Ensemble Skills

This lesson was all about working as an ensemble. We began by all writing on the board, words or terms that we feel are vital in a successful team or ensemble.

On the list is-
- Teamwork
- Respecting each other
- Love
- Have fun
- Self discipline
- Be understanding
- Timing
- Open mindedness
- Creativity
- Punctuality
- Compassion
- Learning lines/songs
- Support
- Enthusiasm
- Positivity
- Determination
- Variety
- Equality
- Everyone has a say
- Passion
- Patience
- Take risks
- Commitment
- Tolerance
- Believe in and encourage each other
- Organisation


We then discussed what elements we excel at, and which ones we need to improve on. I found that one thing I am good at is being determined, this made me think of the show Rent last year, I had my first ever main port and I was determined to succeed. I learnt all of my songs before the deadlines and was prepared and ready with creative ideas every lesson, which allowed me to feel more relaxed bout the final shows. My creativity is definitely something I am proud of, thinking up new and contrasting ideas and suggestions for the group to bring  new style of perspective to a piece, making it much more interesting.
However, I often need to work on my patience, I tend to get flustered if something isn't going quite right and I let that get in the way of what's important in that rehearsal, which is unprofessional.

• If, in a musical ensemble, we didn't have everyone having a say then the piece could become boring, repetitive, and not everyone will be engaged in rehearsals or performances. It is important to have everyone's input into the piece as it sparks creativity and when you re contributing ides you are actively thinking and when a part that you helped with comes up, it allows you to take a leadership role and learn how to voice your ideas well. All of which are really important skills when it comes to performing arts.

• A lack of organisation in a musical ensemble can cause a lot of issues, without  being organised schedules aren't made, people don't know their lines and people may not end up being punctual. This means the rehears process will take much longer than necessary.

• Not Respecting each other can lead to many negative issues, if there is a lack of respect, someone putting themselves out of their comfort zone could feel insecure and not confident enough to perform to their best abilities. Or, in a worse circumstance, no one would take risks and put themselves out there to try things out.