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| Coaching Nancys |
| Written by Administrator | |
| Friday, 09 May 2008 | |
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We caught up choreographer, Kevan Allan. I'm the choreographer on I'd Do Anything, which means that I work with the girls and choreograph their routines. I work on their movement and where they stand on the stage, and make sure that they know which camera they should be looking at. Choreography is to do with dance steps, but it's also how to emote a song and how to move. It can be very subtle, and should look like very natural. I also nurture the girls as performers and try to show them that less is more, especially as they're performing for television. So I'm always watching their every move on camera. At the start I got the girls together and just gave them general movement. I choreographed the Nancy songs that they already knew, so that let me gauge how much they could take, and get an idea of their abilities. Then when I worked with them on a one to one basis I could judge how I needed to teach and instruct them. The girls usually see Claire, the vocal coach and Donna, the performance coach first, so they learn a bit of background history on the song they're singing and learn about their breathing and phrasing. Then when they come to me we add movement and put it on its feet, putting sense to what they're doing. When they sing a certain lyric, they've got the thought process behind it and what it means, and then I can explain why they're moving that way so it looks like they're naturally accentuating what they're saying. We asked Kevan how our remaining Nancys have been getting on. Sam is very young, but has a natural talent and a beautiful voice. She's a really good mover and is very confident with her movement. She sometimes takes a while to get it, but basically Sam is like an open pot that you can draw from to mould. She's got it all there, but just needs the right direction and coaching, and then she nails it. Jodie is a fantastic character, and somebody that you just naturally want to hang out with. But because she is such a people person, she does have it in her to be a bit too cabaret and over the top, so I've really worked with her to pull that back, which I think we've got now. She understands now what she needs to do to be more of a professional performer and less of a cabaret entertainer. Ashley we have to be careful with because she too is a really good mover, and takes dance direction really well, but she sometimes goes so over the top that it goes the wrong way for her performance, especially for television. It's sometimes harder to work on the softer songs with Ashley as she's such a strong person, so I've been pulling her back and softening her up as much as we can. But she's great to work with and has definitely got it all there. Jessie is a real talent, but is quite inhibited by movement. She knows this herself, and is the first one to say that she's got two left feet when it comes to movement! For me it has been quite challenging as she doesn't know how to hold her stance naturally, or move naturally – she moves in a Jessie way! So getting her to blend into a group can be quite hard, which can make her stand out for the wrong reasons. But she has learned to relax, and she can't let that hinder her because she really does have so much more to offer. Rachel gives 100% every time, week in and week out. All of the girls put an equal amount of effort in, but with Rachel I always know that she's going to give a stunning performance, no matter what we go through in the week. She questions herself a lot and analyses what she's doing, and I think she worries more than she has to. But when it comes to her performance, even if she does go slightly wrong she'll pull it off every week. Niamh has something there. She's very young, and the other girls are very womanly and voluptuous, whereas Niamh is still quite teenager, and I feel like I could knock her down with a feather! I sometimes find it challenging to get the strength out of her, but that's just who she is as a character. She's very slight in build and we did struggle to bring out her acting ability at the start, but we're getting there. She enjoys the choreography, sometimes more than she's able to do! But I like her enthusiasm for wanting to do it. Source |
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