After weeks of searching I have finally picked out and began to learn how to play and sing a song.
I plan on singing Imagine by John Lennon
I chose this for a variety of reasons:
First off its an awesome song. Second off it works really well with my voice and there are a ton of covers of it. Hopefully I can work some of their ideas into my own performance. Finally I saw it on Glee a little bit ago and have been obsessed with it ever since.
I am very excited to have made progress on this part.
Here it is!!!!!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Red Flag!
How much time have you spent on your project:
I believe I spent between 14 and 15 hours on my project the past two weeks because we had spring break. Although this seems like a lot, I really had to make a conscious effort to make some time for WISE which was difficult
What did you do hands on?
I practiced a lot of guitar for instance I am trying to learn how to play Imagine by John Lennon for my performances. This has been much harder than I previously had thought. In addition I did a lot of singing, trying to figure out how to change songs so they fit my voice and have my own flare to them.
What did you do for research?
In terms of research I looked a lot at covers of songs and originals on youtube. I am trying so hard to try and find a song that fits my voice and that I like.
Were you in class this week?
Yes I was in class this week and am currently in red flag class.
Did you meet with your mentor?
I met with Mrs. Sadusky this Monday so that we could catch up on how my project has been progressing. We talked about the break and how I have officially started working on the second half of my project. In addition we talked about getting more community contacts and calling the venues that I want to play at.
Do you have at least 3 journal entries?
No. But I am working on a few so I should have three by saturday
What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think that I did a decent amount of work this week. It was especially hard because of the break and I did a lot of sleeping and studying for my AP's. Even with all this though I still made some progress.
What are your plans for next week?
A) BLOG!
B) I plan on calling the owners of the venues I will play at. This is a necesity because without a venue, I wont be able to play the songs I have been working on. In addition this may be a tough goal but I would love to have all my songs picked out and maybe memorized but I wouldnt count on that.
I believe I spent between 14 and 15 hours on my project the past two weeks because we had spring break. Although this seems like a lot, I really had to make a conscious effort to make some time for WISE which was difficult
What did you do hands on?
I practiced a lot of guitar for instance I am trying to learn how to play Imagine by John Lennon for my performances. This has been much harder than I previously had thought. In addition I did a lot of singing, trying to figure out how to change songs so they fit my voice and have my own flare to them.
What did you do for research?
In terms of research I looked a lot at covers of songs and originals on youtube. I am trying so hard to try and find a song that fits my voice and that I like.
Were you in class this week?
Yes I was in class this week and am currently in red flag class.
Did you meet with your mentor?
I met with Mrs. Sadusky this Monday so that we could catch up on how my project has been progressing. We talked about the break and how I have officially started working on the second half of my project. In addition we talked about getting more community contacts and calling the venues that I want to play at.
Do you have at least 3 journal entries?
No. But I am working on a few so I should have three by saturday
What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think that I did a decent amount of work this week. It was especially hard because of the break and I did a lot of sleeping and studying for my AP's. Even with all this though I still made some progress.
What are your plans for next week?
A) BLOG!
B) I plan on calling the owners of the venues I will play at. This is a necesity because without a venue, I wont be able to play the songs I have been working on. In addition this may be a tough goal but I would love to have all my songs picked out and maybe memorized but I wouldnt count on that.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
In Class
So in class today we started off by talking a little about our future presentations. This was kind of nerve wracking for me because it dawned on me that they really arent that far away. This year and especially this WISE project has been flying by faster than I would have ever thought. Talking about the projects made me realize that I have a lot to do in a short amount of time. In addition we got our task force reviews. These are reviews of our projects by people or parents from the community. At first I was a little nervous because I know my blog is lacking and I was nervous about the feedback I would get on it. But all this worrying was for nothing. Jordan's mom was the person who reviewed it and luckily she was very nice in her commentary, while providing me with some great constructive criticism. I really liked her comments about the humor and personal reflection attributes of my blog because those are what I have worked hardest on. In addition I think that her comment about the lack of solid goals is a good one and I think I have to focus my project more. I will be posting about the article we read in class.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Spring Showcase
So to start my break off on the right track for WISE, I attended my first performance that I was going to review, the spring showcase at the Hangar by the Running to Places group. I was particularly drawn to it because many of my friends from The Wiz were going to either be in it or attend. I thought this was a nice way to connect with them now that the performance is over.
So here we go.
