Preparing a Cabaret Team

[Gus]

Putting together a cabaret performance must be a daunting task. I was wondering how people have achieved it. Things like

• how long to develop the choreography
• how to select the dancers
• how to deal with drop outs
• how to keep people motivated
• what are the key things a performance must contain

etc etc.

Any views?

[Dreadful Scathe]

Putting together a cabaret performance must be a daunting task. I was wondering how people have achieved it. Things like

• (1)how long to develop the choreography
• (2)how to select the dancers
• (3)how to deal with drop outs
• (4)how to keep people motivated
• (5)what are the key things a performance must contain

etc etc.

Any views?

to answer the points in order:

(1)Having done one and been in lots, I've noticed a few things.
The choreography is 2nd to the music choice and theme, at least in order of creation. Ultimately the choreography is THE most important thing but certainly picking the music and theme first is the easiest way to go about it.
Choreography is an ongoing thing, from an initial outline, bits will be added or changed to fit the dancers and to help the continuity of the production. After the initial planning, the whole thing shouldn't take more than 6 weeks or so to actually do. Anymore than that and its going to be over-rehearsed and ultimately not as good as it could have been due to dancers getting fed-up

(2)For the dancers it almost always ends up with whoever is available, unless you live in a dance saturated place like London where you can be picky. If you can be picky, great - pick people who will be the best for the particular choreography you have in mind. If it all gets political because "why did you not asked me this time" comes up - theres not much you can do except remain polite and say something like "i want to give others a chance".

(3)There really should not be drop outs other than emergencies, after people agree to the commitment. Emergencies can be handled easily if you have a few people in mind in advance - as long as they are adults who aren't miffed that they weren't in it from the beginning you'll be fine

(4)Being part of something that everyone is enjoying should be enough - this is almost entirely down to the quality of what you are doing and the personality of the organiser. (oh and not taking too long see "6 weeks" in point (1) )

(5)A performance must be fun to do for the people involved - if it isnt - it shows. Technically there needs to be depth in the dance - floor shapes, good movement, speed changes, synchronisation, well executed moves (that are consistently performed well by the dancers you have) and some sort of theme or story. More important than anything else though - is the fact it needs to be "tight" - if theres ever any more than a few seconds of "what are they doing" or "this is just filler" the audience and the judges minds will wander.

Just because its amateur dance doesn't mean it has to be amateurish, and some cabarets I've seen have been. There have been some great cabarets though.

I'd also like to add that it should NOT ever ever be a democracy - that way lies madness and a dubious result - there needs to be someone talented at the head, even if they do accept feedback, advice and help - it has to be their own little dictatorship whilst still remaining a team atmosphere

Just my opinion of course.

[David Franklin]

Great post DS - would have repped if I could. Some additional thoughts:

The choreography is 2nd to the music choice and theme, at least in order of creation. Ultimately the choreography is THE most important thing but certainly picking the music and theme first is the easiest way to go about it.

Yeah, the music has to come first. But don't forget that you can always edit the music to help the choreography. This can be anything from cutting out dull bits or changing the tempo to putting in sound effects.

the whole thing shouldn't take more than 6 weeks or so to actually do. Anymore than that and its going to be over-rehearsed and ultimately not as good as it could have been due to dancers getting fed-up

Only cabaret I was in was several months and we ended up with 4-5 rehearsals a week. Fed up? Flippin' bulimic!

There really should not be drop outs other than emergencies, after people agree to the commitment.

This wasn't my experience. If you can get everyone to commit to every session that's great, but I think you have to plan that sometimes people won't be able to make it, particularly if you have people from several scattered venues. There are some obvious logistical issues here: if you have "group" choreography, can you still practise it if one couple isn't there? How interchangable are the parts? If A dances with B and C with D, and B and C can't make it, can A usefully practice with D? There's generally a bit of conflict between what you'd like to do and what will work best if people do miss a practice.

A performance must be fun to do for the people involved - if it isnt - it shows. Technically there needs to be depth in the dance - floor shapes, good movement, synchronisation, well executed moves (that are consistently performed well by the dancers you have) and some sort of theme or story.

Great point on the consistency. If you have a piece of choreography that the dancers feel can go wrong, then it causes a huge amount of mental stress, even if it's fine 95% of the time. You'll have people doing the moves leading up to it with their minds elsewhere, just worrying about whether they'll screw up on the dodgy section. If in doubt, take it out!

