Evaluation of Kathak Performance "Dancing in the street"

 I have just watched the film of my final performance of the Kathak dance group piece "Dancing on the streets", which I performed at the Spotlight  College production on Wednesday 14th June 2023. I am proud of what I achieved in this performance particularly learning and performing in the Kathak style with rhythmic accuracy and hand/eye coordination as well as keeping the triangular and diamond body shapes. This can be seen at the start of the piece, when we are all moving in unison to the music, my knees were turned out that created a half triangle shaped and when we began doing the sequence with Tatkars and Bols, I could see that everything was very coordinated. This is supported by a piece of verbal audience feedback "I was fascinated by the shapes that were made throughout, especially the triangular and diamond shapes made with arms and legs". 

 I am impressed at how well we all performed in unison together and how everything was perfectly timed with little to no mistakes (any that were made were concealed and the performance looked very polished). This is seen throughout the piece, whether the entire class is doing a sequence or if it's just a small group piece- I believe that we all worked well in unison together by creating cues for the start of each movement. This is supported by verbal audience feedback "The movements were strong and very tight" and " It was very well performed and the unison work was astonishing". 

I am also pleased with how I projected my voice and communicated the story through my movements. This can be seen when we are doing the first movement with Tatkars and Bols and also when I (2nd Group) am telling the story to the audience.  This is supported by audience feedback I received that said "Their projection was excellent from everyone in terms of telling the story and their diction was very clear, you could hear every word". 

By watching the film of my final performance, I also recognise that there are elements that I could still improve on, such as the Bols. I found it difficult to make a sound when performing the Bols, this might be because I am so used to being told not to make a sound when dancing and I am usually used to being on the balls of my feet especially in a turned out position. 

I also realised that my Chakkars still needed some work, as they're not very grounded and I did see myself releve onto the ball of my foot when doing a Chakkar. Chakkars are supposed to be on the heel and extremely fast. If I were to do this performance again, I would make sure that my Chakkars were much more rehearsed and that I was able to perform them as technically accurate as possible. This would take dedication but I believe that with discipline, I would be able to perform them well after practicing them.