2. The focus within today’s rehearsal is to learn the basic steps to the jive and apply them to the dance
number within Grease. After learning basic steps I will learn, rehearse, refine and improve the
choreography for the Hand jive within Grease.
Therefore my target for today’s rehearsal is to apply appropriate dance styles correctly and ensure my
movements are accurate and in time with the music.
Commencing today’s rehearsal I took part in a short warm up which contained cardio exercises to prevent
myself from any injuries. Immediately, after the warm up I took part in a workshop to learn the basic
steps to the jive. Before learning the basic choreography I was informed that the jive has to be performed
with great amounts of energy and constantly have a spring/bounce in your step. The first section of
choreography taught was to be performed individually. Within this section I repeated the moves ‘Step
back, Chassé (to the right), Chassé (to the left)’ for 7 sets, after this for the 8th set I had to do a set of
kick and flicks. This continued into partner work repeating everything we had just done except I had to
hold my partners hand. Within this workshop I was able to apply appropriate dance styles correctly.
Additionally, I understood that for the jive it is important to listen to the drum line rather than the
melody as the drum line provides the beats. Following the workshop I was able to start to learn the
choreography for Grease’s ‘The Hand-Jive’. The skills I applied to this dance from the workshop were the
ability to continually create a happy and energetic dance and correctly keep my legs kicking in a pump
action. The choreography was very simple and easy to pick up. The steps were: 1. Pat your thighs then
clap your hand. 2. Crisscross your hands so they glide past one another with the right hand on top. 3.
Move your hands into fists and hit your hands together with the right hand on top. 4. Give a thumbs up
and move them to your shoulder for two beats with the right one first. 5. You repeat the same actions.
Whilst performing these steps I had to jump on the spot, and then I had to find my partner to perform a
section where we do the hand jive together. I picked the dance steps up easily however I struggled to
jump and perform the steps at the same time. This is because the jumps are double pace and the
movements are on the drum beat. The hand jive lasts for sixteen beats to perform movements to the
music; this helps me as I understand where I am within the dance. This rehearsal was very productive and
resulted in the majority of the hand jive being choreographed.
3. A strength within this rehearsal was my ability to show understanding towards the energy
needed for the jive and being able to apply the accurate dance styles to the repertoire.
For example, I performed the jive with all my energy and demonstrated understanding of
pumping legs and popping kicks. I feel this style suits me as I give these movements 100%
energy and make sure my leg movements are sharp and straight which reflects the
pumping actions.
A weakness within this rehearsal was for the hand jive. Within the hand jive there is a
big section where it is performed as couples, this was a problem as my partner was not
there for the rehearsal therefore I had to perform it on my own. The problem with this
was I was unaware of the amount of space I would have on stage. This may affect the
positioning of the other dancers so that I and my partner do not block others or ourselves
from the audiences sight.
Review of my target: my target for today’s rehearsal is to apply appropriate dance
styles correctly and ensure my movements are accurate and in time with the music.
I believe I have successfully completed todays target as I understood the dance style jive
quickly and was able to apply that to the hand jive. From this the company were able to
rehearse the hand jive multiple times, which meant I was able to pick the dance up
quicker. As a result my movements throughout were quite accurate and in time to the
music.
4. This was the first workshop held for the
jive. This was me learning the basic step of
step back, Chassé (to the right), Chassé (to
the left). I picked this up very quick and
was able to move onto the partner work.
This section was hard to comprehend at first as
the boys do different steps to the girls. This
also follows the basic steps of step back,
Chassé, Chassé. Eventually after repeating the
steps many times, I successfully was able to
perform the dance with my partner. I then
performed the whole dance and effectively
included the 1950s energy needed for the jive.
5. This was the workshop after the jive. This was the first
time I learnt the ‘Born To Hand Jive’ choreography.
Immediately I picked up the first 16 beats which are, pat
your thighs then clap your hand, crisscross your hands so
they glide past one another, move your hands into fists and
hit your hands together then give a thumbs up.
This section is where each cast member dances with
their partner at the dance. I struggled with this
section as I did not have a partner to dance with,
however the more I rehearsed the movements, the
easier it got to perform. This meant it was easier to
show my partner and help him understand the dance
movements.
