Video transcript
NSW Public Schools State Dance Ensembles – Audition 2022 – secondary students yrs 7-12 in 2022 – (Millie’s Video Option 2)

[music playing]

MILLIE SLENNETT: Hi, dancers. Welcome to your 2022 State Dance Ensemble audition. My name is Millie and I'm going to be taking you through a movement sequence today. We're going to get straight into things while working with a four-count.

We're going to start with our feet in parallel. You're going to hold the first two counts of 4. On the third count of 4-- so we've held 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 3, 4. So on the third count of 4, you're going to lean out to your right and make a sharp angle, 1.

On 2, you're going to relevé up and extend your left arm. On 3, 4, you're going to transfer your weight into your left leg. We scoot along that line to make a really nice shape. This back hand is invisible.

From here, you're going to pull up into retiré. You're going to passé to the back. As we do this, my right hand comes across my chest. I transfer it down, and then I'm going to rock back and forward.

As I do my rock back and forward, my arms are going to go scoop, and down. So I rock back and forward. This is a preparation for a turn, so make sure you're really grounded in that left leg.

From the top, we've got hold, 2, 3, 4, and 2, 2, 3, 4 to go, 3, 2, 3, 4. You pull up, 1, 2, shift, 3, 4. Good. One more time-- 1, 2, 3, 4, hold. 2, 2, 3, 4 to go, 3, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.

From here, we're going to turn. You're going to extend your right leg out to the side in parallel. My arms come up to here as I turn. So from here, 3, 4. I turn, 1, 2. I'm not going to put that right foot down. I'm going to step onto it.

So we turn, 1, 2. You're going to step out, 3, 4. Blades for hands. You plié and rond de jambe, 1, 2, scoot back, 3, 4. You transfer your weight back and forward again, this time interlocking our hands.

All of that again. So hold, 2, 3, 4, and 2, 2, 3, 4 to go, 3, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Turn, 1, 2, 3, 4, slide, 1, 2, back, 3, 4. Let your head go on that.

Moving on, we're going to come down to a nice, juicy plié into second. You're going to let your head scoop. So 3, 4 to go, 1, 2. You end up squared off to the left side, with your right foot in front. Beautiful.

From here, you're going to grab your wrist. So this goes 1, 2. You're going to lean back, 3. So really push that elbow back, 4. And you look to the front. So this goes scoop, 1, 2 to go, 3, 4, and-- beautiful. From the top-- 6, 7, 8, we go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 and. From here, you're going to ripple starting your hips on your legs, and you do a little voom up and through. So you let that really ricochet through your body.

From here-- 3, 4-- this goes 1, 2-- you're going to release your hands-- on 3, 4, you start extending. This is your own little Around the World. Have a little floaty moment. So I want you to really go for it. So we've got 1, 2, release, 3, 4. You have another full count of 4 to keep flowing. 1, 2, 3, 4.

After that, you're going to transfer your weight onto your right. I'll move back so I don't kick my back door. 2, 3, 4-- we scoot under, over the top. You're going to reach that into a nice flatitude with that left leg, nice and straight, and-- not straight. It's bent but out to the side, and our arms are also following out to the side. So then scoop down, you fondu, and then you stretch.

Let's recap. So hold 1, 2, 3, 4, and, 2, 2, 3, 4, to go, 3, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, slice, 1, 2, back, 3, 4, to go, 1, 2, 3, 4, and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, scoop, 1, 2, hold, 3, 4. From here, you're going to pull up. You're going to grab your left leg. It knocks in, 1 and 2.

So you grab, right, left. So here, 3, 4, we scoop into a retiré, 1 and 2. And I really throw my body forward with that. So if I'm in my flatitude here, I bring it in, 1 and 2. So I land there but facing the front, yeah? 1 and 2. From here, I'm going to open everything. My hands trace over my shoulders, and 2, to go 3, 4, start to plié, 4.

I'll move back a little bit, so you can see me. So 1, and 2, scoop, 3, 4, you land down. We're going to release the right leg. 1, 2, you bring it into here. You're going to do a little scoop around towards the back to back to facing the front on our knees. Using our left hand, you scoot around the corner, 3, 4, and we land here.

I am very mindful that we're working in small spaces for a lot of us, so hence why I've chosen to do it in a small space. Make it work for you. Rant.

Revisit that from-- we've just landed, we've done our turn. 1, 2, 3, 4, slice, 1, 2, back, 3, 4, to go 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, scoop, 1, 2, 3, 4, this goes on 1, and 2, 3, 4, scoop, 1, 2, up, 3, 4. And we land on our knees, facing the front.

Moving on-- from here, we've landed 3, 4. This goes hand up your chest, 1. As I do that, I rise with my chest. 1, 2, I have my palm facing the ceiling. 1, 2, I roll my right hand. 3, 4, I extend that up to that top diagonal. Try and open your chest up as much as you can to the front.

