Repertoire
Awareness of ADHD
I chose Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as the theme for my performance for my final repertoire as part of my degree,. I live with this condition, and it affects me daily. I wanted to raise awareness of the condition and enable people to understand its effect on the individual, how music and dance can help them manage their symptoms, and how it has helped me cope.
The assignment brief was to prepare and perform a repertoire of around 25 minutes. This performance was to showcase us as performers and show how prepared we are to enter the profession.
The production of the Repertoire has been a journey of skill development. It has involved making decisions about the concept, selecting the genre, managing the practicalities of a large-scale project, and honing my technical and artistic skills. This process has prepared me to deliver a high-quality performance.
I decided to combine singing and dance to reflect how I use these genres to help manage my neurodiversity.
When selecting the songs for the performance, I opted for ones that reflected how my mind reacts to certain situations and how ADHD affects my thought process.
I had the idea to start the performance in a state of turmoil, reflecting how my mind is often chaotic. The most obvious composer that came to mind was Stephen Sondheim. Much of his music is chaotic, and this seemed a perfect fit. I chose ‘Your Fault’ from Into the Woods, recording all the individual parts and layering my voice over this.
My second song choice was ‘Killer Instinct’ from Bring It On. This song represents the randomness of my mind and how I often reflect on what I could have said to someone in times of conflict. My next song was to show how familiarity helps me become calmer and have more clarity of mind. ‘Without You’ from My Fair Lady is a song I've sung for exams and auditions throughout the years. The familiar often soothes my thought processes and relieves anxiety.
At this point, I chose to introduce a dance piece. I have a long history of dance training and feel that physical activity and expression have been very useful as a coping mechanism for me. The music I chose is All That Jazz, from Chicago. I have always enjoyed jazz dancing and hope to develop this style in the future.
The last two singing pieces are slower and more thought-provoking songs. Firstly, ‘I’m not afraid of anything’ from Songs for a New World. I chose this song as it reflects how I feel I can conquer ADHD. The lyrics help me believe that I can manage this condition and succeed in the future. Lastly, I sang ‘She Used to Be Mine’ from Waitress. I felt this song symbolises my calm mind whilst still occasionally overthinking. The song’s lyrics describe me and what I am like outside of ADHD. I interpreted the lyric “She” to represent myself, singing a song to myself.
Example of vocals……….