This week's post is by Sara Beaman, one of our phenomenal instructors at World In Motion. If you have ever seen one of Sara's sublime performances, you will know that her advice on this subject is invaluable!
Your Solo Debut
Have you been taking dance classes for a while? Do you hear the stage singing siren songs in your ear? Are you longing, itching, dying to perform?
To perform, perhaps, a solo?
“But I’m not experienced enough to perform by myself,” you might tell yourself. “And I don’t really know how to make a choreography, or how to do improv. Besides, I’m sure I’ll get horrible stage fright, and I’ll forget everything I planned to do as soon as I’m out there in front of people.”
My professional advice is to ignore yourself and go for it. You have nothing to lose!
If you live in or near the Raleigh-Durham area, there are plenty of performance opportunities for everyone regardless of experience level, and plenty of audiences who are waiting to cheer you on. The only way to get better at performing is to perform, so you might as well get started.
Most people can mitigate a good amount of their performance anxiety simply by being prepared. This article will cover some basic aspects of performance preparation, step by step. Please leave your questions and requests for additional clarification in the comments.
Step One Music
Before you do anything else, pick your music. A good rule of thumb for your first performance, especially if you plan to choreograph a dance for the first time, is to go for something between two and four minutes long. If your music has lyrics, make sure they’re appropriate for your venue. (If the lyrics aren’t in English, ask your teacher if they can help you figure out what the song is about.)
Pick something that you love enough to listen to thousands of times, but something that also helps to highlight your strengths as a dancer: perhaps something slow if you are good at isolations, or something fast if you are good at traveling moves and shimmies.
Listen to your song over and over until you can “hear” all of it in your mind even when it’s not on.
Step Two Costuming
Start getting a costume together that fits your music. If you’re not sure what to wear, consult your teacher for advice. Each style of bellydance has its own costuming, and the costume helps tell the audience what to expect from your performance.
If you have the ability to buy or make your own costume, great! If you’re on a limited budget and/or you don’t know how to sew, don’t worry. Try borrowing items from friends, fellow students or mentors, or looking on online bellydance communities such as bhuz.com where professionals regularly sell their costumes for cheap.
Your hair and makeup are a crucial part of your costume. If you’ve never done stage makeup before, you should start practicing well before the day of your performance. It’s fun! Youtube is a great resource for all sorts of makeup and hair tutorials!
Remember to borrow or acquire a coverup as well, and footwear if necessary.
Step Three Venue
Investigate your performance venue options. World in Motion hosts quarterly Student Showcases, and there is a regular “open mic” style performance event called Undulation Nouveau at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. Look at ncbellydance.org to find other upcoming events. Some haflas and shows are invitation-only; at others, you can apply to perform.
Find out what to expect at your venue from the event organizer. What is the sound system like? Will you need to bring a CD or send in a sound file ahead of time? What is the surface of the stage like? Is the stage raised, below the audience, or at the same level as the audience? Is the event outside or indoors? How large is the stage or performance area? Is it an all-ages event, or is it adults-only? Is there a changing room? a backstage area? Where should you park? Is water provided for performers? Do performers have to pay to get in? What about their guests?
Knowing as much as possible about your venue will help you plan ahead for a smooth debut.
Step Four Planning
If you are doing someone else’s choreography, ask their permission and how they would like to be credited.
If you are doing improv, plan at least the beginning and end of your dance so that you don’t freeze! (And don’t neglect Step Five...)
If you are doing choreography, start working. Trust yourself. Remember that there is no “wrong” way to put the moves you know together, unless you are trying to accurately represent one of the folkloric styles. Try not to second guess yourself or get mired in details. If you need help, try booking a private lesson or two with your teacher.
Step Five Practice (Practice Practice)
Practice your dance as often and for as long as is reasonably possible given the reality of your life. You probably have more free time than you think, by the way. Try not watching television for a week--perhaps the week before your performance!
