Dance performing skills

by Stephanie
(Queensland)

When performing, what are the main things you are thinking about to give your best performance: (performing skills)?

Comments for Dance performing skills

Aug 10, 2012

Answer from Maria
by: Maria

Dear Stephanie,

There are several things I would recommend you to give your best dancing performance:

- First of all, be well prepared. Whatever the performance you are giving, don't leave the event to happen under random circumstances. Instead, decide what will happen to the maximum possibility. This means: rehears until you feel everything is very clear and defined. Study and program all complementary issues like the specific space of the performance, the music and sound, costumes and every specific detail that makes part of the show. If you will make an improvised performance, be sure of practicing the programmed improvisation enough (Yes! even improvisation is something that a dancer practices and rehears).

- Just before the performance: be sure of maintaining a healthy life routine at least for a week. This means sleeping enough, feeding in a balanced way and keeping your training routines without big changes in the expenditure of energy.

- At the performance: take your self the time for concentration. Be at the place early enough to warm up properly, check that all complementary issues are working fine and relax. This is especially important if you tend to be nervous or experience fear on stage.

The last matter is your own inner connection with dance. While performing, search for your own relationship with the piece and try to give yourself to the uniqueness of the moment. There's an audience there and you have a relationship to it, off course, but the shine of your interpretation will be perceived by them if you are totally present at that moment, giving your self to the dance as if that was your last time alive.

One learns and develops that skill with time of experience on stage. That's why it is so important to face the public as frequent as possible, so that one becomes familiarized with that special state of union with dance and disappearance of one's ordinary self.

I hope this answers your question. I guess every dancer has her/his own tricks and strategies to give the best performance. If you find more tips, it would be great if you shared them on this same thread. Hopefully we will also have other dancers commenting in this page and sharing their performing secrets.

Warm regards,

Maria

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Dance Questions About Technique.

Share this page:

What’s this?

Facebook X WhatsApp

Enjoy this page? You can pay it forward easily. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.