Research the theatre company DV8 Make comments and evaluate their performance work, subject material and rehearsal methods. (Minimum 600 words).

DV8 theatre was created in 1986 and has since been led by Lloyd Newson. The company has produced 19 highly acclaimed dance pieces, which have toured internationally, and four award-winning films for television.
DV8 usually create work about current affairs, posing question the audience, stimulating the mind. They cover very sensitive subjects, such as Islam and freedom of speech these are very complex topics and DV8 want you to think and generate your own opinions about these topics through physical theatre. These topics are also quite taboo, not being spoken about this openly by many other production companies, if any. Saying "religions, like any group of ideas are open for debate. Especially where those beliefs oppress others." They try to ease tensions that have arisen between cultures worldwide. All of these questions and complex topics challenge the audience not simply providing an entertaining performance but changing the way you perhaps see the world. I think to try and create this kind of theatre is very courageous, and I believe that this choice payed off,  as it challenged the audience about something that is happening currently. 

The performance, Can we talk about this, has clearly made very bold choices about how realistic it intended to be. Fusing dance and physical theatre, the choreography was extremely expressive. This constantly engaged the audience as there was never a dull moment, neither in physicality or in the mind stimulating dialogue. This almost overwhelming information provided for both the eyes and ears was complimented by the minimalistic set, as a bustling background would have been too much and completely overwhelmed the audience. As an actor to approach this play would take a thorough understanding of the topics, as well as all the physical and vocal work also.

This trend of challenging the audience and giving the audience a certain perspective they may have not experienced is a on going trend with DV8. They either do it quite obviously as they have in can we talk about this, or tell a story and let the audience gain their own interpretation. 

The rehearsal process is very experimental. They explore countless different ideas and take the ones that work into the rehearsal of the actual production. In preparation for Enter Achilles the explored how they could look at experiences of men in our world and how they could reflect that into their work. They would generate a storyline during the workshops and then begin  creating it in rehearsals. 

DV8 is a very controversial theatre company, which is a good thing. DV8 is here to challenge how we feel, think and perceive through extremely impressive and creative physical theatre

How do you perform Impulse work and what is it beneficial for?

Impulse work makes you rely on your instincts as an actor. You have to trust your initial decisions and make them work. We performed impulse work by stopping whenever we had the urge, this helped us allow our instincts to take the wheel and control how we act. This will be beneficial because as actors, especially when performing naturalistic plays, we need to act as if it were the first time experiencing it, not something that has been rehearsed. Instincts can bring a performance to life, and can also help the actor immerse themselves within the character and the subconscious.
If you have a thorough understanding of the play you will be able to lose yourself within the character, Impulse work helps you get there.

Explain why devising through organic improvisations is different to mentally planning and mention the former’s benefits.

To do this you and your partner must trust eachother immensley. You also need to stay conscious of eachother, reacting to one and others movements, eye contact is usually very helpfull. If you are not completley focused you may misunderstand and clash with your partner. When mentally planning a sequence of movements for your performance you need to remember what you planned, perhaps having you think a couple steps ahead and not being in the moment with your movements, not having your mind fully dedicated to a movement can have negative effects. Organic improv can spontaenously create unique moves you never would have thought if you had created a planned sequence. This will then make you feel more comfortable and condfident with your partner and hopefully you would continue to create unique lifts.

Duet Performance Evaluation

The performance was okay. It could have been much more fluid, we should have practised the transitions more regularly and been more imaginative when thinking of transitions. Our theme was two children playing together, we portrayed this well in our movements, including a jokey handshake at the beginning of the piece and a high five at the end. We used the objective to play, and tried to communicate this threw facial expression and physical movements. However there were times in the piece when I forgot to maintain my facial expression as I was focusing on performing a lift. I could have prevented this by, again, rehearsing our piece more as I would be comfortable in the lift and able to maintain the expression. This lack of expression most likely slightly disengaged the audience.
We should have been more in control of our pace. Pace can also be used to imply emotions, giving the piece a narrative and direction. We should have used it more to our advantage.  I also had little control when performing the shoulder rolls as the landing were not soft making the piece feel rigid instead of fluid. When researching how toddlers would play together i watched my little brother and sister for inspiration. Their movements were spontaneous and pure. I tried to replicate this is our performance. We took most of our ideas from things we had learnt in lessons, the beginning of our piece was taken from milling, the two separate rhythms of clapping, fast and slow, and the two different paces, one bouncey and quick the other static. 
Overall our performance could have been much better and was moderate.