The performance started out with a full cast performance of the dance to Thriller by Michael Jackson. I thought that this was done incredibly well. I think that they used the elevated central platform very well on top of which the lead male dancer was dancing. In addition their costume and make up was astounding and to be honest I was a little frightened at first. They looked like real zombies! Performance-wise I think that their dancing was very strong and was pretty in-sync. The only thing is that I wish that they had a little more movement because at times it seemed a little stagnant. This could have been easily corrected with a few changing of position by the dancers. I feel like I missed part of the dance because only one third of the dancers were facing me the entire time. All in all, I think it was an incredibly well done dance and was one of the highlights of the showcase. After there were a few singing performances by individuals that although they were good, they didn't really stick out to me. I think that some of the vocals were a little shaky and in some cases there wasn't enough energy in their performances. This all changed though with the performance of In His Eyes from Jekyll and Hyde. This was sung by two of the girls from The Wiz and they were two who I hadn't heard sing a lot. I was astounded the song is a beautiful one but the two of them made it their own. Their vocals were impeccable and I can honestly say that I was either tearing up a little bit or there was a big bug in my eyes. I am guessing it was the first one. The did it as a duet with each of them singing a verse and harmonized during the refrain. At the end of the song I couldnt help but stand up and clap like a fool. After that there were a few more relatively so-so performances in which the vocals didn't blow me away. There were no major errors but I just felt that the energy levels could have been much better. The finale was a full cast performance of one of my favorite songs Seasons of Love from Rent. I may be a little biased in my review because I was pretty much standing up in my seat singing like a crazy person. This was an awesome song because they featured some really incredible voices while showing the talent of the entire troup. This was one of my favorite songs of the performance and the dancing wasn't too shabby either.
All in all I think that this was a pretty good show. I think that some of the performances were a little shaky and from what I have heard, the past showcases have been much better. Either way I think that it was entertaining and in my opinion the bright spots covered up some of the less spectacular parts.
So here we go.
The performance started out with a full cast performance of the dance to Thriller by Michael Jackson. I thought that this was done incredibly well. I think that they used the elevated central platform very well on top of which the lead male dancer was dancing. In addition their costume and make up was astounding and to be honest I was a little frightened at first. They looked like real zombies! Performance-wise I think that their dancing was very strong and was pretty in-sync. The only thing is that I wish that they had a little more movement because at times it seemed a little stagnant. This could have been easily corrected with a few changing of position by the dancers. I feel like I missed part of the dance because only one third of the dancers were facing me the entire time. All in all, I think it was an incredibly well done dance and was one of the highlights of the showcase. After there were a few singing performances by individuals that although they were good, they didn't really stick out to me. I think that some of the vocals were a little shaky and in some cases there wasn't enough energy in their performances. This all changed though with the performance of In His Eyes from Jekyll and Hyde. This was sung by two of the girls from The Wiz and they were two who I hadn't heard sing a lot. I was astounded the song is a beautiful one but the two of them made it their own. Their vocals were impeccable and I can honestly say that I was either tearing up a little bit or there was a big bug in my eyes. I am guessing it was the first one. The did it as a duet with each of them singing a verse and harmonized during the refrain. At the end of the song I couldnt help but stand up and clap like a fool. After that there were a few more relatively so-so performances in which the vocals didn't blow me away. There were no major errors but I just felt that the energy levels could have been much better. The finale was a full cast performance of one of my favorite songs Seasons of Love from Rent. I may be a little biased in my review because I was pretty much standing up in my seat singing like a crazy person. This was an awesome song because they featured some really incredible voices while showing the talent of the entire troup. This was one of my favorite songs of the performance and the dancing wasn't too shabby either.
All in all I think that this was a pretty good show. I think that some of the performances were a little shaky and from what I have heard, the past showcases have been much better. Either way I think that it was entertaining and in my opinion the bright spots covered up some of the less spectacular parts.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Second Half Time!
So now that The Wiz is over in all of its greatness, it is time for me to start the second half of my project.
This is a much more individual part of the project.
To review what I will be doing:
This is a much more individual part of the project.
To review what I will be doing:
- Performing some songs at local coffee shops such as the Blue Frog Cafe in Cortland and The Shop in downtown Ithaca. My venues dont have to just be coffee shops so maybe I could broaden the spectrum of venues. I hope to perform twice and more would be awesome if time permits. I will have to learn some basic guitar to do this part of the project because I have decided it will make it sound much better and improve my performance
- In addition I will be using the new knowledge I have acquired from being in The Wiz to review some performances. I was hoping I could do some Hangar Theater Performances and maybe some Running To Places performances. I am hoping to do around 3 or 4 long reviews about different performances.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Red Flag Entry
Hi everyone,
Nice to see you today.
