Looking for Info about Character and National Dances

[ScottishDancerMum]

Hi all!

After getting our feet wet with competitions this year, we're preparing for next year by adding to Daughter's dances.  She currently has a Ballet and a Tap number, and we are adding a Character and a National.  But I was curious about a few things, and if anyone had experience judging these or dancing in them, I'd be grateful for some guidance...


1)  Is there any sort of limitations on props/costume for Character?

2)  For National, I understand that popular dances are from Russia, Poland, Ireland, and lots of European countries.  We are planning a dance medley from Canada - Canada doesn't have one particular national dance or song, so we are putting together something that encompasses 3 styles, which includes some convertible costumes.

Are lyrics permitted for National?  (I hope so, as we've picked songs with lyrics.... )

Do the judges typically study the forms of National dance ahead of time?  i.e., will a judge be able to tell a good Russian step from a poorly executed one?  What are the criteria?  How about for costume?    We are doing our best for authenticity, but will judges think, "oh, that doesn't look right..."

Many thanks for putting up with my questions!
 

[Cara in NZ]

My DD has a Russian National Character, choreographed by a very experienced teacher. But I asked the name of the music and it's actually by an Armenian composer, which threw me a bit! Here in New Zealand the competition adjudicators do assess the authenticity of the costume (such as colour palette), but there is plenty of overlap between the Russian, Hungarian and Polish steps, from what I've seen. For props, there is usually no more than a small cushion, or a tambourine, or something similar. Re lyrics, I think it's fine to dance to folk-song types of music.

 

What you are calling 'Character' is I think what we call 'Demi-Character', ie a dance that tells a story? I've seen vast ranges of props, including a Three Little Pigs one where the dancer was the wolf and the mother ran around in the wings pulling strings to make cardboard house fronts fall down as her DC blew on each one... Have also seen Carabosse solos where the poor mother was lugging a full-size old-fashioned cradle on a stand with draped fabric... Another friend's DD had a Mr Tumnus solo, featuring a lamp-post with 'snow' and a real lantern, plus table and chairs with tea-set, and three brown-paper wrapped parcels! We asked for minimal props as we were travelling a distance to some competitions and needed to be able to take props on a plane. Ours is based on Anastasia, and DD just has a wool shawl and a music box, plus character boots and a sailor dress – very simple but it's supposed to be more about acting than props.

Not sure if that's any help? I've never seen a Canadian dance, but have seen some interesting ones from places like Burma/Myanmar, which make a nice change from the Eastern European, Italian and Spanish ones we usually see!

[Pups_mum]

Most festivals we've ever been to stipulate that props should be "hand held" though that seems to be interpreted fairly loosely! My DD never had anything that one person couldn't carry, though I've seen people lugging quite large items like tables and chairs on stage.

Adjudicators vary of course. It's impossible for them all to be equally knowledgeable about every genre, and even those who are very "hot" on nationals can't possibly know everything about every country. But certainly in my experience, most adjudicators will have a fair degree of technical knowledge around both the steps and costumes used in the countries that are most often represented, and some will have great expertise. Authenticity is important, especially in the younger age groups - they seem to allow a little more personal interpretation from the older teenagers.  And yes, songs with lyrics are OK if they are authentic.

Occasionally of course you do get adjudicators who think they know more than they actually do of course.....I did have to bite my tongue quite hard once when my DD's Spanish costume was criticised for its lack of authenticity. It's a good job her Spanish grandma wasn't in the audience or the adjudicator would have got a long lecture!

Basically, you can't please everyone all of the time, but try to keep things reasonably authentic and just have fun.

[Huddsballetmum]

I can't help you with the National as we have always avoided them like the plague - a personal choice by my DD!

 

Character however we have lots of experience in and I would suggest the following

 

1. Costume needs to be fairly authentic to the character, but modern materials and charity shops are a godsend in this area.  Ballet shoes with back socks and gilt buttons sewn on the sides make excellent victorian ladies boots for example.

2. Props - the whole point of character is the acting out of the role and ensuring that it held from start to finish.  Props can be an aid, but the more props you have then the bigger car you need, the more you have to carry and the more that can go wrong, plus the more chance you have of forgetting them.  I'll never forget the time one of our dance schools older dancers had a number of props and was so busy counting all her props into the car that she forgot the costume.   Nightmare!

Props that you need to assemble at the festival are always a trauma.  I have managed to get away with chairs, lamps, netting and small hand props wherever possible. 

[ScottishDancerMum]

Hi everyone - thank you for your thoughts!

For the character piece, she wants to do Hermione Granger.  I have a costume for her, but it looks very authentic to the movie, although we've shortened the pleated skirt to dance in.  We were thinking of a small table - maybe the size of a collapsible tv table - with a small black cauldron on top.  We've thought of more complicated options (like a cauldron with those silk "fire" lights inside), but might just use pantomime for that.  The "story" is of Hermione making the Polyjuice Potion and accidentally turning herself into a cat by making an error with one of her ingredients.  I'm still trying to think of a way to make cat ears grow out of her head, but we have time for that.

___________________

The national piece... this has been something I've been stewing over for a few months now.  I'm Canadian, and my daughter is half-Canadian... why shouldn't she have the option of dancing to part of her own culture? 

