Reflections On Contemporary Solos – Student Ambassador Blog

This week we wanted to share something a little bit different with you.  Taking the lead today is Rachel Li, one of our student social media ambassadors.  This week our first and second year students will be performing their contemporary solos which forms part of their assessment having previously performed ballet solos last term.  Our third years have the tall order of performing both a contemporary and a ballet solo.  It’s a really exciting performance for our third years as they can also choreograph their own ballet piece.

Any assessment can be daunting for students especially when regular classes are maintained as well as rehearsals for upcoming shows, so we thought it would be helpful for other students if Rachel (second year) shared her perspective, advice and reflections on preparing for solo assessments and handling pressure.

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Performing a solo in front of the whole school can be nerve-wracking. However, I learned to enjoy the process of developing it, as well as performing it to my fellow schoolmates. This term, we are doing contemporary solos instead of Ballet solos. Therefore, it has been quite a different experience in working towards the assessment. Compared to Ballet solos, working on contemporary solos is relatively less stressful, however it is still challenging in it’s way.

On top of receiving personal feedback from the teacher, a lot of solo practice and reflection has to be conducted by ourselves. Self-discipline is especially important in developing contemporary solos, as the number of coaching sessions that we have are comparatively less than when we work on Ballet solos. Instead, free space at a studio would be given to us to run our solos at times. I find that this method of working very useful, although one has to be self-motivated at all times. I am thankful for my friends who gave me constructive comments alongside this process!

Good luck to everybody doing their solos. Perform and enjoy every moment on stage!