Concert Season 2017

Hey Dance Stars,

Checking in this week to let you all know concert season is nigh - so it’s time to step. It. Up!

Our wonderful studio is involved in a series of high profile community events in the countdown to Christmas 2017. So, what better time to talk more about why we encourage performing and what our ID students can gain from performance?!

We put loads of time into establishing great relationships with awesome talent agencies – creating fantastic opportunities for you to shine on stage. Performance not only allows you to be creative but it is an excellent avenue in which to foster deep emotional connections through a range of cool experiences from working as a team to winning over the toughest audience.

There are many things you can take away from the shows. As dancers you all must work hard to interpret and then convey a wide range of narrative or abstract ideas and emotion from one routine to the next. One of the most important lessons you can learn while on stage is how to entertain; to engage, to involve an audience using that tricky combination of technique and presence. This is an important skill; one that can only be seriously nailed through repeated performance opportunities.

As you all know, technique and stage presence go hand in hand. Some dancers are naturals and have stage presence without thinking about it – while for others, it takes a little more work. Lucky for us, stage presence is something we have in spades at Industry and if you’re feeling a little flat, energy wise, in the lead up to showtime, rest assured that a spark can be found in the supportive space that is Industry Dance.

Remember, as you perform, you want to keep your audience interested. So be aware of your face, make eye contact and keep those facial muscles relaxed! Rather than a fake smile, work on creating a face on stage that says, “I’m loving this!!” Let your eyes express how wonderful you feel when you dance and your face will come alive, naturally.

There is also a wider skill set which comes from performing and this includes learning how to:

Solve problems – A dancer learns to overcome all obstacles – the show must go on.

Work as a team – Learning the importance of helping each other to get the best routine, trusting your dance mate and knowing they trust you. There’s nothing like waiting to take the stage… the nerves, the self-doubt, wondering how the heck you got here? The music starts, the butterflies begin lifting you up and you look at your friends and just know, they’ve got you. You see your teachers, and they’ve got you, you take the stage and see the audience and know they’ve got you too! The energy exchange completes you, charging you. This is why we do this - that audience reaction - seeing your classmate smile your way. All this creates the incredible feeling and confidence that dance performance provides, whether it’s for recreation or competition, there is nothing like your team mates and friendship.

Persevere under pressure – Understanding how to accept criticism, how to recover with grace and gain the strength to improve.

Commit – Keep commitments. Dancers learn that dedication pays off. If you don’t show up to rehearsals you lose your place in the show.

Be self-disciplined – Discipline comes with every performance. Concerts require practice, practice, practice and more practice. Performance teaches that it takes total commitment to achieve our goals.

Time management - being reliable, on time, and honouring ourselves and respecting others.

So as we approach concert season remember, never dull your light. You are all shining stars. You, our great performer, knows preparation for performance is key. You have confidence, grace, energy, strength and rhythm and know your routine inside out. You have worked on expression and stage presence. Someone has filmed you in action, so you know the moves down pat. You have worked hard with the rest of the company to perfect the routine and trust everyone to be the best they can be. Her hair and makeup is perfect. You are relaxed and most importantly, confident. Your smile comes easily because you know your stuff! The audience will relax and enjoy the show because they trust you. You will entertain them. Believe you can do it and the audience will believe it too. We can all succeed if we have passion, patience and perseverance. Remember, you can Dream. Believe. Succeed… at anything you try.