It’s probably a little sad that we haven’t taken our two youngest kids to the circus until this week. They’re 11 and 12, so I thought most of the dazzle of the incredible Barnum and Baily Zing Zang Zoom show would be lost on them. So I was surprised to see the same wide eyed wonder in their eyes I would’ve expected at 5. Then reality set in. As the tight rope walkers finished their first amazing balancing act I heard my son say “Ah, I just wanna see somebody fall.” Two routines in, he got his wish.
The female acrobat knelt in the middle of the rope, head down, as the male acrobat prepared to jump over her in mid air and balance precariously on the thin rope on the other side of her. One dramatic pause and and he was up. One split second later, a gasp circled the arena as they both slid off balance and begin to fall, barely catching themselves by a hand on the rope. The male acrobat pulled himself up and eventually helped the struggling female acrobat back to the platform before finishing their act flawlessly.
So what does that have to do with your next performance? Plenty. People know that the circus is a well planned, coordinated and many times manufactured show. But they love the live element. Sure we’re amazed when they perform perfectly, but there’s a different kind of excitement when we see something that wasn’t supposed to happen.
Plenty can go wrong when you perform live. That’s the risk. But instead of looking like mistakes as failures, we should consider them like our audiences do. In an age of prerecorded vocals and professional backup dancers, a big part of a real live performances appeal is the element of the unplanned. So capitalize on it. Turn it into a positive. If a mistake or technical problem is small, never draw attention to it. But if the speakers fall over and you have to say something, make it something like “what are the chances we see that on youtube tomorrow” or “…or “there’s the proof it’s really live”. You’ll endear yourself to your audience and give them the idea to talk about you to others. And every time someone talks about seeing you sing, it’s promotion. Who knows, maybe it WILL end up on YouTube and all the clicks might just make you the webs greatest show on earth!
I’m loading up the family and moving to Beverly; Hills that is. Ok, so maybe we’re not really moving, but we’re loading up for the trip to get a second opinion on my vocal damage from well known doctor to many stars, Dr. Shawn Nassari.
kidstarz and Teenstarz summer class showcase concerts last Saturday. It’s hard as a teacher to really enjoy the moment when you’re a cog in the machine, so now that I’ve caught my breath a bit I wanted to share my experience at the showcase concerts.
The Kidstarz performed four songs. Arlie added the solo ‘Love Story’ and Kimberlee sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle’. Both did such a great job. Dylan did an incredible job with his hip hop routine featured during ‘Beat It’. He started out as one of three boys but scheduling conflicts left him the lone guy. He had such a great attitude throughout and his dance was the breakout surprise of the final number.
The Teenstarz were the most attentive group of tweens and teens I have ever worked with (that’s good parenting is what THAT is!). In fact, I kept adding more challenging material than I had planned each week and they tackled it all. I so appreciated their team attitude and their work ethic. This can be a very catty age, and there was not a hint of it in this group. I never heard anyone talking about others, but I saw all of them encouraging each other.
At the end of our appointment as she was outlining the standard course of action for my vocal problem (a biopsy and probably surgery), I asked her what she would do if she were me. She turned and said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t get the biospy. I’d do what YOU do.”
