France was a blast!

Bonjour! So we are back from France safe and sound and Flight Effect Company have had a blast!
Throughout the week the Flight Effect dancers have spent time together, we have grown a bigger bond as a company and feel stronger than ever.
This week consisted of various trips within tours with our choreographer Dimitri where he gave us a tour around the place and took us to see a conservatoire where we observed young dancers practice in rehearsals. We have also had a trip to the national contemporary conservatoire in which Dimitri has worked for 14 years before and we learnt a little bit about the company and what they do, followed by another observation of the dancer’s rehearsal which gave us all chance to see the details of how a professional dance company rehearses and works.

Wednesday night was our performance of ‘Moon Eaters’ at the theatre called ‘La Pleiade’. We were part of the show alongside another performance, also a piece choreographed by Dimitri. This was called ‘Praxagora’ and was very inspiring to watch and thrilling to be a part of such a powerful environment. As a company, we felt the performance was the strongest we had ever performed and we felt very confident in the audience response. This was highlighted after the show when a member of the audience approached some on our dancers and complimented our technique and performance. The words we received were ‘you danced better than Beyoncé’ which you can understand, was exhilarating to hear! After the performance, we had chance to speak to other dancers and some audience members and exchange thoughts and opinions on the evening. Flight Effect agreed that we felt confident and appreciated after this performance and it was so refreshing to hear such positive comments on our piece.

Throughout the week, we had some spare time to spend as a company exploring tours and its beautiful surroundings. The week we spent out in France has been a rollercoaster of emotions and has proved both relaxing and exciting. France has been a crucial part of our Tour, as it has been performed where our Choreographer lives. It was very upsetting to say ‘au revoir’ to Dimitri as it will be the final time he will see his work performed live and the last time Flight Effect 2016 will work with him. Emotional as it was to say goodbye, it was a positive atmosphere as we felt we have done him proud with the successful performance.  

Currently, although we are back, does not mean we have stopped working! We are currently preparing to travel to Leeds later this afternoon to perform in Yorkshire Dance as part of the Friday Firsts event, Burst. This is a platform where young choreographers get the chance to showcase their work. We are very excited for this and still running off the excitement from France.

We hope you have enjoyed hearing about our experience this week and we have enjoyed every second of it!
Another blog to follow next week!
Merci, Helen and Steph J

France is nearly upon us :)

Well Good Morning 

It’s been a quiet couple of weeks over in the flight effect studio, with running Moon Eaters ready for the big performance in France, with minor tweaks and perfecting transitions the piece is now looking better than ever. 

We have finally receive our itinerary for the trip and what jam pack few days we have what with watching company rehearsals, practicing Moon Eater, visiting tourist places as well as performing Moon Eaters it certainly is shaping you to be a fantastic few days. 

We thought we would share our itinerary with you just in case anyone wanted to know what were are getting up to whilst in France 

Monday
Arrival in France and getting settled in the hotel

Tuesday

A trip to the CCNT to watch class and then it’s off to rehearsal for the performance 

Wednesday

Tip to the National Conservatory to watch a company class and then it’s PERFORMANCE TIME 

Thursday

A day sight-seeing before we had back home  

Not only have we got this jam packed week in France but on the Friday we are also performing a shortened version of Moon Eaters at Burst Hosted by Yorkshire Dance where companies can come and show pieces to get acknowledged. 

Dont forget to check out social media 

Until Next Time 

Bon Yovage 

Helen and Steph Xx 

Three Weeks and Counting :)

Hey Guys :)

And were back to give you yet another dose of flight effect gossip. 

So it has been one busy rehearsal today with a skype rehearsal with our choreographer Dimitri, so he can see how we have progressed as a company and to give us further corrections. During this we ran the piece full out so he could really get a feel for how it has been developing since the last time he saw us. We also told him about our recent performances that we have done and how they have been going. During the rehearsal he has given us some more feedback for us to work on in the next couple of weeks before the big performance in France. Even though we had some corrections and alterations to make there was not as many as there have been in the past and he is impressed with what we have been doing to the piece… His words “I Love it!” 

Not only did we have a skype rehearsal we also had another film crew come in and film part of the piece this time for the 175 year celebration York St John has been open. This was an interesting experience for us as company because we were able to work with someone who has worked professionally in the film and TV business. This video will be airing in the next few weeks and we are thrilled to be a part of these celebrations. 

Unfortunately we regret to tell you that our tour to Oldham College this Friday has had to be cancelled due to the college preparing for their final performances. 

On another note there is only three weeks until we jet of to France to be reunited with Dimitri and perform Moon Eaters alongside his company. 

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook, twitter pages. 

Until next time

Helen and Steph :)XX

Third Leg of the tour!

Hello Everyone :)

 

We have just completed our third performance of the Moon Eaters tour! This stop saw us heading to Joseph Rowntree High School here in York.

Yesterday we performed to a group of year 9 students, and for some of these students were able to take part in the educational workshops which has given them an insight in to the way it was created, and explored some of the themes that are within the piece. Whilst the workshops were being lead this gave the rest of the company a chance to have a full tech and dress run ready for the performance. 

