Dance Performances: Art or Entertainment?
When your first gig to perform at a birthday party comes along, you try hard to do everything right: you take an hour to put on your makeup, another hour to get dressed, and you leave your house 30 minutes earlier than you think necessary to ensure you get there on time. In your own mind, you think you're trying very hard to satisfy this customer.
However, when the time comes for your show, the audience doesn't seem to respond very much to you. For the first five minutes, they seem to enjoy the idea of a belly dancer, but then they start to act a little bored and shuffle their feet as you carefully work your way through all the moves and props that you know. A few people start to call out obnoxious comments, which makes everyone even more restless. At the end of your performance, the applause is polite but not energetic, and the person who hired you pays you just the contracted amount, with no tip.
What went wrong?
The first problem is that your reasons for doing the show were all about you: your need for money, your love for dancing, and your craving to be in the spotlight. Instead of planning a show that would make a birthday party more fun for everybody and provide lasting memories, you planned one that would showcase your skills.
How to Consider the Audience's Needs
When you are preparing for a performance, ask yourself what the audience needs from you.
- Are they hiring you to make a party more fun for everybody?
- Do they want you to bring a spot of brightness to the daily routine of nursing home residents?
- Is it a cerebral showcase of the performing arts organized by the local arts council?
- Were you invited to present a liturgical dance in a religious setting?
- Has an ethnic group hired you for a family celebration in which they're hoping you'll present dance moves, music, and props from their particular culture?
- Has an institution such as a museum or school brought you in as part of their educational program?
- Has a restaurant hired you to attract business? Is it patronized mostly by "the general public" or by a specific ethnic group?
Each of the above examples requires its own style of music, costuming, props, and dance. The birthday party, nursing home, and restaurant are looking for an entertainer. The arts council may want something leading-edge and innovative.
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