The first rehearsal was postponed due to the length of time it took to arrive at the production for our show and the complexity of setting up a 5.1 sound system at the same time. During this rehearsal, we identified a number of issues for improvement.
Firstly, the actors’ movements need to be further explored and improved. During the rehearsal, we found that the carp characters were not very expressive and it was difficult to show rich emotions, and the use of the carp characters also limited the actors’ movements – the actors could only lift the carp characters to do some simple movements. So from the audience’s point of view, the whole plot and story line of the performance, including the emotions of the characters, were not expressed very clearly.
Secondly, after a group discussion, we agreed that we needed to add some more lines and dialogues. We found that the existing acting, music and sound effects were not sufficient to adequately convey a clear plot and storyline.
In addition, we found the realisation of the original dance section to be more difficult than we had imagined. Our original plan was to have members of our group perform the dance, but after rehearsals we found that the non-professional dance performances were not expressive enough, so I contacted my friend who is a dance major and communicated with her about the overall timeline, story and content. Expressed emotions and invited her to join us for the performance.
Also, after completing the setup, we realised that the venue setup (sound system, decorations, projector and screen setup, etc.) was taking much longer than planned, and we had to find a way to shorten this time while arriving and setting up the venue a little earlier than planned on the day of the official performance.
Finally, in the music section, I think some adjustments need to be made based on dance time adaptations and line additions. On the one hand, some of the music needs to give way to the frequency of the lines and dialogue; on the other hand, the music should have a greater sense of rhythm and passage when joining the dance to provide better conditions for the dancers to play.
And the singing part of the rehearsal.