Duet Rehearsal Notes

I was rehearsing with Kai. Kai was the base for most lifts, as he was taller than me making it more convenient. I lift him also, however one attempt failed, I couldnt take his weight and collapsed underneath him. This was because he was to stiff and not soft, I also leaned to far forward and wasnt a strong and stable enough base. I attempted the lift again, remembering to lower my core below his, stay strong as a base and not rush the lift.
When choreographing the performance we often had a hard time remembering lifts, We had a small selection of lifts to access and thus struggled to make the piece feel fresh, varied and engaging. To prevent this we should do our own research outside of lessons learning how to perform different lifts, this will also differentiate our piece from the rest of the class because it includes unique lifts.

Why do some physical theatre practitioners work with physical objectives?

Physical theatre pieces without objectives can leave the audience feeling unsatisfied, thinking "what was the point." Physical objectives can give a piece meaning and a purpose, things as simple as facial expressions can give the audience a much deeper meaningful, experience. Things like pace, whether movements are soft or controlled can connote so many different things. There are countless opportunities. This all gives the piece purpose and gives the audience a satisfying feeling. Giving the piece a narrative, gives it a sense of direction, where as a series of lifts may make the audience feel as if they are going round in circles.

Explain the need to develop your lifting techniques

Lifts can look very complex but in actual fact be very simple to perform, it is threw understanding of lifts that you achieve effective lifts without physical strain.. By developing lift techniques you will become more comfortable performing lifts and be able to perform more advanced lifts that will enhance your piece. You will also have a wider vocabulary of lifts that you can access, giving you more options when planning your performance.

Annotate and describe the process of performing a lift. (Mention breath, crossing of centres, timing etc.).

To perform a lift effectively you need to be fully committed and focused. Timing is often crucial and you cannot be precise when you are distracted. This focus also allows you to sync with your partner, at a very advance level you can even sync your breath this increases the control you have when performing lifts, allowing you to effortlessly change the pace of the lift. This can connote emotions making the lift even more effective and giving it meaning. A lift usually involves the more capable of the two lifting the other in some way, it can add meaning, a new dynamic and  can engage the audience when done correctly. When picking up your partner, the position fof your central core is usually important, eg: when lifting your partner on to your back you should lower your core below theirs, so you can support the person.

Annotate and describe the process of the Surfing Banana Rolls exercise and describe what it is beneficial for.

BANANA ROLLS

Lay on our back and lift your arms and legs above the ground, shift your weight to the side and let it roll you over onto your front. Using the momentum you've accumulated you can rollover  onto your back again. You can keep repeating this and keep on rolling forever.

Its beneficial for straightening your core.  This is good exercise for warming up as it helped me perform the table exercise as I had more control of my core and was able to make the transition fluid. This was because my core had been strengthened from doing banana rolls.

SURFING BANANA ROLLS 
Everyone lies in a line with their hands stretched above their head and their legs stretched out too. The surfer slowly places themselves on the first person in the line, that person then begins to roll over moving the surfer. When the surfer is getting close to you you start to roll over, you must be conscious of when people before and after you are about to roll. You cannot start to roll at the wrong time as it will ruin the wave.
The surfer must be as soft as possible allowing the rollers to easily transport them along the wave. They can do this be tensing their core and straightening their arms and legs. They also shouldn't move or fidget as this will make it harder for the rollers to move the surfer.