So its red flag time again, so here we go...
How much time have you spent on your project:
This week I spent probably around 12 to 15 hours. This is since the last red flag class. I had my PERFORMANCES THIS WEEKEND! They were awesome! So each was around 3 to 3.5 hours including the preparation time and I loved every second of it. This was pretty much all I did in terms of my project because I have been pretty wiped out after the performances.
What did you do hands on?
Well like I said before, my week was primarily the shows. This was a lot of work put into a small slot of time. I was surprised how tired I was after the shows, both physically and even mentally. It was much harder than I thought it would be to keep in character for four shows in a row.
What did you do for research?
So for this week I didn't do too much research, but that doesn't mean I didn't make any progress. I made some headway in my second half of the project. There is a local theater company called Running to Places and they are having a spring showcase this weekend. I think this would be a great first production to review. In addition i spent some time looking up how to calm my nerves because I was really nervous before my production.
Were you in class this week?
Yes I was in class this week and am currently in red flag class. Yippee!
Did you meet with your mentor?
I meet with Mrs. Sadusky every Friday so last week I met with her. This was awesome because it happened to be cultural food day so i got to try all the foods. It was also cool to have someone to talk to about some of the nervousness i had been feeling about the performance and reflect on the opening night show.
What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think that I did a lot of work for WISE this week. For what seems like the past billion weeks, I am behind in journaling but I hope to try and improve this fault by the end of spring break. I think that with the extra time, I will be able to journal about my experiences more.
What are your plans for next week?
First off I plan on reviewing the spring showcase so I can make some progress on the second half of my project. In addition I plan on doing some journaling and research, two things that I have been lacking for quite some time. Finally I will try to send an email to Mrs. Sadusky so we can still kind of have a meeting and stay current on the project. Oh and I am definitely going to get some sleep!!!
Cheers,
Frogger :p
Nice to see you today.
So its red flag time again, so here we go...
How much time have you spent on your project:
This week I spent probably around 12 to 15 hours. This is since the last red flag class. I had my PERFORMANCES THIS WEEKEND! They were awesome! So each was around 3 to 3.5 hours including the preparation time and I loved every second of it. This was pretty much all I did in terms of my project because I have been pretty wiped out after the performances.
What did you do hands on?
Well like I said before, my week was primarily the shows. This was a lot of work put into a small slot of time. I was surprised how tired I was after the shows, both physically and even mentally. It was much harder than I thought it would be to keep in character for four shows in a row.
What did you do for research?
So for this week I didn't do too much research, but that doesn't mean I didn't make any progress. I made some headway in my second half of the project. There is a local theater company called Running to Places and they are having a spring showcase this weekend. I think this would be a great first production to review. In addition i spent some time looking up how to calm my nerves because I was really nervous before my production.
Were you in class this week?
Yes I was in class this week and am currently in red flag class. Yippee!
Did you meet with your mentor?
I meet with Mrs. Sadusky every Friday so last week I met with her. This was awesome because it happened to be cultural food day so i got to try all the foods. It was also cool to have someone to talk to about some of the nervousness i had been feeling about the performance and reflect on the opening night show.
What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think that I did a lot of work for WISE this week. For what seems like the past billion weeks, I am behind in journaling but I hope to try and improve this fault by the end of spring break. I think that with the extra time, I will be able to journal about my experiences more.
What are your plans for next week?
First off I plan on reviewing the spring showcase so I can make some progress on the second half of my project. In addition I plan on doing some journaling and research, two things that I have been lacking for quite some time. Finally I will try to send an email to Mrs. Sadusky so we can still kind of have a meeting and stay current on the project. Oh and I am definitely going to get some sleep!!!
Cheers,
Frogger :p
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
PPD Research
Why Am I So Tired??
This was the question I have been asking myself for the past few days since our amazing performance of The Wiz. If you missed it, you missed one of the most amazing shows since Wicked! I can't say enough how amazing it was to be on that stage showing that over the past three months I have learned so much. It was an experience that I wouldnt trade for the world. But I could go on for years about that. What I am really here to tell you about is part of a cycle that every actor or performer goes through, PPD also known POST-PERFORMANCE DEPRESSION! I made it capital for emphasis.