I'd also like to add that it should NOT ever ever be a democracy - that way lies madness and a dubious result - there needs to be someone talented at the head, even if they do accept feedback, advice and help - it has to be their own little dictatorship whilst still remaining a team atmosphere

I think this is true, but do try to aim for a benign dictatorship!

[Martin]

Putting together a cabaret performance must be a daunting task. I was wondering how people have achieved it. Things like

• how long to develop the choreography
• how to select the dancers
• how to deal with drop outs
• how to keep people motivated
• what are the key things a performance must contain

etc etc.

Any views?

If you are talking team cabaret...

How long to develop corrie - could be 1 day or 3 weeks +, picking the music might take a lot longer, when you find the music, then the corrie will follow.

How to select the dancers, depends on the level you want to achieve and how simple you want the corrie to be.

How to deal with drop outs... firstly you put up front, that these are the comps or events they are signing up to... If you cannot do, then off you go.... As to injuries, have not had understudies yet, but considering understudies...

How to get people motivated, well stage one is to find motivated people, encorage the team always, and get team members to help other team members who are strugglling.


Key things for a performance - number 1 timing, all in perfect timing, puts you apart from all the rest.
Shapes, and interaction between the team, so it is not several couples on their own doing individual showcases.
A fun aspect.

As to how long to train for... If you have top flight couples 2 days will see it done.... If you are dealing with "normal" advanced dancers I would say 3 months min - If you want to achieve "something above the norm". 6 weeks will see a perfomance, but I will guarentee it will not be in perfect timing and execution, given "normal advanced" dancers.

Normally I would corrie, then get the team, dumb down the corrie if needed (dependant upon team). Teach the harder moves for the first 4 weeks, teach the rest in the next 4 weeks. Polish and work on the timing the last 4 weeks, including a few public displays at maybe a private party, wedding or something, so the team settles in and we have live video feedback to look at.

[Dreadful Scathe]

Yeah, the music has to come first. But don't forget that you can always edit the music to help the choreography. This can be anything from cutting out dull bits or changing the tempo to putting in sound effects.

Yes, quite

This wasn't my experience. If you can get everyone to commit to every session that's great, but I think you have to plan that sometimes people won't be able to make it, particularly if you have people from several scattered venues.

Part of that is the length of time, a commitment to 6 weeks of training and some homework should be doable by all. You should not expect to lose more than 2 from a team of 16. Once it stretches into months, drop-outs will always occur more as things "come up" and they can't keep the commitment - thats not their fault - its the organiser not being organised .

There are some obvious logistical issues here: if you have "group" choreography, can you still practise it if one couple isn't there? How interchangable are the parts? If A dances with B and C with D, and B and C can't make it, can A usefully practice with D? There's generally a bit of conflict between what you'd like to do and what will work best if people do miss a practice.

Yes, something I missed out. It is much better to get people as close to a central practice venue as possible so its unlikely they will miss practices. But you should expect that they are committed enough that they will still practice if they cannot make it - and part of that is of course in keeping all dancers up to date with changes by having documented moves and a cd/mp3 of the music. Little changes to "something" are inevitable, major changes should be avoided at all costs.

Great point on the consistency. If you have a piece of choreography that the dancers feel can go wrong, then it causes a huge amount of mental stress, even if it's fine 95% of the time. You'll have people doing the moves leading up to it with their minds elsewhere, just worrying about whether they'll screw up on the dodgy section. If in doubt, take it out!

absolutely

I think this is true, but do try to aim for a benign dictatorship!

oh yes - you won't get far if your dancers hate you

[robd]

Key things for a performance - number 1 timing, all in perfect timing, puts you apart from all the rest.

In my limited experience of viewing team cabarets I have much preferred to see simpler routines with consistent timing from the performers than more challenging pieces where the couples are slightly (or more) out of synch. Of course, you need to balance your expectations of people against their ability level and amount of available time (hence the reason so many participant cabarets at weekenders can look messy) but it really does help the 'sum is greater than the parts' feel if everyone is in synch.

[Cruella]

RobD, That is the most annoying avatar i've ever seen!
Well done.

[stewart38]

RobD, That is the most annoying avatar i've ever seen!
Well done.

I thought it was a real bug for a sec or two and tried to brush it away

Yes wins hands down

Re Cabaret. Ive done the blebs one at weekenders ie 3/4 hrs practice which was fun and a 6 week one 3 hrs a week which was fun