Thread: TIps and Tricks for teaching stage presence

I have a group of ladies who are performing at community functions and nursing homes. I really need to work on stage presence with them and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions that I could share with them.

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much![/QUOTE]

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I have 6 words for you: Michelle Joyce's "Secrets of the Stage"


Belly Dance DVDs - Cheeky Girls Productions

It's chock full of information that will give you lots of ideas.

Amaya's Star Power....

Is this a group that's fairly new to performance and having trouble projecting energy?

If so, I think one of the best things to do might be to have them practice, practice, practice dancing in front of each other and making eye contact, smiling, projecting.

Maybe have half the group dance for the other half while you watch and call out reminders to keep making EYE CONTACT with the audience, keep SMILING (or whatever facial expression is appropriate to the music) keep EXTENDING (or lifting or whatever is needed). You could even partner up each of the 'dancers' with one of the 'watchers,' so each dancer is responsible for making eye contact with their watcher, then switch groups. Encourage them to be silly, to make faces, to really interact while they dance.

I don't think there's any substitute for practicing that aspect of performance, and getting used to looking at and interacting with an audience (and having them look at you!!)

I second Kat. Michelle's "Secrets of the Stage" would be very helpful.

Secrets of the Stage is a great resource for any performer! However, I suspect from rassicahl's description that this group are at a pretty early stage in terms of building their performance skills. I second Lauren's suggestion - practice practice practice in front of EACH OTHER. And get used to being looked at.

The idea of practicing dancing for each other is a really good one. I like to do this in pairs and get the ladies to give each other feedback (less threatening than me, or the whole class, doing it). Sometimes you think you're smiling, but you need someone to tell you that, actually, you're not! It also helps the students to realise what they like to see from an audience perspective - get them to focus on their reaction to the dancer when she smiles vs when she looks at her feet. You could even dance for them using different levels of projection and get them to describe how it made them feel. Sometimes inexperienced dancers feel silly smiling so much, without realising that it doesn't appear silly from the audience's perspective.

For those that are shy of making eye contact, I like to suggest looking over the audience's heads, or making eye contact with a pretend person. Imagine smiling, engaging them. I personally find this helpful because I'm shy of real eye contact. Plus it stops you looking at your feet!

Also, can you choreograph bits into your dance where you all look at and dance with each other eg: in an inward-facing circle? That can be a good time to beam big smiles and laugh together and get the energy up.

As for giving feedback, a simple rule may be: Say one thing you liked, and one thing that could make for a better performance.

And, I don't think anybody mentioned taping oneself. Seeing progress and what works/what doesn't is a good thing. Also, once you've been brave enough to watch yourself on tape, an audience is a lot less scary!

Breathing. I took a workshop years ago with Rania of New York, and her topic was "Sharing the Air". The baisics - don't hold your breath. It sounds simple....but its really tough, especially for first time performers and those who have stage fright! You can rehearse the best technique in the world but if you hold your breath, you restrict your movements and the audience can tell you are scared. Good stage presence is confidence and enjoyment.

I'd suggest focusing on relaxing and breathing, being present in the moment. Occasionally I have one student get up in front of the class and do a simple basic move, and have them hold their breath. Then I gently coach them to breathe (closing their eyes if they have to) so the rest of the class can *see* the difference. (yep, all stolen from Rania....)

I think sharing with them the concept of being yourself! Some people have big open smiles and some smaller. Have them PRACTICE smiling EVERY time they dance (the smile is a muscle movement and muscle memory will, hopefully, kick in if they practice smiling while dancing). Also share with them the idea that a smile is like paint, it hides many mistakes!..g.:
Good luck, it is exciting to have your students dance!

I think they might be able to identify what works and work doesn't by watching themselves.

One HUGE issue is to have them apply stage presence skills even in rehearsing. All too often, teachers let students do run-throughs in class with blank faces. Well, if they practice it that way, they'll perform it that way.

Another mistake many teachers make is to simply tell their students to "smile". That results in a lot of bared teeth, but doesn't really help with stage presence.

My favorite song for teaching stage presence is Sobry Alil by the singer Shereen. It's about a woman telling the worthless guy in her life to get lost. As I prepare my students for a run-through, I ask them to portray the narrator of the song. I ask them to show me a sassy, defiant woman on one run-through. Then I ask them to show me a confident, empowered one who has just rid herself of a nuisance. Then I ask them to show me one who takes pleasure in getting rid of a worthless guy. Of course, all of these scenarios are different ways of saying the same thing, but some people resonate better with one than with another.

Another thing I do is that I watch them as they do their run through, and if I see someone with a blank face, I stick out my tongue at her.

Sometimes I'll point to a specific spot in the lyrics that evokes a certain mood or idea and ask them to portray that mood/idea for me when the song gets to that part.

