Choosing Personal Responsibility
Breathe Life Into Your Chorus Participation!

By Renee Porzel, Melodeers Chorus, Region 3, Approved Judge (Showmanship), certified International Faculty, Directors Certification Program member, Associate Director (Melodeers Chorus)

The first article in this visual series addressed the choreographers’ role in the development of the visual plan. Once it is created and refined, the responsibility falls on each member to fulfill her part in the visual process.

The atmosphere that surrounds choreography is different in each chorus. It is defined by the musical choices made by the director, the creative skill of the visual team, and the attitude the members have about learning the plan. The visual layer is often the last component to be rehearsed. The reality for most choreographers is that the visual plan gets added toward the end of the musical timeline, and the amount of time spent on review and maintenance of it is quite short. The ongoing challenge to perfect our product and perform it with abandon is having the right attitude, and using our rehearsal time efficiently.

During the year, the challenges of our home and chorus schedules often conflict with each other, and make it difficult to accomplish our chorus goals. The time it takes to learn our music and choreography can be challenging. Many of us figure that if we show up to most rehearsals, know most our music pretty well, and have an idea of what most of the choreography is, than we are doing our part as a chorus member. The problem with this approach is that our songs will progress very slowly, and our ability to improve as performers will be less satisfying. In order to take advantage of every second of rehearsal, we must become familiar with our own learning style, and be honest with ourselves about our strongest abilities. Every week our goal must be to add to the musical product. It is easy to lose focus amidst the hustle and bustle of chorus life.

Choosing Personal Responsibility (CPR) – will magnify your ability to participate at a high level at all times. The foundational theory of CPR is to remember that the more you put into your chorus, the more you will get back in return. You need to make the choice to breathe life into your chorus experience. You need to decide to practice at home. You need to make sure you catch up on what you miss if you can’t be at rehearsal. You need to be in the driver’s seat of your membership!

This does not mean that you should take on 50 jobs, run three different committees, design the show flyer, sell the most tickets to the show, memorize every song the chorus has ever worked on, run for a regional job and join a quartet all at the same time! But, it DOES mean that your ability to improve your skills will be directly related to how much time and effort you put forth learning your notes, words and choreography — outside of rehearsal!

In coaching, I hear complaints from members concerning their choreographers, and about their visual plans. Members are frustrated with their choreographers’ lack of ability to clearly demonstrate, the pace which she teaches, the amount of changes she makes in the plan, her attendance, the way she styles her hair, her height, her speaking voice, her age, her clothes! It’s open season on choreographers! While some of these teaching “issues” have the potential to disrupt the learning process, the progress of the visual product ultimately falls on each member on the risers. The most talented choreographer in the world cannot make any weekly progress if her members refuse to look at themselves as an integral part of the learning process.

We must remember that most of our choreographers are amateurs. Their toughest challenge is that they are learning how to do this job right in front of you every week. Help them out by Choosing Personal Responsibility! What will you do to rise above the possible limitations of your choreographer? How much will you practice at home to make sure you are ready every week? How dedicated will you be to trusting the people out front and just doing what they ask?

In order for the CPR to work, we must clarify what type of member we want to be. The following examples represent some common situations that arise during the year. See if you recognize yourself in any of these scenarios!

1. Sporadic Attendance — This member is the type that comes once or twice a month and doesn’t understand the consequences of her behavior. She thinks that if she misses a rehearsal she can come back and ask all kinds of questions about what has been going on. She usually raises her hand and corrects someone on a choreography move after being absent the week it was changed. She will often point out a musical inconsistency on a phrase that was changed two weeks prior when she wasn’t there.

Applying CPR:
Think of the basics of traditional CPR — you clear the airway, breathe into the patient, and then take a fresh breath. You can’t possibly save the patient if you only breathe every once in a while, and sometimes forget to take the fresh breath to fill your own lungs again.

Addressing attendance issues does not mean that the only way to succeed is for your chorus to require perfect attendance. Your opportunity to give life to your patient –your chorus experience– is to be at rehearsal as much as you possibly can. If you have to be away, you need to take the initiative to find out exactly what you miss. If you wait until rehearsal is starting to ask questions about what you missed, it is too late.

If you need to take time off — take it! Contact your section leader and find out what went on while you were gone. Call a friend from chorus and ask her if there were any choreography changes. Run through the choreography you already know so that you will be an asset in every way when you are able to be at rehearsal.

If you decide to be in charge of your own participation, you will feel a lot better about the rehearsals you can attend. This takes discipline and effort, but it’s worth it!

2. Lack of Practice at Home — This is the member who never practices at home, and always looks and feels lost at rehearsal. She has to be taught the same things every week because she doesn’t do anything in between rehearsals. She never attempts to perform in character, and always thinks she is doing enough on the risers. She attends rehearsal every week, but never examines her own participation in terms of increasing her learning speed and retention ability.

Applying CPR:
When you take training classes in traditional CPR you need to occasionally update your certification to stay current in the techniques. You are told all the time that you need to practice at home. You are taking the risk of affecting the final product of your chorus if you don’t commit to excel at every opportunity.

Choose to increase your ability by working on your performance skills outside of rehearsal.