Step Six Dress Rehearsal
At least a week before your performance, practice in your full costume, including jewelry and hairpieces. Make sure you have your full range of movement and that your various items don’t get stuck on one another. If your costume doesn’t fit quite right, start pinning it until it does, then baste over where you’ve pinned, then pin it again. No one likes a costume malfunction.
If you have the opportunity, perform your solo for a trusted friend--preferably someone who knows something about dance, but at the very least someone who will be both honest and kind when giving you feedback. Even better: schedule a private lesson with a trusted teacher and have them help you polish your dance before you take it to the stage.
Step Seven Performance Kit
Put together a bag to take with you to the performance full of emergency supplies and necessities. Some ideas for what to put inside include safety pins, double-stick tape, deodorant, an extra lipstick in a shade appropriate for the stage, makeup remover, tissues, hair pins, bobby pins, hair elastics, hair spray or product, needle and thread, an extra copy of your music on CD, arnica gel, a pain reliever, migraine medication if you get them, a calming essential oil, and more safety pins.
If you are getting changed at the venue, put your entire costume on (including hairpieces and jewelry), then pack it as you take it off. The first layers to go on your body will be on the top of your suitcase, and you’ll be sure you packed everything.
Step Eight Recruiting
Ask your friends from class and your “normal life” (if you still have one) to come support you at your performance. It helps immensely to know that you will have friendly faces to look at in the audience. If you want, you can even coach them to zaghareet and cheer for you.
On the other hand, if it would make you nervous to dance in front of certain friends (we all have them), don’t invite them... at least not at first.
Step Nine Affirmations
Make a list of three or so wholly positive phrases to repeat to yourself before you go onstage for a little self-brainwashing. Here are some examples:
“I am fabulous and gorgeous and a fantastic dancer.”
“My choreography is awesome and I look great performing it.”
“Everyone here will love watching me dance.”
It is NOT acceptable to use phrases with the word NOT in them. These are NOT affirmations. Examples of such negative phrases include:
“I will NOT screw up my choreography.”
Repeating this to yourself will probably just make you worried about screwing up your choreography.
Once you have your affirmations written down, say them to yourself in the mirror several times and make yourself believe them. Memorize your affirmations and be prepared to repeat them to yourself silently before your performance.
This may sound insane, but it WORKS! Besides, your sanity is a small (and necessary) price to pay on the way to becoming a fabulous performer.
Step Ten Glamorize
On the day of your performance, do whatever you can to make yourself look and feel fantastic. If it makes a difference to you psychologically, and you can afford it, go get your hair and nails did. For me, just doing a good job on my makeup makes me feel ready to perform. You’ve practiced these skills ahead of time so you know you can do a great job and look super gorgeous without making yourself go the bad kind of insane.
Make sure to avoid foods that cause bloating or gas before your performance, and try not to go crazy with caffeine, either. (Or alcohol... or other substances.) HOWEVER. Make sure to actually eat something before you perform. It might need to be fairly light so you can exert yourself without feeling gross, but don’t fast--you don’t want to end up feeling lightheaded on stage.
Step Eleven Debut!
Get to your venue early, but not hours ahead of time. Bring something pleasant to occupy yourself with: a book, an iPod, a friend, a (supportive and engaging) significant other. Find out when you are dancing. Repeat your affirmations. Warm up. No, for real. Warm up as if you were about to do a hardcore practice session. Repeat your affirmations. Safety-pin your loose ends. Repeat your affirmations.
Now GO! GO ONSTAGE! Out into the open, not alone, but with a crowd of people supporting you and giving you their energy and love.
Acknowledge the audience with gratitude before leaving the stage or performance area at the end of your performance.
Stay in performance mode until you are out of the venue. Be gracious when receiving feedback, especially praise. Conduct yourself with as much professionalism and poise as you can summon up--you’re a performer now.
We, your adoring audience, are already waiting anxiously for your fantastic debut!
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