[Nepenthe]

A number of professional dancers were asked - what is it about a dancer, when she comes on the stage and performs, that tells you that she is a professional? Most said it as her confidence, the way she takes and leaves the stage, and whether she is able to project herself through the room. I should note that I have used female pronouns here, but there are male dancers and in fact, DaVid was one of the featured dancers on the DVD who gave his opinion on professionalism. Now, the night before I watched this DVD, I had been out at a restaurant watching 4 new performers during the "open mike" segment. I noted then that you could tell a professional dancer by her entrance/exit. This DVD confirmed that thought. Because the common theme was the entrances and exits, the DVD then showed a number of entrances and exits from Cheeky Girls Productions "By Dancers for Dancers" for analysis. Overall, the entrance and exit must be clean and strong!

The DVD ended with audience feedback. This section was less valuable than I expected, mostly because it is probably difficult for the audience to articulate what they are really responding to. One American audience member confirmed what we learned on the beginning of the DVD about short attention spans - she said that the music needed to be shorter! But there was one thread that linked them all - audience members respond to dancers who put their heart and soul into their dance, responding to the music and communicating the music to the audience.

Secrets of the Stage II DVD is available from the Cheeky Girls Productions website or Amazon.Com