Ať už se tanci věnujete profesionálně nebo jen amatérsky, určitě jste již někdy stáli před rozhodnutím, jak si připravit své vystoupení do toho nejmenšího detailu. Tolik příprav pro 3 minuty vzrušení… a pak je konec. Tak proč si s tím dáváme tolik práce? Pokud jste profesionální tanečník, který se tancem živí, pak je odpověď snadná – je to vaše práce, vaše prezentace, váš současný (nebo budoucí) zdroj příjmů, moment, ve kterém můžete zazářit a ukázat svůj umělecký talent. Právě v těchto 3 minutách musíte ukázat to nejlepší z toho co umíte a na čem jste tak dlouho pracovali. To je důvod, proč má být vaše vystoupení jedinečné, že?

Neexistuje žádný obecný recept na to nejlepší vystoupení, ale díky našim vlastním zkušenostem zde zmíníme pár věcí, které zajistí, že vaše vystoupení bude mít úspěch a ty 3 minuty budou ty nejlepší 3 minuty vašeho života. Tento článek je založen především na našich zkušenostech získaných na mezinárodních tanečních festivalech, filmu a divadla, ale věříme, že se budou hodit všem, kteří vystupují s tancem u jakékoliv příležitosti. Pojďme se tedy podívat na pět malých tajemství, které by mohly oživit vaši další show:

1. Get to know your audience

A marketer should do this before releasing a new marketing campaign, an architect should do this before drafting a building… and so should the dancers. You don’t have to neglect your original signature in order to please the audience but if you do your research and pay attention to small details, it can make a big difference in the eyes of both the organizers and the people watching. The bad news is that this is usually easier to be said than done. The best, of course, is to have a personal experience with the event/place. If you don’t, these are the questions we are usually asking: What kind of music is now popular in this country? Is there any specific theme of the event/ festival we could match our show with? Is there anything typical for the event/place we could play with? What age/background will be the audience? And so on and so forth. If you can think of any other questions from your own experience, let us know in the comments!

2. Share

Beautiful dance moves could be a nice cover of your show but sharing something through the moves is what gives content to it. We always try to share a story through our choreographies, because then the move makes more sense for us and thus makes it easier to share it with the audience. The story also makes the audience think and remember your show. They will follow how the storyline evolves in order to understand what is the message hidden behind the moves… because that’s how our curious minds work. Some people, however, attempt to do this in a form of „sandwich“ story – one short-acting part, in the beginning, one short-acting part to close in the end and a dance choreo totally unrelated to the story in between… not a big fan of this.

If you are not really into stories, share something that is more natural for you. It could be the emotion or just a pure joy from dancing. Passion brought you all the way up here to the stage, so don’t be afraid to show it. Share it!

3.  Don’t forget about the dancing part

Sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it. Yet, the actual dancing is an aspect we missed a couple of times while watching professional dance couples perform. How could this actually happen? It is understandable that you want your audience go: „Wooow“ and „Yeaaah“ or „Whaaat?“ during the show by adding some lifts, special tricks or some life-threatening looking stunts. It is definitely a big plus if you can spice up the show a bit with these… BUT, if the choreo consists only of preparations for the lifts and actual lifts (with a few uninteresting dance steps filling the gaps) for me as a spectator the show is becoming a bit exhausting to watch as well as predictable. Since you are doing a dance show and not an acrobat show, make sure that some good quality dance has its place in the choreo. Not only does it allow you to show what you should be great at (dancing) but it also builds a momentum for the next breathtaking trick.

4. Let it sink in

It is quite difficult to enjoy your own show and present it with all the glow and confidence when you have to keep your mind busy remembering what the next step is. We have done this mistake several times and we were more or less able to hide it (sometimes more, sometimes less).  Luckily enough, we learned and we extended the time between finishing the choreo to the actual showtime from 2 hours (when we were literally glueing the steps together in the backstage) to approximately one week. That gives us sufficient time to get confident with the steps and master the tricky parts. When you come up to the stage, the excitement (or stress?) will hit anyways, so don’t add more of it to your plate by last minute rehearsals.

5. Looks aren’t everything … but it makes difference!

Costumes have always been (and still are) a bit of struggle for us. There is always something more urgent to do and then, a few days before the show you realize that your wardrobe won’t make miracles. We believe it is not superficial to say that your look is an aspect that should not be underestimated. The dance show is not a beauty contest, but you will probably invest quite a lot of time and effort into the rehearsals and even though you could be an amazing dancer,  a poorly chosen outfit could spoil the overall impression. It is definitely smart to take your time and plan your show-time look in advance. Choose one that fits the choreography, allows you to move freely and makes sure that the spectator doesn’t see more than he/she would expect to.

We hope that these tips will come as handy when you will be sweating in the studio preparing your next show. We are still learning about every new project and still feeling that crazy heartbeat before every performance. Here is the video from our last show performed in Aberdeen AfroLatin Festival in October 2017. Let us know how you like it as well as your own experience/hacks when preparing a dance show.