There are two simple tools to use — your tape recorder, and if available, a video camera. The simplest way to become a better singer and chorus member is to tape every rehearsal. Listen to it during the week as you go about your life. Even if you leave it in the car and only get to listen to pieces of rehearsal here and there, you are advancing your musical knowledge. The more familiar you are with what the director is working on every week, the more chances you have of remembering what he or she wants. Why not be a leader yourself? Start taping rehearsals and practicing a little bit every day.

For visual improvement, get in front of a mirror and really find out if your face is expressing emotion. Look at yourself as you dance and see if your energy is constant and appropriate to the song. You can fix these things yourself, and decrease the chances of having to be corrected by your director and choreographer.

Many chorus members ask their choreographers to create written sheets of all the choreography moves. This is a hugely labor intensive activity, and one that I do not recommend. Initiate CPR. If you want a written description of the choreography — make one yourself! Or better yet — take a video camera to rehearsal and record the choreography as it is being taught. Chances are it will change the next week, but you will still be ahead of the game because you will have a visual aid with which to practice at home. If you don’t have a camera, find someone in the chorus who owns one, and ask her to video for you!

3. Lack of Focus at Rehearsal — This member loves to chat, visit, goof around and entertain her riser mates all through rehearsal. She is usually the one that sings wrong notes and gets confused by choreography changes. She is also the one that complains about the visual plan, and doesn’t know why there is so much concern about the moves being correct. She wants to have fun and thinks she is helping the rehearsal atmosphere.

Applying CPR:
This one is easy — PAY ATTENTION! You get about 80 minutes of actual singing time on the risers, and if you are choosing to let your attention wander then you are taking the breath right out of your own chorus experience. If you avoid homework and don’t pay attention in rehearsal, what happens to the music? The director hears the same thing over and over again, and has to re-teach the same things every week. The strongest singers and performers in the chorus will be bored to tears, and your ability to expand your repertoire will be seriously impeded.

We all need to make sure that we are helping the rehearsal atmosphere by staying focused, and being ready when we come through the door. We breathe life into our chorus by being ready, attentive and completely involved, even if the activity is not one of our favorites. The people that teach us each week don’t sit around thinking up activities that we will hate. If we are supportive of what is going on in front of us, we will be rewarded with a more interesting rehearsal that brings about musical and visual results.

4. The Helpless Member — This type of member just can’t seem to understand the goals of the chorus, and can’t get herself organized for performances and contest. She falls behind on her music and choreography, and requires a lot of extra time and energy. She always asks for extensions on her taping, and would prefer not to be checked on the choreography along with everyone else.

Imagine this scenario:
• Deadlines for taping are announced and explained.
• Member realizes that she will be out of town on the taping nights.
• She is told that she will have to meet with her section leader separately before her vacation to make sure that she is contest ready on songs.
• She complains to her friend in the chorus that she is being picked on, which causes her friend to worry about her.
• She decides to write her director about the problem with the taping program and the requirements being restrictive.
• Instead of being able to spend her time on issues relevant to the whole chorus, the director has to be on the phone or writing e-mail pertaining to one member. The section leaders and director end up having numerous discussions about how long she has been a member and how much she loves the chorus, and in the end, the decision is made to bend the rules for her! They decide to let her perform without passing her songs.

The CPR has just failed — the patient is going into “cardiac arrest!”

Applying CPR:
The first “life saving” response should be from the chorus member herself. She needs to take the information about the taping deadline, contact her section leader to make alternate arrangements, make sure she passes her songs, and then go on the vacation happy in the knowledge that she has done everything she can to fulfill her chorus responsibilities.
There is a built-in responsibility of the chorus staff in this type of situation as well. Team leaders must strive to understand each member and appreciate their differences. Many times there are extenuating circumstances that can complicate members’ ability to participate fully. If you serve on a committee in your chorus, examine how well you are getting information out to the members. Make sure that every piece of information is presented far enough in advance to include everyone.

Once you have done that, it is up to the members to Choose Personal Responsibility in regard to their own participation. There may be times that they miss deadlines or can’t join in a chorus activity, but that doesn’t mean that all the guidelines should be changed just for one member.

* * *

You might be shaking your head at this point and thinking, “I thought Renee was going to write about learning choreography!” Before we can tackle the mechanics of learning to move while we sing, we have to make sure our approach to the visual plan is unified and clearly understood by everyone. It’s not enough to drill the choreography and make sure that every single move is perfect. Our chorus environment must be set up so that each member realizes that the more personal responsibility she takes for the product, the better the product will be.

Choosing Personal Responsibility is an effective way to improving your ability to learn choreography because it defines your role in the process. Each time you learn new choreography, re-learn old choreography with updated moves, and rehearse existing visual plans, make the choice to do it in performance mode. Always rehearse with high energy and in character. If you are paying attention, practicing at home and making sure you know what’s expected of you every week, you will see results.

If you feel yourself losing focus — initiate CPR

If you haven’t practiced in two days — initiate CPR

If you have to be out of town and will miss rehearsal — initiate CPR

If you make choices about your chorus participation then you are in charge of the outcome!

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