You may be asking yourself what that is, well I was in the same boat as you are until I found this website
http://blog.chambermagic.com/how-the-world-works/lonely-court-jester
It is a man by the name of Steven Cohen's blog. This was helpful in two ways. First it gave me a chance to see how this habitual blogger works his magic (Pun intended he is a magician). It was cool to see how he expressed himself so freely and I was able to feel all the emotions that were flowing through him when he wrote this post. Secondly, it gave me some insight as to what Post Performance Depression was and it felt good knowing that I was just going through a cycle that all performers have. After the show, performers tend to have some tired or, in severe cases, depressive moods. I have been feeling this same feeling in many ways. First and foremost I am overcome with joy at how well the performance went and the relationships I created through this process. I think it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. This feeling is being battled against by the feeling of emptiness now that The Wiz is out of my life. Although I had such a great time doing the play, I am worried about whether or not I will be able to maintain connections with my new friends and continue to appreciate and act upon the musical part of who I am. I can already feel myself starting to slip back into the old mold and as much as I dont want to, pushing the musical side that I have built over the past three months away and returning to jock status. This is a terrifying feeling and I hope to try and eradicate it sooner rather than later. And so PPD, you have afflicted another performer.
-Frogger
This was the question I have been asking myself for the past few days since our amazing performance of The Wiz. If you missed it, you missed one of the most amazing shows since Wicked! I can't say enough how amazing it was to be on that stage showing that over the past three months I have learned so much. It was an experience that I wouldnt trade for the world. But I could go on for years about that. What I am really here to tell you about is part of a cycle that every actor or performer goes through, PPD also known POST-PERFORMANCE DEPRESSION! I made it capital for emphasis.
You may be asking yourself what that is, well I was in the same boat as you are until I found this website
http://blog.chambermagic.com/how-the-world-works/lonely-court-jester
It is a man by the name of Steven Cohen's blog. This was helpful in two ways. First it gave me a chance to see how this habitual blogger works his magic (Pun intended he is a magician). It was cool to see how he expressed himself so freely and I was able to feel all the emotions that were flowing through him when he wrote this post. Secondly, it gave me some insight as to what Post Performance Depression was and it felt good knowing that I was just going through a cycle that all performers have. After the show, performers tend to have some tired or, in severe cases, depressive moods. I have been feeling this same feeling in many ways. First and foremost I am overcome with joy at how well the performance went and the relationships I created through this process. I think it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. This feeling is being battled against by the feeling of emptiness now that The Wiz is out of my life. Although I had such a great time doing the play, I am worried about whether or not I will be able to maintain connections with my new friends and continue to appreciate and act upon the musical part of who I am. I can already feel myself starting to slip back into the old mold and as much as I dont want to, pushing the musical side that I have built over the past three months away and returning to jock status. This is a terrifying feeling and I hope to try and eradicate it sooner rather than later. And so PPD, you have afflicted another performer.
-Frogger
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Weekly Class
Today in class, we went to the library to look at and review our classmate's blogs. I was lucky enough to have Natanya as a partner. This was a really great experience for me because she is, at least in comparison to my lackluster blogging ability, an avid blogger. It was really cool to be able to see her process of thinking throughout the project and that is something I would like to bring to me blogging. I think that this was a real eye-opener as to how sparse and erratic my journaling has been. I feel that if I was a reader who had no knowledge of my project or progress, I would have no idea what this guy was doing. This was especially tough because I have done so much but because of lack of documentation, it doesn't really exist in terms of my project.
So yeah... although it was a slightly depressing day, it was also a huge help
Peace Out Cub Scout,
Frogger
So yeah... although it was a slightly depressing day, it was also a huge help
Peace Out Cub Scout,
Frogger
Out of the Rut Assignment
So we were given a list of things to keep us on track so here we go...
5 things I should talk to about my project
5 things I should talk to about my project
- Blue frog cafe owner
- The Shop owner to check availability, times
- Owner of Hickeys music for guitar lesson availability
- Directors of The Wiz
- Owner of McNeal's Music to tune my guitar
- I have wanted to learn some guitar to accompany my songs
- I have done much more dancing than I thought I would
- I have found groups other than the hangar theater to review their performances
- I have wanted to incorporate some larger cause into my project
- Loss of playing time on the lacrosse team due to missing practices
- Discomfort at first opening up to people in the Wiz
- Very little singing improvement
- More Blogging!!!!
- Gone out into the community and made contacts more
- Planned my time better
- Performing on stage in front of an audience
- Sing more in public, not as reserved
- Opened up to the people in the musical
Monday, April 11, 2011
THHHHEEEE WIIIIIIZZZZZZ
So I have just come off one of the toughest, yet most rewarding weeks of my life. It was the week that everything pulls together and just looks outstanding.
