Production Retreat

Last weekend, we had the production retreat for the musical. Last year it was called the dance retreat, but because it's actually not just about the dancing, they decided to rename it. The whole lot of us drove to a little lodge (formerly a school) near Motoyama to learn the songs and dances for this year's show.

Saturday and Sunday were broken up into blocks for the various songs and dances. The list of songs included a sea shanty, a barbershop quartet, an enka (sort of a Japanese-style ballad), and a pop number. For the dances, there was the opening number, the dance battle, a swordfighting sequence, and the finale. Not everyone was involved in each song/dance, but we all had a hefty amount to learn. This year I'll be in four dances.

I was very excited to learn the songs and dances, but Sasha and I also had the responsibility of teaching our dance battle to everyone. The directors were very generous and gave us a five hour time slot in which to teach it. It turned out to be the right amount of time; we started by teaching the fighting bit that involves everyone, then taught the Lost Voice their group dances, and ended by teaching the pirates their stuff. Everyone learned a lot faster than I expected, which was a huge relief. As it is, I feel like everyone basically understands the dance but needs a bit more practice. Of course, Sasha and I were half dead by the end of the day; to get everything done, we didn't really have time to take breaks during the rehearsals. So we only got a chance to drink some water or run to the bathroom when it was time to trade out the group we were working with. Needless to say, five hours is a long time to dance.

In addition to the work we get done, the production retreat is also a good bonding time. We cooked and ate our meals as a group, and spent our free time playing games or chatting. On Saturday evening we all played Sardines in a Can and some sort of murder game I wasn't familiar with. It was pretty fun, though I was about ready to crash at that point.

On Sunday we worked on the opening song and dance number. It's an original song written in Tosaben to the tune of "I think I'm gonna like it here" from the musical Annie. The choreography for that wasn't entirely finished, so I don't think any of us have a very good grasp of the dance, but I think it'll be really good once it's done. After that we learned the song that introduces the Lost Voice group. I get a whole verse to myself, it's pretty awesome. The choreography for that wasn't ready, either, so we just worked on the singing and rapping. The end of the day was dedicated to our first full run-through of the musical. It was the first time we'd done it from start to finish, and without scripts. We also attempted all of the songs and dances so the directors could get an idea of how long the musical will be. It went surprisingly well.

Overall, I think the production retreat was a big success. It was exhausting for everyone, but we got a ridiculous amount of work done. Now Sasha and I also have a weight off our shoulders because we've basically done our job as choreographers. We'll still have to help everyone rehearse our dance and brush up the parts that aren't working quite right, but the larger part of our work is done with. Although I haven't gotten to sit back and watch it yet, I think our dance turned out well and I'm really looking forward to how it will be in the actual performances.