smiling???

[Guest alliecat93]

I constantly get the correction- Smile; stage presence; presentation; look like you're enjoying it. I really LOVE ballet, it's just that I concentarate so hard on doing everything perfectly and getting the combination right and if I try to smile I mess up. I don't mean like a big toothy grin, just looking pleasent. How do you look like you're enjoying dance while you're still concentrating very hard? I hope this makes sense. Thanks to everyone who helps me!

[Mel Johnson]

Sir Frederick Ashton said it best: Smile with your eyes! Don't give me any of your grin! Smile with your eyes, and your whole face changes!

 

You should be so far on top of your material by the time you hit the stage, you don't need to think about it any more, so get out of the scowl habit, now!

[Guest Katrina_54]

Hello

To help me smile while preforming, I think of the funny things that have happened to me, and think of those. I may not be the best dancer, because I started pretty late, but lots of people comment on how amazing my smile is on stage. Stage presentation is very important, because I think, when I am watching a dance, I am drawn to watch people who look like their having fun. But I understand how you feel!! Lots of my friends from dance have this problem, and I think it works best to look up into the lights. I find when I look up, I'm less likely to get nervous and stop smiling, cause I cant see anyone watching. Also, my dance teacher always encourages us to smile while class, because smiling on the stage is something that takes practice, and is almost important as the steps. And there's always the old Vaseline trick--(when you apply vaseline to your teeth to keep you smiling) I've only tried it once---and watch out-I put it on like 10 minutes before I went on stage, and I almost died because it taste so gross!! So if you do it, put it on RIGHT before you go on. As I said, I only did it once, but some girls in my dance class swear by that method:cool:

 

katrina

[Victoria Leigh]

Ballet is so technically difficult that I think students often forget that it is a performing art, and what audiences want to see is someone on the stage who obviously enjoys what she is doing and is totally involved in the music and the movement and the story or theme of the work being danced. Thinking of other things to make you smile is not quite what it is all about. The expression on your face must come from you are feeling about what you are doing, otherwise it is totally false and just does not work. Smiling is one thing, truly enjoying it is something else, and that shows, as Ashton said, in the eyes. It shows in your whole demeanor and carriage and use of your head and eyes.

 

Obviously this is not something simple and it takes years of practice for most people. Since you are not on stage frequently enough as students to develop this only in that venue, it seems evident to me that it needs to be practiced in classes.

[Guest alliecat93]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I was actually talking about class, not performing, but I guess the tips could be applied to either situation!

[Victoria Leigh]

Read my post again, alliecat. It most definitely applies to class.

[Mel Johnson]

I had an interesting experience over this last summer that has stayed with me. I was watching a rehearsal of a ballet, and the girl doing the ballerina role used it to rehearse her stage projection as well as just the choreography. I was about blown through the wall by all this personality, and it was as if I were the sole recipient! It was a nice feeling, and one I don't get all that often, these days, anywhere.