Sometimes
nerves get the better of our students or sometimes a hiccup occurs which is
beyond our or our student’s control.
Whatever the cause it’s best to try to minimise the damage so that the
performance does not become a nightmare.
Here is some advice you can give your students to help them through
their performance no matter what happens.
If a dancer forgets what
they are doing onstage
Remind
them that the audience does not know their dance so they need to keep moving
and chances are the audience won’t know the difference. Have an emergency step in mind and do that
while taking a deep breath and trying to get back on track. They will need to look around if they are
dancing in a group to pick up which step the other dancers are doing.
The music skips or stops
during the performance
Keep
going! The audience are usually very
impressed if a dancer or dancers are able to keep going when the music stops
mid dance. If dancing in a group your
students will need to be very aware of each other in order to keep in time with
each other.
A student falls of drops a
prop
If
the prop isn’t necessary just leave it on the stage. But if they need to use it again in the
performance they will have to find a way to pick it up and make it look
planned. If someone falls then get up as
quickly as possible. Do what you need to
do to keep going. It’s good for the students to look at the stage for imperfections and slippery spots before the
performance but sometimes this is just not possible. I did once see a dancer dislocate her knee on
stage (not a pretty sight). The other
members of the group kept going while, clearly, the injured dancer could not
continue so she pulled herself off stage.
One member is injured just
before the performance
The
student’s health is more important than a performance so they need to take care
of their body first. However, this makes
it difficult for the rest of the group to keep logical formations, canon
etc Formations will need to be fixed in the
dressing room/warm up room and the dancers need to keep their wits about
themselves. There is no easy way of getting
around this. In the past I have practised alternate formations in class but we do not always have time to do this.
Someone forgets their
costume
If
a parent going home and coming back in time isn’t an option then I suggest that
all members of the group change their costume around so that each person has an
individual look. The other students
share their accessories so that the uncostumed dancer has some things that the
rest of the group have. The student
could also ask around the dressing room – you never know what other dancers might
have. Even a class leotard/uniform might
help.
It
may be useful to give your students some strategies for focussing on the
performance just before they go onstage.
Breathing, creative visualisation, warm up, team building exercises all
help performances to go smoothly.
Regards,
TDT
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