Thread: performance

i performed (i'm not a pro still a student) for a fundraiser yesterday and it was the first time dancing in public since i had my baby last march. I challenged myself by zilling in the first piece and doing veil with the second while keeping my zills on. It was also improv and i had little time to prepare. I usually have a loose choreo to follow.....

I totally let my nerves and anxiety get to me and i'm disappointed with my lackluster showing. I forgot everything once i got on the stage...there were some snarky teenage/preteen girls doing eyerolls and other unfriendly things and i let it get to me. I'm bummed that i did my back bend to the FRONT instead on the side...and i didn't keep enough energy in my arms/fingers. My veil twisted and i was unable to really fix it because i had my clumsy zills on so i just went with it.

On a positive note i did get my ass out there and challenged myself. I'm just bummed a bit because i've been praticing my zilling every day for at least 20min to 1hour sometimes more and i went somewhat BLANK onstage.

Q: How do you keep your brain engaged while doing imporv (planned or not ,r:;)
How do you quite your nerves and stay focused and calm?

My teacher was also performing and said that all that was holding me back was confidence....i can't seem to find mine

I try to keep just listening to the music. And I should slow my moves down - takes up more time and gives you more time think about the next move!

Honestly, I think my mind is kinda blank when I dance - I don't really think about anything. There is some awareness so I don't trip or something, but otherwise I don't think I'm thinking anything specific.

I have two performances today for a hafla and one is a taqsim for a good minute and a half. I'm terrified, not of the taqsim itself, but of being too busy or boring during this short improvisation! And I agonized over my shoe choices but I decided on comfort over style but that's another concern - will they look at my feet?

I think this is why my mind goes quiet during the actual performance - I freak out enough beforehand as it is!

i can really sympathize...
i also had a school performance some time ago (my first solo performance, actually) and there were those guys backstage literally rolling on the floor laughing at me...that really hit me. luckily, when i finished and got changed, i recieved lots of comliments, from strangers too. Later, i asked a close friend is she noticed any of my anxiety (or was it confusion) and she said no, i nailed it :)
i guess its all about "masking" any unpleasant emotions when on stage...if your veil twists, dont pretend its meant to be that way! grin, find the right end and improvise as well as you can. your audience will know that you made a mistake, but they will really admire you because of the way you tackled the problem...like a true diva!

good luck with your future performances and xx
Athena

After more than 30 years of performing, I still get a lot of anxiety pre-performance. I feel the most confident on stage when I feel that I have prepared well for this particular performance, or when I am dancing in an environment that is very familiar and I have succeeded in before.

You probably did better than you think. Everyone has those performances that are less than stellar. Just go out and perform again and try to find a rehearsal schedule that helps you feel prepared. There is no substitute for being prepared.

I always dance improv, so it's not being prepared in the sense of nailing a choreo. It's practicing to the music, knowing the music, knowing the costume, any props, etc.

Good for you for challenging yourself!

Originally Posted by lylagus

I totally let my nerves and anxiety get to me and i'm disappointed with my lackluster showing. I forgot everything once i got on the stage...there were some snarky teenage/preteen girls doing eyerolls and other unfriendly things and i let it get to me.

Originally Posted by Athenaserpent

i also had a school performance some time ago (my first solo performance, actually) and there were those guys backstage literally rolling on the floor laughing at me...that really hit me.
Athena

As a mom of a teen ager can I just say to you both: Fugetaboutit! Is there nothing more obnoxious on this planet than a teen ager?!!

Those two incidents would really throw me too (I have not performed yet) and I just give you both


I took my 14 year old daughter to my first Hafla a couple months ago. I was thrilled and felt a kinship with each woman who danced as I sat in the audience. I caught my daugher rolling her eyes and came down on her like a bad habit!! She was rolling her eyes not at the dancers but because she felt self conscious being on her "mother's" turf.