The week began with Hell Week because of the crazy amount of work we had put into this musical but I felt like I was in heaven after our last performance this past Sunday.
On Thursday it was opening night and I was more nervous than I have been in an extremely long time. As everyone else kind of sat around and chatted and did their own traditions, I just couldn't stay still I kept walking around and I am pretty sure that people thought I was pretty damn crazy. These nerves continued until we played this awesome game called the ball of sound and it is where each person sings at a certain pitch that they can change whenever they want but the point of the game is to just feel the vibrations from the voices and it really helped me calm down.
During the performance on Thursday I only had one mishap which was that on one of my jumps, I wasn't able to clear her and had to kind of sloppily land. Other than that I thought that Thursday was a complete success.
On Friday I still had problems with nerves except for this time it was not because I thought I was going to mess up but it was about how man people were there. On Thursday there had been a lot of people but the house was supposed to be even more full on Friday. This scared me a lot because I had never performed in front of a full house or even close to full house, heck this was only my second time performing, give me a break!
Ball of sound helped me to calm down and I had a much stronger show than I did on Thursday.
Saturday was relatively uneventful in terms of stress, I felt very cool and composed even though the entire auditorium was packed. I thought that Saturday was easily our best show. We all seemed to be clicking on all cylinders which was awesome to see.
On Sunday I felt like a seasoned veteran. I had no work and had a pretty strong show. What made this show special was that my aunt from North Carolina had come all the way up to see me perform.
All in all this was a magical experience and I feel so great right now and wish that I could still be on that stage performing with my peers.
The week began with Hell Week because of the crazy amount of work we had put into this musical but I felt like I was in heaven after our last performance this past Sunday.
On Thursday it was opening night and I was more nervous than I have been in an extremely long time. As everyone else kind of sat around and chatted and did their own traditions, I just couldn't stay still I kept walking around and I am pretty sure that people thought I was pretty damn crazy. These nerves continued until we played this awesome game called the ball of sound and it is where each person sings at a certain pitch that they can change whenever they want but the point of the game is to just feel the vibrations from the voices and it really helped me calm down.
During the performance on Thursday I only had one mishap which was that on one of my jumps, I wasn't able to clear her and had to kind of sloppily land. Other than that I thought that Thursday was a complete success.
On Friday I still had problems with nerves except for this time it was not because I thought I was going to mess up but it was about how man people were there. On Thursday there had been a lot of people but the house was supposed to be even more full on Friday. This scared me a lot because I had never performed in front of a full house or even close to full house, heck this was only my second time performing, give me a break!
Ball of sound helped me to calm down and I had a much stronger show than I did on Thursday.
Saturday was relatively uneventful in terms of stress, I felt very cool and composed even though the entire auditorium was packed. I thought that Saturday was easily our best show. We all seemed to be clicking on all cylinders which was awesome to see.
On Sunday I felt like a seasoned veteran. I had no work and had a pretty strong show. What made this show special was that my aunt from North Carolina had come all the way up to see me perform.
All in all this was a magical experience and I feel so great right now and wish that I could still be on that stage performing with my peers.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Red Flag
How much time have you spent on your project:
This week I spent around 24 hours. Wow! A whole day of my life was dedicated to WISE this week! Nice! This is because this week we had our dress rehearsal and what is commonly called, excuse my french, HELL WEEK! This name comes from the feeling that the actors feel afterwards. I am pretty exhausted to be honest because I have pretty much had my week completely devoted to WISE and The Wiz.
What did you do hands on?
Well we had our dress rehearsal and hell week so I was doing a lot for WISE. We had a seven hour rehearsal on Sunday which pretty much was the most tiring experience of my life. Then we have had rehearsal every day since then from 5 to 10 and well by then I am about to pass out. Although it has been a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun and I wouldn't have it any other way.
What did you do for research?
This week I looked up some tips on how to calm your nerves because I was feeling super nervous about my very first performance. This was a lot of help and allowed me to stop freaking out about how I was going to ruin the entire show
Were you in class this week?
Yes I was in class this week and in red flag class. Good times.
Did you meet with your mentor?
I did meet with my mentor. Mrs Sadusky and I met last Friday and like always she was a huge help. We talked a lot about my ensuing performance and about some of the stress I have been feeling due to an overall lack in time.
