each other. Same in lyrical based
dance, lots of feeling should be involved, it should feel as though there is an
attachment and yearning to be with that person. Sometimes, duets are told with
different characters in that situation you need to make a connection with
yourself as a character and work that into the interaction of your duet
partner's character. Facials and body language towards your duet partner will
have a more noticeable effect on the dance overall, it takes work, but if you
already have a connection with your partner it will make it just that much
easier.
Synchronization is vital in the placement of a duet.
Practicing with your partner frequently with the music is going to be obvious
to the outcome of your duet. If you are to match timing with your partner, you
better have a 100% understanding on when that is in relation to both each other
and in the music. Practicing together full out with the music all of the
time is also highly recommended, this gives a better idea of spacing and timing
in general when you two actually perform on stage together. Due to only two
people sharing the stage in a duet, difference in synchronization is crucial,
it will be clear whether one of you is slow, or fast, if someone did one less
turn, or if you don't make your jump on the boom. Take out the “ifs” and work
on them with your partner and music full out on a frequent basis.
Keeping up on rehearsals is important overall, it will show
dramatically on stage, and will feel so beneficial in the end. Take the time to
go through every small detail, mastering it together whether it's technical,
timing, or feeling. Work together to create a masterful piece of art on the
stage, it shouldn’t be about outshining, or out dancing your duet partner. It's
about working with them to make the dance come to life, even with so few people
on the stage.
~Julia
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