It may seem dull or pointelss but I’d like to revisit here some movements on 4 songs that impressed me at the concerts in Japan.
Skip reading this, should you want to avoid any spoil for the coming concert in 10 days
For sure there was clearly a lot of originality, novelty, and attention to details in enhancing the movements on stage for the Japan tour.
Let’s start with
Happy Christmas.
The choir was arranged in two concentric arcs, with no one positioned at the centre at the beginning.
After the introduction, Frederick H and Caleb moved forward from the inner arc, with Frederick standing to the centre left and Caleb on the centre right, where they sang the first and second verses.
What was remarkable was not just that they started their walk simultaneously, but mainly the way they moved.
Their steps were slow and perfectly aligned with the song's tempo. It wasn’t just walking. Il felt as though their movements were an integral part of the performance, complementing the rhythm. The flow was smooth and graceful.
After singing their verses, they returned to their positions in the arc by walking backwards, once again matching their steps to the song’s tempo.
The attention to detail in the movements was impressive. At the second Tokyo concert, I noticed another change in the positioning of the inner arc for this song. Cameron, who was usually in the outer arc for other songs, joined the inner arc. This adjustment allowed him to step forward directly with Hal for the third and fourth verses without having to cross through the inner arc, ensuring their walking distances matched. Once again, their steps followed and accompanied the song’s tempo.
Finally, for the fifth and sixth verses, sung by Frederick H and Ben, Frederick moved this time to the centre right, while Ben moved to the left, avoiding them crossing paths. And, of course, their steps remained in sync with the song's rhythm.
It might seem trivial to describe the walking here, but believe me, once seen on stage, it was truly captivating.
It enhances and contributes to the song's sense of softness and harmony.
In
Sea Bird, the performers formed a beautiful formation behind the soloist, Joseph.
The others aligned themselves into four vertical columns, which gradually spread apart while keeping Joseph as the focal point.
By the end, they created the two large wings of a white bird, with Joseph at the head.
This lovely choreography had already been seen earlier this summer and at Ely.
In
Veni Sancte Spiritu, something entirely new: the boys sang while constantly moving in what appeared to be chaotic or random patterns. However, when observed individually, it became clear that each had a specific and deliberate movement. Some created circles while keeping their gaze on the audience, while others moved in straight lines.
At key moments in the song, everyone suddenly stopped in perfect unison.
Once or twice during the performance, they all aligned into two rows facing the audience. Here, there was a particularly unique move I had never seen Libera perform before: in an instant, the back row moved forward, and the front row shifted back in a seamless exchange.
Those in the back stepped forward to weave between those in the front, who turned sideways and stepped back.
The result was a complete inversion of the two rows in a single fluid snap.
Towards the end, after all the constant movement throughout the song that had seemed random, everyone ended in the exact positions required to start the song next.
On
Once, there were numerous movements throughout the song, but two stood out to me.
At one point, the boys were scattered across the stage in what seemed like a random arrangement, but each was facing a specific direction: those on the left side of the stage looked to the left, while those on the right looked to the right. Then they began walking slowly backwards toward the opposite side of the stage.
Surprisingly, the two groups, left and right, managed to cross paths without colliding (or almost), despite moving blindly in reverse.
By the end of this sequence, those who had started on the right ended up on the left side of the stage, and vice versa. Since they hadn’t changed the direction they were facing, they all ended up looking toward the centre of the stage, essentially facing each other.
During the third concert, I noticed something that I wanted to confirm at the Christmas concert: as the song ended, everyone seemed to finish the final note while stopping in exactly the same spot they had been in at the beginning of the song.
This might sound simple, but after all the constant, seemingly random movements throughout the song, the fact that each boy managed to return to his precise position, perfectly timed with the final note, showed their remarkable preparation and rehearsal
.)
, that's not easy and the amount of practice that it must have entailed would have to be enormous. I wonder what compels Sam to spend so much time on choreography, and whether this in any way takes away from the actual rehearsal of the music for them. I don't ask this question as some kind of criticism, but I feel like there is a limited amount of time for rehearsing any choir and elaborate choreography would have to take especially long to rehearse properly. 
