stage presence

[Guest Medora]

Is good stae presence just something you are born with, or can it be developed and you gain experience in performing? My teacher just radiates when she's on stage. Could I one day do that in time?

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, possibly you could, Medora. While it is a "natural" thing, an innate talent, with some dancers, it is also something that can be developed in some dancers. I have seen both. Generally those who develop it later seem to need some help to bring it out. Those who are born with it just do it!

 

With those who are born with it, I have found that most seem to have three things that are very special, a great love and joy in dancing, a lack of inhibition about sharing and showing that joy, and an innate musicality. If they also have the physical facility and some good training, they will develop the confidence very early which allows them to perform in such a way that they seem to just radiate. It's a lovely thing to see!

[Guest Medora]

Well I definetley LOVE to dance more than anything in the whole entire world, so I hope that I can develop it. I'm still pretty new to performing, but what I do is this thing where I come out with a big smile, don't smile, smile agin, don't, smile, and so on. And the worst part is I don't even realize I'm doing it!!!! I really want to stop that! But I had never done a solo before until June so it might have been nerves?

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, it might have been. But the best way to know is to be sure to really dance full out in the studio for all rehearsals. Performance isn't something that just "happens" when the curtain goes up. It needs to be rehearsed too

[Mel Johnson]

Also, stage presence involves not only the ability to inhabit a character in a programmatic ballet (one with a story), but the ability to interpret the music, whether the ballet is programmatic or "pure" i.e. abstract music visualization. Another factor is the ability not only to rehearse the work in a reliable fashion, but the ability, once onstage, to think on one's feet, and respond to the things going on! An improper company presence once killed a show I saw. Two comedians were the headliners, and one was cracking the other up with the freshness and originality of his humor. The only problem was the onstage band - all poker faced. They had seen and heard it all before and were bored stiff! Killed the show!

[Guest Medora]

Mr Johnson, that still must be amazing for you to live in New York! What wonderful shows you must get to see! The closest place for me to go see ballet is the Kenndey Center in D.C. and that is four hours away. And of course my parents aren't about to drive me that far for something that doesn't interect them, so I have never seen a live ballet performance. At least my teacher has video class inthe summer! I don't know if a big city like NY would be the place for me, but if that's where the best is then I'm right there!

[Mel Johnson]

New York can be a great place to see a lot of theater, but I don't see as much as I used to, owing to constraints on time. It's good to study in NYC, but you should stay at home for as long as possible, and get as solid a grounding in ballet as your local school can give you, then try for a summer term at one of the schools in The Apple. But then, remember, again - you're 13! You have a lot of time and opportunity to plan for a future.

[Guest Medora]

Yes, I completley agree with you there. I am hoping to go somewhere this summer, but one correction here, I am 16! I turned 16 in Augest.

[Mel Johnson]

Oh, I do beg your pardon:o I had your screenname confused with another poster's who also used the name of a Romantic-era ballet heroine, but a different one. My bad!

[Guest Medora]

That's okay :cool: You do have a lot of posts to respond to. You must spend hours and hours on the computer every night. I admire the moderator's dedication here!