How to be a great performer

We dancers put in years of dedication and determination to learn our art form. We wait for the day when we can show off what we have learnt with most devotion to the audience that understands us. Post the show we wait for the crowd to cheer for us and if we get a standing ovation — Oh my God! That feeling is unmatched and completely incredible.

As an audience and as a dancer you will agree with me that some dancers win our hearts as soon as they come on stage and make their first move. Some dancers seem like natural performers, they just know how to ‘work a crowd’.

This charming dancer dances with energy, and seems to move with joy. Certainly, experience as a performer plays a big part in this. Like anything else, practice in performance allows you to learn what works and what doesn’t. Why is that so that one dancer is better than the other What is it that makes a dancer a good performer What is that X factor in them that connects a dancer instantly to his/her audience Why do some seem to know something that others do not

I would like to highlight a few points which I feel makes for a superb and a natural performer. Here is a list of some of the secrets of a charismatic performer. Actually, I’m not sure there is truly anything secret about these, but perhaps these are tips and aspects of your dancing you have not put much thought into before.

On the occasion of the International Dance Day (April 29), which is just around the corner and with most of us working towards a show this weekend, please try and put these skills into practice with as much diligence as when learning your steps.

Tip 1 — Do not dance alone, even while performing a solo act

It is very important that a dancer includes the audience in his or her performance. Do not forget the fact that we are here on stage for the audience so never ignore that they are there. Let me bring to your notice a survey done at The Anxiety Treatment Center in Chicago, USA, which said that involving the audience in a performance can actually lessen your anxiety or stage fright.

Develop a consciousness to other dancers in the group. How can you involve the audience or the other dancers on stage with you in your performance Make eye contact, direct your energy to one person within the audience or project your energy to the others around you, and use or respond to the energy that others give to you. None of these are things that you do so much as things you feel and think as you perform. Remember the words of famous American motivational speaker Wayne Dyer: “When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way”.

Tip 2 — Remember, the eyes say it all

Facial expression is very important in dance but just smiling during a performance alone cannot be called expression. I am sure Indian classical dancers will agree with me that real or sincere facial expression often has more to do with the eyes than with the mouth. So, rather than focusing on a smiling face, I suggest a dancer should practice an open expression with the whole face and especially using the eyes.

Although thinking or feeling this concept is at least half the battle won, there are some things you can do in this case. When you are performing, try and engage the muscles in the face by slightly lifting the eyebrows — not to a comical extreme — but in a way that is comfortable and easy to maintain.

Remember it is the same expression most of us use when making eye contact with a person or really listening to a friend when he/she is saying something, or when we are speaking excitedly in conversation. People sitting in the audience respond well to performers who utilise these facial techniques. Truly see, look and take in the world through your eyes as you dance to impress the crowd. As for the rest of the face, be natural. While a smile can be important during certain types of dances, it will not match the mood in all dances.

Many dancers move the lower jaw a lot, making them look very animated. Try and relax the lower jaw if you don’t want to give an over-the-top expression. This will improve any type of expression and, if fitting, develop a smile that comes easily but is not plastered to your face. I remember while I was preparing with Dr Sonal Mansingh for a show, she once told me, “Eyes are the windows and the doors of our performance, so be careful of each blink you make on stage”.

Tip 3 — Most importantly, understand the music and the musicality

Every dancer has a different way of thinking about music and the concept of musicality and you will many a time see dancers argue and hold great discussions on this topic. While counting helps some dancers to be precise and be together in their movement, musicality in performance is expressed through more than just counting beats. When counting, it is easy to forget that a beat includes not only the sharp tap of a particular rhythm but also the space between those taps, just as all movements include transitions and shifts of weight between desired shapes of the body.

A sharp performer always fills these spaces in the music with some movement, not letting the energy or intent drop between shapes or between counts. A dancer should resist similar-looking moves as he/she dances along. A good dancer should incorporate crescendo and decrescendo, which means sudden or gradual changes in the quality of the movement that is often a part of music or a score.

It is always helpful to have at least a basic understanding of music composition. But most important is to feel and hear the music and dance according to it. I remember legendary Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan telling me once, “When I have to set a choreography I simply play the music and I dance. I tell my assistant to record what I feel and (what I) emote the first few times usually becomes my choreography”.

