NAIL Your Stage Presence!
Riverdance Star Amymae Dolan Shares TIPS for Dancers on how to NAIL your stage presence!
Stage presence can be a mysterious thing, sometimes we watch a dancer walk on stage and we are immediately captivated, sometimes not realising why.
A dancer’s stage presence draws your eye and makes you excited to watch them; it also makes it very hard as an audience member to stop watching them!
When deciding to write about stage presence it got me thinking about specific dancers I adored observing, what had they all in common? Somehow by only watching them on stage I felt like I had an insight into their own individual personality and that I believe is one of the most important aspects of stage presence - allowing your unique identity to come through in your performance.
We often question whether stage presence is inherited, an innate power which we would all love.
In some ways this is true some dancers seem to naturally ooze a presence on stage whilst others must spend time developing and perfecting it. The good news is that, finding your individual stage presence when you don’t think you have one is very possible. One of the main aspects in which we can all, always grow is CONFIDENCE.
Pictured: Amymae during her competitive dancing days
As dancers, a lot of us have a great confidence in our every day lives. Dancing in-front of audiences and competing often helps us grow a confidence which has so many benefits to our lives outside of dance. However, put us in a large group of dancers and those with a strong belief in themselves and a greater confidence will stand out from the crowd.
There are many things we can do in our training to develop our confidence.
First being very comfortable with your choreography and believing you worked your very hardest. Also, knowing you have a strong stamina to get through an entire dance at the best of your ability and having adequately prepared your mindset so that nerves as well as other factors will not effect your confidence are all important in ultimately having a strong stage presence.
Whilst dancing on a large stage it may come as a surprise that our eyes (one of the smallest parts of our body) plays a significant role in our stage presence.
If you think of a small room setting eye contact is a massive part of communication, what are we doing as dancers? We are communicating with an audience therefore we must remember our eyes. Make sure your eyes are open, active and present, don’t allow them to wander here and there because you are focused on the notes from your last practice session this creates uncertainty; you seem uncertain in your performance which can make a judge or an audience member uncertain about your performance.
Moreover, it may be equally surprising for you that 55% of communication is based on your body language, therefore this give us a very good chance to communicate with an audience or a judge whilst we dance.
Posture is something in the last couple of years I have really worked on improving and continue to do so. When we roll our shoulders back, lift our chin and do not allow our carriage to shake whilst we dance, we exude confidence and therefore a stage presence will shine through.
Pilates are my favourite workout to strengthen my core and therefore improve my posture.
I also wrote an article you may find helpful on improving posture in the July/August 2019 issue of IDM. If you don’t have that issue, you can order a back issue on this website!
Another aspect of stage presence is OWNING THE STAGE. Walk on and off with confidence because people are still watching you. Use the entire stage, don't collide with other dancers, confidently dance around them. While walking back to your spot to bow do not seem exhausted from the dance.
Dance for every person in the room and beyond (not only the adjudicators). The further away you project your performance with your eyes, smile, posture, attack the bigger your performance and the more electrifying your stage presence.
In modern day competitions, "your look" is something often discussed. I believe every dancer should wear and present themselves however they want on stage, but I think the important thing is that you are comfortable with your appearance and absolutely love it so that you can therefore feel comfortable on stage.
Work with your dress designer to help create something that will help you feel like a star and often wear it whilst practicing so the weight of the costume does not affect you on competition day.
A good way of visually seeing an exciting stage presence is watching the very young dancers, often beginners on stage.
pictured: young dancers from the Black Rose Academy, MA, USA
They have not yet grown to know they are being judged and they often let their vibrant personalities, all very different, shine through. You can see how they are able to portray their love for dancing, and when we watch someone really enjoying what they do we can't help but enjoy that performance.
Practice, practice, practice. Like everything we must constantly be working on improving to see better results. Every time you rehearse the only thing that should be different from the rehearsal and the performance is that you are wearing training gear.
You must visualise the audience, switch on your stage presence and dance as though you are on stage trying to earn a placement. Video yourself and watch back to see where you can improve. Ask someone to watch you and have them only comment on the stage presence you are portraying - remember you want to wow the audience.
Most importantly focus on the present moment and enjoy the connection with the audience watching you and portray a stage presence people can't ignore!
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