She quickly wiped that look of her face and straightened up in her chair when I explained that these women were really putting themselves out there and how would she like it if it were her up there seeing some snotty little teen? She cleaned up her act and even began to enjoy it. She is coming with me to the next one!

I think the snarky girls were intimidated by you and the laughing boys are just posturing and being complete dorks. To see someone doing a beautiful, interpretive dance is so far from the realm of what they know of females that laughing is the only lame response in their limited repetoire.

I will bet that these teens in both scenarios were more insecure than the both of you put together. Like Athena said, You just work it. Own it baby!!

Meanwhile this is from me to you, as I am STILL too chickensh#$t to get up there myself. Way to challenge yourselves!!

You probably did do better than you think. I just did my first improv to a live band with zills and a veil and my mind was so blank while I was up there that I don't remember most of it! I hear that it went well from people I trust.
Being overweight, I am always scared of snarky girls in the audience judging me. The way I see it, these are the people who will judge you no matter what you are wearing or doing. I like to think of them as haters who are simply jealous that you are rocking it like they never will be able to. Just keep at it. I am most comfy in a choreo piece myself but I will confess that improving to the live band was definitely a rush.
Best advice I can give came from a friend of my teachers, the first hundred times you get up there are just to do it, then worry about how good it was!

I would say that is about the norm for a first performance. Don't beat your self up. It does get better over time.

Be proud that you took that big step many people will never do......

You probably did better than you think. I still berate myself for my performances even if I feel it was one of my better ones. And I am always nervous beforehand - I don't know if that ever will go away for me.

Try to forget about it - don't drag it around your neck like an albatross. I had one instructor who has danced all over the world and has won numerous awards, and he said he always makes mistakes even if nobody notices them. So I use that as a measuring rod against my own - if he can mess up, then I guess we all can.

Ease up - just enjoy the music and most of all, enjoy yourself. And as far as teenagers go, well, eye-rolling is their specialty <LOL>

Every time I think I completely and utterly SUCKED in performance, I'm pleasantly surprised to see on video later that I was OK. Sometimes when I think I was great, the video proves me wrong. So you can't really trust your own judgement.

Have you ever been in an accident, even a fenderbender? You know how time slows way down between the moment you realize this accident is going to happen and the moment it does? That's adrenaline, making your brain go faster.

The same thing happens in performance. Your brain speeds way up, and somehow there's room for all these thoughts and fears and worries, but still plenty of space leftover for dancing.

As far as confidence, I only know one cure. Preparation. Practice, rehearsal. When you *know* that you know what you're doing, you can't help but be confident. When you *know* that you're not as prepared as you should be, you can't be confident. (well, normal emotionally healthy people can't).

When Im nervous before a performance, I take 5 seconds just to remind myself why I'm performing... Because I Want to Dance!!!!
and I want to share my passion with other people. Remembering the reason right before I go out fuels me a little :)

Hope this helps

AND got her picture in the Newspaper for it. Where it didn't mention you were bad and the picture was lovely!

thank you for all of your thoughts!!!

Kitty - thanks : )

Just so you know, you're not alone. I've been dancing for 7 years and this evening I completely stunk up the place. Well, I'm sure it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't great. It definately wasn't my best and it's bumming me out. But it happens sometimes. You just gotta roll with and know that you'll nail it next time!

Sometimes because of how we feel INSIDE we feel we did worse than we did....
Better that than thinking you are always so GREAT and really just so so. It keeps you moving forward but don't get to caught up in it!

List, just for yourself, what went right (in your mind) and what went wrong. If the list is mostly EXTERNAL (the rolling eyes and such) on the things that went wrong you can't do much about it other that saying "I think I can I think I can..." when your audience is not a good one.

If the things you list as what went wrong are INTERNAL (could have been more prepared, need to work on timing, all those sorts of things) you can do something about that.

I have the worst nerves and self doubt ever! I TRY to tell my self every time I go out there that I can do something that most of the audience can not (even if they think they can!). That does take care of most GP shows. Now an audience of dancers, that is another story, still working on that mentally!