The space we performed has been completely different to other spaces that we have been to so far on our tour because the stage was bigger than other places. This meant that we had to change our performance quality so that both movement and sound would be projected out to the audience.  The actual performance could have not gone any better and we as a company have notices that, with each and every stop on our tour the company’s performance is only getting stronger, and feedback being received is reflecting on the movement quality that is constantly being adapted depending on the performance space.  

After the performance we gave the audience a chance to give us feedback about the piece some of the feedback we received was:

-        It was like we were in a dreamlike state of mind

-        They felt we were in another world

-        Looked like we were in a trance. 

We are hoping to bring you news very soon about the release of our trailer, and after looking at the first edit it looks like it is going to be a fantastic one. 

Not only will we be able to bring new about the trailer but there is only seven weeks until the company jets of to perform Moon eaters in France where we get the opportunity to meet back up with our choreographer Dimitri and show him how the piece has developed since he last saw us in December.

We are looking forward to our next your date which will be at Oldham college on the 15^th April.

Don’t forget to keep checking social media for regular updates about what we are getting up to and upcoming event. 

On behalf of Flight Effect we would like to wish you all a Happy Easter.

Until Next Time

Helen and Steph :) xx

Second tour date completed!

Hi all!
So, we are well into our Flight Effect tour now with having completed two performances. Last Tuesday we told you all about Huddersfield College and yesterday we went to Selby and performed at the sixth form college there. We are really enjoying touring around Yorkshire and it’s coming around so fast! So yesterday we went to Selby Sixth Form College and performed with an audience of year 10 students, who also took part in the workshop led by the education team before-hand. We had found that as a team in the tech run, we had to adjust to the performance space as it was a little smaller than we have been used to. However, with some small spacing changes and a full run through in the tech run, we found it rather easy to adjust. As a company, we found Selby Sixth Form College a great experience and by working in a different setting and space, we felt a very tight and professional as a company by working together to make the piece powerful in each setting. We received some feedback through evaluation forms that the students had filled in after viewing the performance. We really enjoy hearing the opinions and comments of the audience once we have performed; it is really refreshing and helpful to hear what people think about it and how they felt when watching it. Overall, we have noticed a few comments similar to our Huddersfield audience in that some say it keeps them on edge with a moment of suspense when watching it. This was a main idea when our choreographer was co-creating Moon Eaters with us so it was really nice to hear the audience feel what our choreographer was working towards them feeling. We received a lot of positive comments with words such as:
- Fascinating
- Memorable
- Meaningful
- Different
With these words in mind, we are going to continue working on our performance and giving it our ‘all’ in every tour date, rehearsal and performance to give the audience the best atmosphere possible. With this in mind, keep an eye out for our next tour date as it is only two days away! This Thursday we are touring a little closer to home in York at Joseph Rowntree Theatre. So keep an eye out on Facebook posts, our blog, instagram and twitter for our latest pictures, updates and information to keep you up to date! Our trailer will very soon be ready to view as our rehearsal director explained it is being sent to us very soon with the final edit, so keep a look out for this!
So keep reading!
Helen and Steph xx

Tour Part One :)

Hey Guys

The Tour of Moon Eaters has finally begun :)

 

Our first pit stop was to Huddersfield New College where the education team facilitated two workshops to a selection of the dance and theatre students at the college. After the workshops it was all systems go with a full tech and dress run before the performance. The tech run pulled us together as a team and this showed us how adaptable we have had to be to the different factors that professional companies have to deal with whilst on your such as the size of the space, the floor we are dancing on. Having this tech run helped to reassure us about the spacing within the piece as we had to re arrange ourselves among the space. 

After the tech and dress run that meant only one thing was left to do SHOW TIME. We as company felt that the performance relatively quickly because of the fluctuating levels of adrenaline through the company. After a short question and answer discussion with the audience about how the piece was made and developed over the course of the year, some of the feedback received was that the final section in the piece made them feel on edge but there was something interesting about what they were watching. 

Looking forward to our next tour which is on Monday 14^th March 2016 to Selby College.

Here’s a couple of pictures taken with our company Zoodies  that have finally arrived so dot forget to give us a wave and say hi if you see us out and about. 

Until Next Time 

Helen and Steph :)

 

PS keep checking out our Facebook, Instagram and twitter pages for daily updates

Light's, Camera, Action!

After two weeks of refining and rehearsing Moon Eaters ready for the trailer, we are excited to announce as a company that we have spent our rehearsal time today filming our trailer! It has been a very busy, yet efficient afternoon in the studio today as we ran the piece and focused on each section individually to gain the best shots possible. This involved shooting many different sections more than once with close and far away shots being taken. It was a very interesting process and felt very comforting to work with the film students. It was very inspiring to see how another discipline worked within our industry. The film and TV crew were working together as a team and it was interesting to compare how they worked together, with how we do. We felt it was encouraging to hear what they noticed about the piece, and what the crew felt needed highlighting in the trailer. It was refreshing to have a new set of eyes watching and working with Moon Eaters. As a company, Flight Effect feels very proud to have achieved such a successful run through and rehearsal. Right now, the film and TV crew are working hard to put our trailer together to ensure that Flight Effect is seen in the best possible way. Our trailer will be ready to view very soon, and with our first tour beginning Tuesday the 8^th of March in Huddersfield; we are very excited and optimistic that it shall be ready to advertise before Huddersfield.
Check out our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram regularly too for regular updates and pictures. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for our trailer!

Helen and Steph xx