Sometimes I'll have them do a traveling step in a circle (typically one that also appears in the choreography), and I'll instruct them that as they come around the circle to face me I want to see them make eye contact with me and show me a mood.

Sometimes just before doing a run-through of a choreo I'll tell the students to pretend they are dancing for a bunch of construction workers, and rather than being intimidated by them, I want them to give those men something to ADMIRE.

I guess, to sum up all of the above, I'd say, give the students a mood/attitude that goes with the mood/attitude of a particular song, and ask them to show you that mood attitude in the run-through.

This is a great drill that I use!
Have everyone give you an emotion and write it down as they come into class.
Cut the class in half, put one half on one side and one on the other making sure everyone is paired up with another person. If you have an odd number jump in yourself. Put on some background music, it can be anything or you can chose not to for this exercise.
You will have them walk at each other using different stimulus. I like to use different things besides emotion.
Start by using the emotions you wrote down and have the 2 sides walk toward each other using that emotion. Emotions are familiar and for the most part easy and it will ease them into the drill. It can be Anger, Sorrow, Happiness, Longing, whatever. As they are walking through make sure they are going too fast but do point out to them that how their face changes, posture difference, pace, etc.
You can also use nouns like a Queen, Gypsy, a man (that one is interesting but fun). Again having them pay attention to thier carriage, attitde ect.
I have also used actions like walking on clouds, lava, dizziness, etc.
You can also use analogies to objects, how would carmel move if it is warm, what about whipped cream.
The whole point is to associate. Then once you make the associations and they realize how to do it you can move to the next level in applying it to the music and dance making references back to "remember when you were caramel?" etc.
Hope that helps!
xoxo,
-NJ

Wow, what wonderful suggestions! I'm writing them all down. And yes, they are fairly new to performing. We've been to a few nursing homes, an herbal club meeting where the topic was herbs from the Middle East, and we danced at the town Christmas celebration. The looks on their faces are usually fear and intense thought because they don't want to make mistakes. I'll start on Monday evening with all these great tips!

One technique I use for my beginners, to loosen them up and get them started down the road to good expression while dancing, might work for you, too. I give them a really simple combination -- like walk forward 4 steps, pause and roll your shoulders 4 counts, then walk back and roll your shoulders. Then I put them in 2 lines facing each other, so they have a dance partner, and tell them to walk towards each other and flirt outrageously. We do this a few times, shifting the line from time to time to change partners. Invariably, they start laughing and acting silly and having fun. They don't want the little classroom exercise to end. Then I tell them to think about how much fun they had dancing with a partner... and that when they dance, the audience is their dance partner.

I also work on expression from the first beginner session. It's much harder to add it later, when the bad expressions are already ingrained. We practice a small polite smile, a big warm smile, flirting, or being a queen/diva (but a friendly one). And we discuss which expressions would be best during which part of the dance. I also stress that they don't have to *feel* an expression or an emotion, they just have to put that expression on their faces, like an actress would.

These things really seem to help, and at our little student parties, there are very few "deer in headlights" expressions.

Another little thing we go through, especially before the students' first performance (which is just an informal one, at the end-of-session party), is anticipating what could happen. I ask them what the worst thing would be. They usually worry about forgetting the steps, or doing something stupid. But my view is this: the worst thing that could happen is that they might not have fun -- which is why all of them want to learn this dance. I point out that it's not a big audition; it's not a job that we'll be fired from if we don't do well; nobody has threatened to kill us if we're not perfect -- as many outlandish things as I can think of. And since they're dancing for students, and even the most advanced ones were beginners at one time, making mistakes is not the end of the world, and they should just laugh at themselves if they goof up. This really helps get them into the right mindset.

In the case of your dancers, especially if they're dancing at a nursing home, you could stress that they are dancing to have fun *and* to bring a little sunshine into other peoples' lives, and that there will be few critical eyes among the audience.

Best of luck with this! Let us know how it goes.

I second Lauren's suggestion on having students face each, and dance across the room to each other. In my first troupe, one of the teachers made us do that, and I absolutely hated it! Dancing for my fellow students was more nerve-wracking than dancing for the general public, I thought, but it was great practice for that reason. And, of course, your fellow dancers are supportive while everyone is doing this- smiling, clapping, etc. I always thinks it helps also if the dancers know what the singer is singing about. Maybe providing lyrics, or a general synopsis of the song, would help for portraying emotion.

My troupe director (DonnaDiva) always tells us to think othere's a little bald headed man in the front row waving a $100 bill. She then tells us to try to get the man to notice you and give you the $100 bill instead of the dancer next to you. That usually gets us all to think of our stage presence and facial expressions.

Originally Posted by gotraqs

I second Lauren's suggestion on having students face each, and dance across the room to each other. In my first troupe, one of the teachers made us do that, and I absolutely hated it!

HAHAHA!! I had the same morbid dread of that exercise!