What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think that my commitment to WISE has been awesome at least in terms of hands-on activities. I will improve my journal assignments when there is more time in my schedule because right now I feel that my hands-on is dominating my project and probably will continue to for the next week or so.
What are your plans for next week?
Well I have my next three performances this week so I look forward to enjoying those. After that I am sure that there will be a fair amount of sleeping and/ or resting because I feel exhausted. I will try to do some journaling and prepare for the second half of my project.
This week I spent around 24 hours. Wow! A whole day of my life was dedicated to WISE this week! Nice! This is because this week we had our dress rehearsal and what is commonly called, excuse my french, HELL WEEK! This name comes from the feeling that the actors feel afterwards. I am pretty exhausted to be honest because I have pretty much had my week completely devoted to WISE and The Wiz.
What did you do hands on?
Well we had our dress rehearsal and hell week so I was doing a lot for WISE. We had a seven hour rehearsal on Sunday which pretty much was the most tiring experience of my life. Then we have had rehearsal every day since then from 5 to 10 and well by then I am about to pass out. Although it has been a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun and I wouldn't have it any other way.
What did you do for research?
This week I looked up some tips on how to calm your nerves because I was feeling super nervous about my very first performance. This was a lot of help and allowed me to stop freaking out about how I was going to ruin the entire show
Were you in class this week?
Yes I was in class this week and in red flag class. Good times.
Did you meet with your mentor?
I did meet with my mentor. Mrs Sadusky and I met last Friday and like always she was a huge help. We talked a lot about my ensuing performance and about some of the stress I have been feeling due to an overall lack in time.
What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think that my commitment to WISE has been awesome at least in terms of hands-on activities. I will improve my journal assignments when there is more time in my schedule because right now I feel that my hands-on is dominating my project and probably will continue to for the next week or so.
What are your plans for next week?
Well I have my next three performances this week so I look forward to enjoying those. After that I am sure that there will be a fair amount of sleeping and/ or resting because I feel exhausted. I will try to do some journaling and prepare for the second half of my project.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Rehearsal Research
So I have been feeling really nervous about the performances and really needed some help calming my nerves. This website was a huge help and has helped me feel a lot more confident about the upcoming performances of the Wiz.
http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/copingwithsad/a/musicbefore.htm
What was most helpful was the checklist it told you to do to reassure yourself
http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/copingwithsad/a/musicbefore.htm
What was most helpful was the checklist it told you to do to reassure yourself
- Rehearsal: Try to fit in at least three to four rehearsals prior to the actual performance. If possible, rehearse in the location where you will perform; this is especially important for piano players in order to get comfortable with the instrument. In addition to actual rehearsals, visualizing a successful performance is a good way to mentally prepare yourself to succeed
- Preparation: Being prepared as a musician means more than being ready to perform. Make sure that you have taken care of all loose ends so that you are not scrambling at the last minute and feeling anxious. Do you need a page-turner? Make sure to arrange one ahead of time. Have you chosen your wardrobe? Be sure to have an outfit that you are comfortable in chosen well in advance of the performance.
- Relaxation: There are a variety of relaxation techniques that you can use to help keep anxiety symptoms under control prior to a performance. Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, meditation, yoga, and other eastern disciplines will help to keep you focused and calm.
- Memorization: Choose several sections of a piece as designated "memory stations" that you can jump to if you are in trouble. Sometimes simply knowing that you have memory stations makes it easier to relax and worry less about making mistakes.
- Assessment: Assess your abilities as a performer, and be realistic in terms of your choice of music. Do not choose a piece that is beyond your skill level or that you do not have enough time to learn. It is better to perform well within your comfort zone than to fail because you chose a piece that was too difficult.
Friday, April 1, 2011
My Helpers
I would like to give a shout out to Todd, our dance instructor. Before I joined the Wiz I dreaded dancing but Todd really helped me get my groove on. He told me that he likes nothing more than athletes because they do exactly what he says and I was no exception. I am so glad I had him to work with becuase he has helped me boost my talents immensely.
In addition Ms. Tino: She gave me a ton of help on what I was most uncomfortable with, acting. I had no idea how to act but she just told me I was over thinking it and shouldn't be so concerned about what Brad Pitt is doing because each actor has his own style. She has helped me improve both my stage presence and my confidence through her guidance.
In addition Ms. Tino: She gave me a ton of help on what I was most uncomfortable with, acting. I had no idea how to act but she just told me I was over thinking it and shouldn't be so concerned about what Brad Pitt is doing because each actor has his own style. She has helped me improve both my stage presence and my confidence through her guidance.
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