So we've got, you arrive 3, 4. You have 1, 2, 3, 4, you bring your hands in. 1, open them, and on 2, you're going to catch by taking your left hand across your right shoulder. So this goes 1 and 2. So you slice your right hand out to that front left diagonal, and our left hand shoots across our shoulder.

Again, so we arrive, 3, 4. This goes on 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, and 2. From here, you're going to slice across your chest. You're going into your left hand out-- 3, 4-- and you drop up behind you. Either have this foot pointed, and you're really leaning back or on a forced arch. I personally appreciate seeing the pointed foot. So slice across, boom. And that's like a blade down here-- 3, 4. So 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, and 2, 3, 4.

Just to finish off this little sequence, you're going to stand up by following your hand. 1, 2, 3, 4, and you look straight to the front on 4, nice and sharp. So 2, 3, 4, come up, 1, 2, 3, boom. Nice.

OK, all that from the top. Ready? 1, 2, 3, 4 and 2, 2, 3, 4, to go, 3, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, turn, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1, 2, 3, 4, move, 1, 2, 3, 4, scoop, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, and 2, 3, 4, around 1, 2 scoop, 3, 4, to go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, Beautiful.

OK, oh, my goodness. I'm out of breath. Moving on from there, we're going to step around towards the back-- 3, 4. Now depending on your space, be super careful. You're going to step, one, open up into a nice attitude line, 2-- better than I did. My wall's very close. [laughs] So we've got 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. You're going to land in a nice pirouette position-- pirouette prep position, sorry-- ready to turn.

So we've gone 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, bring that down nice and controlled. You have 4 counts to turn. Either take the full 4 counts. Show us how many turns you can get in that. Otherwise, I want you to go for your control and then show us a really nice stable landing out of it. So 4 counts to turn.

So we've got 1. 2, 3, 4, turn, 1, 2, 3, 4. When you land 3, 4, you're going to take your body, contract as if someone's got a rope attached to your back-- 3, 4, you're going to be pulled to this back corner. 1 and 2, you fall back left, right as big as you can. 3, 4, you're going to pull 1 and 2. Good.

From here-- again, space-dependent, you're either going to go for a full contemporary roll. Stepping on our left, you're going to collapse down, keep everything connected to the floor, and then stand up to face the front. If you don't have room for a full contemporary turn, we're going to spin on our bottoms.

So we've go pull back, 1, and 2, you'll go, 3, 4, stand up, 1, 2, 3, 4. Yeah, so either on your back or on your bottom.

Once we stand up from there, you're going to have a little wishy-washy moment, where we get pulled to the right, pulled to the left. So we've got 1, 2, 3, 4. It's quite loose. You can decide which part of your body gets pulled where first. It's just 1, 2 counts one way, 3, 4 the other way as big or as subtle as you like.

1, 2, 3, 4. From here, you're going to slide back with your right foot, and your right hand comes down to our thigh. 1, 2, 3, 4. So our foot work goes, slide back on our right, boom, ball change, then your right leg, that stays through to the front.

Our hands go onto our thigh, 1, on 2-- on the ball change, it comes back and over, then you scoop that right hand at the same time that the right foot comes forward. So we've just rolled 1, 2, up, 3, 4, to go, 1, 2, 3, 4, this goes on 1, and 2, 3, 4, and you landed in a nice, neat lunge. Beautiful.

Backtrack for me from where we stood up off the floor. So 1, 2, 3, look, 4, we go 1, 2, 3, 4, turn, 1, 2, 3, 4, pull, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, shift, 1, 2, pull, 3, 4, to go, 1, and 2, 3, 4. Beautiful.

Moving on-- you're going to ball change out into a nice, wide second-- 1, 2. You're going to pull up 3, 4. Now you can use either your left or your right. You can take the extension to the front, the side, the back-- totally up to you. We are looking for your control and your performance qualities. So think nice, clean lines rather than a big whack of a kick. Yeah, we appreciate flexibility, but it needs to be matched with control and stability.

So we've got 1, 2-- for right now, I'm going to just use my left leg. 1, 2, I pull up, I go for a nice extended line, make a nice shape. You're going to recover to retiré, and then you come down to parallel. And you just kind of sway to finish off that sequence.

OK, so that is it for part 1. And that is for our juniors and our primaries. So piece a little bit together. Rewind this as many times as you need to get the hang of it. And then watch the run with music as well for timing. Good luck.

I'm going to walk through that start to finish one more time for you all. And then I will move on to the senior section. So we go, hold, 1, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 2, 3, 4, to go, 3, 2, 3, 4, pull up, 1, 2, 3, 4, turn, 1, 2, out, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1, 2, release, 3, 4, float, 1, 2, 3, 4, up, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, look, 4, to go, 1, 2, 3, 4, pull up, turn, 2, 3, 4, shift, 1, and 2, 3, 4, roll, 1, 2, 3, 4, go, pull, 2, pull, 3, 4, this goes, 1, and 2, 3, 4, ball change, 2, 3, 4, finish it off, finish it off.