Tip 4 — A great performer oozes nothing but confidence

Today’s dancers have more of an attitude than confidence. Do not confuse attitude with confidence. Attitude is something which is acted or portrayed. It is simply a layer or a persona the performer wears in his or her performance or personality. Whereas confidence is trust in yourself as a dancer and in the situation around, but remember it is not centred on oneself.

Good preparation, rehearsals, experience and practise develops trust in yourself and your fellow dancers. The work you put into the dance steps and sequence, the time and effort you put into class and technique, the building up of experience on stage or of situations in which you must improvise or think on your feet: these things allow a performer to trust.

Exuding confidence does not require one to act in a self-centered manner, in fact it is quite often the opposite. Dancers with confidence give a lot of themselves without dwelling on what the audience is thinking of them. This allows the performer to focus on making good use of all the prior preparation, overcoming mistakes when they arise, and concentrate fully to the performance itself. Renowned singer and songwriter Andy Offutt Irwin once said, “Don’t be afraid to be amazing, know that you are good and accept it with humility”.

Tip 5 — Don’t just be a dancer, be an actor too

If you think that a musician understands the music then remember that an actor understands the context, the situation, the scene, the conditions, and background and then performs keeping all the parameters in mind. Similarly a dancer should be familiar with the origin or the time period of the dance. He or she should understand the emotions of a piece and have a complete idea of what the choreographer is trying to express or intends to express through the moves that are set. Engaging actors make the audience believe something even if it is not true or actual. In the same fashion, a dancer also pretends to be happy, curious, confused, or angry even when he/she is not. Much about being a convincing performer is making something seem real even to yourself and evoking emotions that were not present a second ago. A real actor observes and discovers things around him, things that are natural or normal to human nature. If a prop accidentally falls to the floor during a performance, an actor who is being natural would not ignore it at all. He/she would pick it up. This does not mean that during a dance you stop your dance and pick up a fallen prop, but while dancing one must smartly either pick up or move the prop to a proper place. Be an intelligent and a thinking dancer, not a robotic one. ‘Abinaya’ queen Dr Kanak Rele once said to me, “The Nav Rasa in Natyashastra teaches a dancer all that is needed to become an actor on stage. One needs to study it very carefully and then enjoy the essence of being an actor dancer”.

Tip 6 — Great performers should be secretive

An actor through his dialogs and hand moves can make the act look secretive but a dance is mostly tied to the choreography. As a dancer, you don’t always have control over the content or plot or story of your performance as the choreographer is ultimately responsible for this. But, it helps as you perform to imagine that you are keeping a secret from the audience. Just imagine and think about how it feels to hold back something you want to share with the crowd and apply that kind of contained excitement to your dancing in front of an audience. There may be natural points in the choreography that you might build toward or ones in which you reveal portions of this secret. It’s like opening many Christmas gifts one at a time and not opening them all together. This may seem a little difficult but next time you are on stage just give it a try. Even if you don’t know what your secret is, pretend you have one as you dance along. It helps depict the fun in your dance without relying solely on happy or joyful feelings. After all, not every dance is happy but they can all have their secrets. World famous Russian Ballerina Natalia Makarova once said, “People come to see beauty, and I slowly unfold it for them, so much so that even my ears dance one at a time”.

Tip 7 — Dance beyond your Kinesphere

“Space surrounding the body” is called kinesphere and this word is often used by dancers. Rudolf Von Laban, the pioneer of modern dance, brought this to the notice of dancers in the early 19th century. He explained that dancers have 27 different directions in their Kinesphere, which is an imaginary bubble that encircles their frame in stillness and as they move while dancing.

Dancing beyond this bubble is something that a dancer must imagine. A great performer is one who understands all his or her directions and stretches out to dance beyond it.

Moving with a sense of direction and expanding your movement, dance and energy beyond your kinesphere will not only make you a more engaging performer but if practiced throughout the classes and learnt, will allow you project energy beyond your fingertips and toes, out through the top of the head, from your eyes, or even from every cell in your body. All this will finally improve your execution of the movement. One of the most celebrated and influential ballerinas, Anna Pavlova, said, “I don’t just put my hands up, I reach to the skies, I don’t just point my toes, I reach the center of the earth”.

I hope now on this very special occasion of the World Dance Day that when you will hit the dance floor you will have new energy and a new dimension to look at your own performance and take it a notch higher.

Sandip Soparrkar is an internationally renowned ballroom and Latin dancer and a choreographer. He has also made his name as one of the top Bollywood choreographers of India. He can be contacted on sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com