For me, it was largely because we always had to do it to music I'd never heard before, and not pop, either -- orientale stuff, with unexpected rhythm changes. I know she was multi-tasking and trying to *get* us familiar with some of the 'classics' but the HORROR!!!

I do the same exercise with my rep group students, but I always choose music they're really familiar with (like the stuff we warm up with every week), music without a lot of unexpected changes, give them a 'fallback' move, and keep the spirit really silly & lighthearted.

If these are newer preformers, be very careful about any negative criticism of what they are doing. Find one or two good things that each of them do separately and as a group and encourage and praise those virtues. By reinforcing the things you want to see in them, they will continue to do those things and naturally work harder at being even better at it. And it keeps them focused on the positive rather than constantly thinking about avoiding the negative aspects.

Whenever I make these comments I always have to add the caveat that I am not a belly dance instructor, but have taught many physical skills to people over the years and am a firm believer in using the tools of operant conditioning to build skill levels. Model the behavior you are looking for, acknowledge and reinforce approximations toward that behavior, make the reinforcement intermittent but sincere to build. For example, a student has the beginnings of a lovely smile. Let her know that her smile is lovely. When you catch her smiling, reinforce it with acknowledgement and praise. Then wait for an even better smile and let her know you saw it. Watch for her eyes to twinkle and the smile to enter her entire expression and praise again. Show her how to smile with her face and arms and hands at the same time and build on that behavior.

Simplilstic for most of you who are already doing this, but sometimes it helps to remind teachers that there is also a science to teaching as well as an art.


Souzan

I dont know, stage presence is a hard subject... there are a lot of seasoned professionals who dont even have it. Its not something you can teach, I feel like as a dancer you just have to learn it for yourself.

I do find that confidence is the most important factor in stage presence. If a dancer is confident with herself and completely comfortable performing she usually has a lovely stage presence. So I guess my advice would be to have them practice and perform as much as possible!

It's not exactly stage presence, but I like teaching people to take applause. I get people to strike a final pose, take their bow or curtsey (I give them a few examples to use), accept their applause and leave gracefully while the rest of the class claps madly. People are so prone to rush off stage. If nothing else it makes people feel good (because who doesn't want a round of applause?), though it tends to leave the teacher with sore cheeks and palms!

Originally Posted by zumarrad

It's not exactly stage presence, but I like teaching people to take applause. I get people to strike a final pose, take their bow or curtsey (I give them a few examples to use), accept their applause and leave gracefully while the rest of the class claps madly. People are so prone to rush off stage. If nothing else it makes people feel good (because who doesn't want a round of applause?), though it tends to leave the teacher with sore cheeks and palms!

Yes, yes! As an audience member, I feel a bit jibbed if the dancer doesn't stay and acknowledge my applause - it kind of feels like they don't really care what the audience thinks of their performance (which is probably the complete opposite of what they're really feeling).

Another similar tip: practice walking on and off stage, being a dancer from the first to the last. There is nothing that shatters the image of grace and glamour more than seeing a dancer stomp off stage!

I teach presence to my beginners using this analogy:

I have them walk across the room in lines, just doing a step and hip lift. When they have gone "there and back" I then tell them that we're going to do it again, but this time, instead of walking across the room in our ratty bathrobes with our chipped mug of coffe, hair a mess and no makeup that NOW we are going to be walking across the room in a beautiful silk robe, holding our mimosa as we glide towards the lanai where we will open the doors and enjoy the ocean breeze. We are regal as queens! We are "the shizzle"! We are OWNING this room and the floor better be grateful that we are putting our sainted foot down upon it!!

This not only gets laughs, but gets much better posture, facial expression, etc. I use other "characters" for them to get into, but I really like the queen of all that she surveys because it seems to empower the newer dancer to not be afraid to extend, look forward and have presence when she moves.

You've gotten lots of great ideas! Here's one I use with my dancers for stage presence and dealing with stage fright. It works best if the student is "into" visualizing...

Have them close their eyes and imagine a small flame burning in their core. They can imagine this as their "energy" or the "love for the dance". Then have them take slow deep breaths and imagine the flame getting larger with every breath until the flame is huge.

Next imagine surrounding the flame and compressing it into a tight, glowing fireball of energy at their core. Really compress it, but keep breathing. You want to imagine that the fireball is so strong, it's just bursting to get out and explode onto the stage.

Then start the music, and tell them to let the fireball loose (in the context of the music). Tell them their goal is to smash the back wall with their fireball of energy!

It takes a few tries before they get over the self-consciousness of the exercise and actually use it to help them. But wow! It can be incredibly powerful when a dancer unleashes that kind of energy on stage. You can actually feel it in the audience.

Plus, the breathing thing actually oxygenates the blood, so there's a physical response that helps with nerves and "presence" as well.

Good for you for caring about stage presence! Not many teachers go this deep into performing techniques.

Best of luck with the show!
Mira