You're going to be continuing on from that phrase and extending it into a longer performance piece. So we've just gone a nice, big, juicy plié-- 1, 2, you bring it in, 3, 4, take it out, 1, 2, into a retiré, bring it down, 3, 4. From this point on, we are changing into an 8 count continuing on that 4. So it gets faster, which is why I'm going to shift you into an 8 count. It works better with the musicality of everything.

So we brought it in, 1, 2, 3, 4, you have 5, 6, 7 to get your butts to that back left corner. Do it however you think looks nice. 5 6, 7, you're going to do a little swivel, 8, and 1. And we're going to try and square our hips off to the front right diagonal with our arms in beautiful extension as much as possible. So 7 8, and 1, you're going to land down on your right leg. On 2, we're going to do a little scoop picked up turn. 2, you're going to land on your left leg. Land on your left in a fondu. Then, you extend up, and hop and push straight off that left leg, reaching our right on 4.

So this goes, 8, and 1, 2, land, 3, push, 4. Yeah, beautiful-- nice little hop on the 4. From 4, we go, 5, 6, you just swiftly switch yourself back to the front. Then from here, you're going to go, 7, 8, and you're going to ripple through your body like you've been knocked in the back of the knees. 7, 8, you need to land down, feet come together, 1 to jump you around and swap hands from your left to your right. So 1, you need to jump and shift, 2, and you land in a nice, wide low lunge. Beautiful.

All of that again. So 7, 8, and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, to go, 1, 2. Now from here, you've got 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. It doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it's kind of a lot of time. So I want you to play with that. That's a little improvisation moment. I want it to really soar and glide. So this is all nice, quick, sharp technique. 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, then, you've got 3, 4. So this should be quick, quick, make it float, do what you like, 7, on 8, you're going to land 8. So we've landed 1, 2, 3, 4, do whatever you like, 5, 6, 7, 8.

From here, you're going to open up to the front. 1, bring it down, and-- so we're here, 8, 1, and 2, you're going to roll up through your spine. Then from here, you're going to take your arm-- so this goes 1-- sorry-- 8, 1, and 2, to bring that other arm up, you're going to slide down into a nice, low second plié again, 2, grand plié.

Then from here-- so this is 2-- sorry, my counting's shocking for this bit. 1, 2, 3, do your own thing, 4, 5, 6, 7, to land, 8, to go, 1, and 2, other arm comes up, 3, 4, then from here, you've got 5-- as we go 5, you're relevéing up onto a forced arch, 6, you lock it off.

So we've got 1, 2, 3, 4, do your own thing, 6, 7, 8, to go, 1, and 2, 3, plant, 4, 5, 6. Good. One more time. From after you've landed 8, 1, and 2, to go, 3, 4, 5, 6, and you'd lock everything off.

6, you're going to push onto that left leg. You're going to scoot your right leg around the corner, opening up your chest, bang-- in a nice attitude ice skater move that was much nicer than mine. On fondu, on a forced arch, open up your chest. That's your shape in the air, yeah? Let your head go as well.

So we've got, from the top of this new section, so you've gone retiré, wherever you landed, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, to go, 1, 2, 3, 4, do your own thing, 6, 7, land, 8, to go, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2-- on 3, 4-- 7, 8, 1, 2-- on 3, 4, you're going to catch everything facing this front right diagonal, voom, voom. So you sweep your right hand over. Then you bring this left leg through. You collect everything. And reaching towards that corner, voom, voom.

So out of here-- 3, 4, to go, 5, 6, 7, 8, go, 1, 2, 3, and 4, you're going to roll up your spine. Now from here, whichever leg is most preferable to you-- we always want to train both, but I want to see what you got.

So we're here. And 3, 4, you're going to take whichever leg you like out to second, bring it up through retiré, développé it out whatever side you like, cut it through to the lower attitude with our arms up here. Then you're going to extend your arms down, and extend the leg out, and then it's up to you to pick an ending pose that works for your space and that works for you.

So timing-- because I understand that with a lot. You guys can rewind this as many times as you like and listen to my beautiful voice. So we've got, you just gone, if we backtrack, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, roll, 1, land, 2, 3, 4, do your own thing, 7, 8, to go, 1, and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, go, 1, 2, 3, and 4, you have 5, 6, 7, 8 to reposition yourself back to the front. Be creative with that 7, 8. Then you've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, extend, 1, 2, 3, 4, then from here, you have 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-- so 12 counts of improvisation from that extended arabesque line with your arms back. And that is where we will finish our piece.

[music playing - michael wall, 'wally mvt. 2']

OK, dancers, that is all from me. So make sure you really take the time to rewind and get it into your bodies as best you can and be able to manoeuvre around your space as best you can as well. We understand, it's very different circumstances. I would have loved to have been in a studio teaching you all this. However, that's unfortunately not the case at the moment. So we have to work with what we've got.

I hope you enjoyed this. I hope it feels good for your bodies. And we really want to see that translate through your videos that you submit. So happy dancing, and I cannot wait to see all of your beautiful submissions. Thank you. Bye.