We are over half way through the year and already had a few public performances under our belts with our main Halloween show "Cirque Macabre" coming up October 11th. Planning has begun with a great lineup of student and coach performers. For anyone performing, we like to dive in to see what preparations are being made to become "performance ready" and any tips or tricks.
Back in September of last year, I wrote a blog titled, "Advice for Aerial Performers to Consider" in which I talked about all the pieces it takes to be "performance ready." Our wonderful aerial duo, Keith and Carissa, noted on their instagram page that their planning "always involves putting a decent amount of time, thought, emotion, exploration, and communication, spanning months, into bringing all the pieces together." For Cirque Macabre, we are at the point in the process where song choices need to be established. Finding the right song is an important step in the process. "Lots of things we consider when picking a song. Theme of the event? Time limit? Tempo? If we have a story/characters in mind already, does it match? Does the venue/event have limitations (like royalty free or original only music required)? And typically one of the main things for us… when we listen to it, close our eyes, and imagine moving to it, does it give us goosebumps??? When we sit down to listen together, do we hear “ooh”s and “mm”s from each other and do our eyes go wide?"
Once a song or type of music is chosen, a performer needs to decide on the type of movement that will best go with the "mood or emotion". Keith and Carissa like to ask themselves, "Do we move slow, soft, flowy, fast, sharp, dramatic, mechanical, creepy, dynamic, reaching, embracing, powerful?" With that, they can pick out the moves to go with their choreography. "We’ve heard it said “if you can repeat the move 3 times in succession, safely and solidly, then you can think about putting it in a performance. Drafting and exploring and repeating are key for this. We also record our practices so we can see if our ideas even look how we imagined."
From Brett Womack and Rachel Bowman their first rule of thumb when it comes to performing is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. "Remember to not only run your routine multiple times but be sure to practice in costume, on the silk (or apparatus) that you will be using for your performance, in the venue (ideally with the lighting and sound) that you will be performing at. Different lighting, wall color etc can cause you to become disorientated so be sure to get as comfortable as possible with the environment that you will be performing in." Hair and makeup also play an important part in a performance. Womack & Bowman suggest "Seeking out examples online is a great reference for this as are magazines." If you are creating the look yourself, they say to "practice at home and make sure you have all the tools you need such as a curling iron, false eyelashes, face paint etc and that you are happy with your ‘look,'' or you can always have a friend or a professional makeup artist help as well. With Makeup and hair, we don't want to forget costumes or outfits. A person should "make sure it is aerial friendly and run your act in it multiple times before your performance." And lastly, "in the days and hours leading up to your performance, practice positive self-talk in order to mentally prepare for a positive and enjoyable experience. Performing is supposed to be fun! You are sharing your hard work, awesome skills and beautiful artistry with the world and making it better for doing so! Before taking to the stage, mentally remind yourself that you are ready to perform." "Positive self-talk is most effective when the message relates to the process of performing."
Written by: Coach Alicia Schroder
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