KEYS TO A GOOD PERFORMANCE:

There are several keys to a good performance, but the most important one is simply…..

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE,

Practice your routines until they are second nature to you. Also, once you begin to really get your routines down, set your family and/or friends down, and make them not only watch you while you “perform”, but ask them to critique you. Tell them to point out things that could be improved upon. Also, when performing for your practice audience, REALLY PERFORM. Smile— put your personality into your dance–feel the music– interact with your audience through your expressions and body language. Actually, once you get your routine down or “in your body”, you should periodically pretend you are performing as you practice. Literally visualize an audience and really dance!
One more suggestion here—video tape yourself. This is a great learning tool! It is especially useful if you want your dance and routine to be big surprise for your guests.

Second key to a good performance:

STAGE PRESENCE

I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH JUST HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS!!! Visualize two ladies dancing side by side. One is doing a less than perfect, slightly out of control figure eight, but she has a smile on her face, she is having a great time and really feeling the music. Standing next to her is a lady doing a very controlled, perfect figure eight, but she has a nervous, stiff, look about her, and a forced smile The second lady is obviously not enjoying herself. Guess what? ……Neither is the audience! If you were watching these two women dance, who would YOU prefer to watch? The audience needs to know that you are confident and passionate in your dance. Please remember this when you perform. Put you heart and soul into it! It goes a LONG, LONG, LONG, way toward making your performance not only fun and fulfilling for yourself, but also enjoyable and exciting for the audience.

Third key to good performance:

NEVER LET ON IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE

If you make a mistake while performing, don’t admit it to your audience through your facial expressions or body language. Nine times out of ten, if you don’t act like you’ve made a mistake, your audience will never know. Also, even if you make what to you may seem like a huge, glaring mistake, it will probably only be seen by some of the audience. The reason for this is, there will be many dancers and the audience will have a hard time paying continuous attention to any one dancer. Another point to remember is, that huge, glaring mistake will not seem nearly as tragic to your audience as it does to you.
If you do make a mistake, LET IT GO, and do not dwell on it, as you finish your routine. If you continue to dwell on it, you will not be concentrating on your dance and it will show. Just LET IT GO and enjoy the rest of the dance!
Soloists have an advantage here in that unless you literally fall down, or trip, the ONLY way the audience will know you have made a mistake is if you admit it to them through your facial expression or body language. Don’t give away your secret! If you lose track of where you are in the dance, just continue smiling and moving with figure eights, or hip circles, etc. until you remember where you are in the routine.

Lorrie Pierce