Tricky thing is that Canada doesn't have one particular national song or dance.  So we've done this medley...  30 seconds per song, and three different types of music and dance.

Log Driver's Waltz (a song every Canadian knows), with an American Smooth waltz step (different than a standard waltz)
Canadian Girls - a country song, with the Canadian Stomp line dance

Hina Na Ho - a pop Inuit song, with an Inuit inspired dance

Costuming... we were going to start with a dress/apron combination, but this hardly looks terribly specific or particularly Canadian so we're still researching.  For the line dance, the skirt will be pulled away to leave black leggings underneath, and the top will be a blouse/waistcoat that will look very much like a typical line dance outfit.  For the last dance, the top will come away to have a black tank top, with a white feather motif.  *** I am in no way going to attempt an Inuit or First Nations costume, which would be considered highly offensive if anyone from Canada ever saw it.  We are trying to go for respectful nod to First Nations culture being an important part of Canada, without trying to dress up like Indians and doing a Peter Pan inspired war dance

It might break a lot of rules, but I'm almost at the stage where, why the heck not?  It might liven things up a bit...  

Edited October 26, 2017 by ScottishDancerMum

[Cara in NZ]

It sounds ambitious, but I've really enjoyed the national dances where the DC clearly have a connection to that culture, eg a Burmese dance with sticks. I'm sure adjudicators are more used to the RAD style of national character, but I like your creative approach. (One note of caution – your DD will need to not be easily flustered by possible costume malfunctions. After 3 years mine can now cope with music glitches, but I've seen some difficult moments for DC trying to adjust costumes that weren't cooperating!)

[ScottishDancerMum]

Yeah, the costume changes will definitely need practice and fine tuning.

For authenticity, I've been referencing some of the costumes used in the 1985 tv version of Anne of Green Gables, which was known for being really nit-picky about correct costuming details.  So rather than the dress/apron, we might go with something like this:  https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/259168153533655185/  Then the costume changes head from old-fashioned to modern.

 

[balletbean]

On 10/26/2017 at 13:19, Pups_mum said:

Most festivals we've ever been to stipulate that props should be "hand held" though that seems to be interpreted fairly loosely! My DD never had anything that one person couldn't carry, though I've seen people lugging quite large items like tables and chairs on stage.

Adjudicators vary of course. It's impossible for them all to be equally knowledgeable about every genre, and even those who are very "hot" on nationals can't possibly know everything about every country. But certainly in my experience, most adjudicators will have a fair degree of technical knowledge around both the steps and costumes used in the countries that are most often represented, and some will have great expertise. Authenticity is important, especially in the younger age groups - they seem to allow a little more personal interpretation from the older teenagers.  And yes, songs with lyrics are OK if they are authentic.

Occasionally of course you do get adjudicators who think they know more than they actually do of course.....I did have to bite my tongue quite hard once when my DD's Spanish costume was criticised for its lack of authenticity. It's a good job her Spanish grandma wasn't in the audience or the adjudicator would have got a long lecture!

Basically, you can't please everyone all of the time, but try to keep things reasonably authentic and just have fun.

I could not agree more. One young lady  performed a Russian dance, the adjudicator made some unpleasant comments about the girls boots she wore, not being authentic.  The teacher was Russian and they were her own boots she had lent her pupil. It was hard work to restrain the teacher. Adjudicators can be rather fickle at times. 

[Cara in NZ]

5 minutes ago, balletbean said:

Adjudicators can be rather fickle at times. 

 

Absolutely! One competition we went to this year, DD had a couple of wisps showing in front of her ears in her pointe solo (classical bun) and the first comment was "Make sure your hair is really slicked back". We'd done her hair carefully at home and sprayed it down, but there was a pretty fierce storm raging so the wisps escaped between the car and the theatre. Is that really worth a comment?? (Here is the offending hair, horrific I know. What were we thinking?)

[meadowblythe]

 

Not one to defend adjudicators, but from musical festival experience, adjudicators often seemed to start with a general comment - presentation, how you introduced the piece, posture .. before getting into the performance itself.  

 

For those for whom it is not their day, this is an opportunity to praise - for those who have done really well, an opportunity to suggest something to be improved next time.

[Pups_mum]

I don't think there's anything wrong with adjudicators commenting on hair, make up, costume etc within reason. After all, dance is a visual art, and all those things contribute to the overall "package". However, we did encounter a few during DD's festival career who seemed to have forgotten it was a dance competition they were judging, rather than a beauty pageant! We certainly got a few comment cards back with absolutely no technical comments but lots about hair etc. I also dislike it when adjudicators are critical of the appearance of very young competitors, who clearly have no input into what they're wearing. Fair enough to speak directly to a girl in E section if her hair or make up isn't up-to scratch as she's probably done it herself, but not to the babies . A note of advice to the teacher/parents on the comments sheet is fine, but I have seen quite pointed comments made to 5 and 6 year olds on stage and personally I think that's unacceptable.

[ScottishDancerMum]

Even though I'm striving to make sure everything about this National dance is authentic(music, dance, costuming), I'm guessing there's a good chance that a lot of that detail could get missed by adjudicators, particularly hearing about the Russian boots!

Pups Mum, I agree about picking on the young dancers when you know it's not their makeup and hair techniques on display.  A discreet note is good, but picking on the child directly isn't good.