(the following blog was written by the lovely Janine, who will be playing the goddess Hina in our Polynesian-themed Tempest)
We began our Polynesian dance rehearsals last week at Shady Shakespeare. We worked on the opening number at our first rehearsal. I don’t want to give too much away, but audiences will be in for a real treat as this number is guaranteed to transport them instantly to our Polynesian island. Our dances have been wonderfully choreographed by Norman Munoz. Norman has been dancing for many years – not only can he move his hips better than any dancer I’ve ever seen, he is also a font of knowledge on the Polynesian culture. Our ‘corps de hula’ is composed of some of Shady’s hardest working performers. Our opening number is based on the Maori tradition and features a storm (duh, it is The TEMPEST!), live music and chanting. Maori dance is militaristic in nature and often the dancers do not smile. We also choreograph our goddess wedding speeches. Polynesian culture and dance are steeped in story-telling and our movements help us to recount our stories. We constantly perform all of our dance steps with our knees deeply bent. (Needless to say, after our first rehearsal, my quads are in unbearable agony and climbing steps the following day is like scaling Mount Everest.)
Day two – We review our opening dance number. Did I mention that my thighs hurt? We choreograph the wedding dance. This dance is more lyrical and flirty than our first dance, but again we perform most of our moves with the knees deeply bent. People often think of moving hips when they think of Polynesian dance. What they don’t realize is that in order to get those hips a-moving, you must bend your knees. So yes, our knees are a-bending and our hips will definitely be a-moving. One unique aspect of this wedding dance is that we are also playing rocks for our accompaniment. We hold a set of river rocks in each hand and click them together like finger cymbals. This is quite a difficult task to maneuver while you are dancing, especially when your hands are upside down over your head, and I am sure that someone will drop a rock on their head one of these days. I hope it’s not me…
Day three – We review our first two dances and wedding speeches. We learn our finale number. This number is quite fun and I am sure that the audience will be thoroughly impressed. Norman is hoping to have the goddesses dance with fire as this dance will be performed after the sun has set. This dance tells the story of a one-masted ship. Norman explains that many Polynesian songs have double-meanings, much like Shakespeare. We also begin to learn the chant which will accompany our dance (boy do they use a lot of vowels!).
After three days of Polynesian dance rehearsals, all I can say is that my thighs hurt…a lot. But I am willing to endure some pain in order to dazzle our audience… And dazzled they will definitely be!
We began our Polynesian dance rehearsals last week at Shady Shakespeare. We worked on the opening number at our first rehearsal. I don’t want to give too much away, but audiences will be in for a real treat as this number is guaranteed to transport them instantly to our Polynesian island. Our dances have been wonderfully choreographed by Norman Munoz. Norman has been dancing for many years – not only can he move his hips better than any dancer I’ve ever seen, he is also a font of knowledge on the Polynesian culture. Our ‘corps de hula’ is composed of some of Shady’s hardest working performers. Our opening number is based on the Maori tradition and features a storm (duh, it is The TEMPEST!), live music and chanting. Maori dance is militaristic in nature and often the dancers do not smile. We also choreograph our goddess wedding speeches. Polynesian culture and dance are steeped in story-telling and our movements help us to recount our stories. We constantly perform all of our dance steps with our knees deeply bent. (Needless to say, after our first rehearsal, my quads are in unbearable agony and climbing steps the following day is like scaling Mount Everest.)
Day two – We review our opening dance number. Did I mention that my thighs hurt? We choreograph the wedding dance. This dance is more lyrical and flirty than our first dance, but again we perform most of our moves with the knees deeply bent. People often think of moving hips when they think of Polynesian dance. What they don’t realize is that in order to get those hips a-moving, you must bend your knees. So yes, our knees are a-bending and our hips will definitely be a-moving. One unique aspect of this wedding dance is that we are also playing rocks for our accompaniment. We hold a set of river rocks in each hand and click them together like finger cymbals. This is quite a difficult task to maneuver while you are dancing, especially when your hands are upside down over your head, and I am sure that someone will drop a rock on their head one of these days. I hope it’s not me…
Day three – We review our first two dances and wedding speeches. We learn our finale number. This number is quite fun and I am sure that the audience will be thoroughly impressed. Norman is hoping to have the goddesses dance with fire as this dance will be performed after the sun has set. This dance tells the story of a one-masted ship. Norman explains that many Polynesian songs have double-meanings, much like Shakespeare. We also begin to learn the chant which will accompany our dance (boy do they use a lot of vowels!).
After three days of Polynesian dance rehearsals, all I can say is that my thighs hurt…a lot. But I am willing to endure some pain in order to dazzle our audience… And dazzled they will definitely be!
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