Performance Boosters
GO AHEAD, LIGHT UP THAT STAGE!
By Grover Dale
‘‘Strong performances will get choreographers to notice you, but attracting some ‘I-want-to-work-with-you’ conversations… often depends on the emotional wattage you bring to those performances. Injecting the sizzle, the burn, the explosive leap, or the softest melt possible… are among the smartest choices dancers can make.’’
Want an example?
Who among us will ever forget the gravity-defying leap that placed America’s favorite dancer Melanie Moore safely inside the protective arms of Neil Haskell on SYTYCD? What kind of talent, training, or instincts give birth to those kind of moments?
Years of dance training were certainly among them…but so were Melanie’s instincts for emotional choices. Consistently, she lit up the stage with every watt she was capable of producing. Call it charisma, star quality, inner glow, or whatever you like...Melanie has it. She attracts ‘I-want-to-work-with-you’ buzz. Lots of it. Here’s the first dose she earned at the SYTYCD auditions.
MELANIE MOORE'S SYTYCD AUDITION
Here, she stretches herself
MELANIE & TWITCH / HIP HOP
‘Watching dancers like Melanie,’ says Grover Dale, ‘reminds me of choices that choreographic legends like Jerome Robbins and Rob Marshall lean towards. Both indicated that casting standards require dancers to engage in a larger set of possibilities.’
‘It means looking beyond quadruple pirouettes, flash-and-fly tricks, and competition trophies. There are better choices available. Seek classes, workshops, and training programs where you can free up the emotional voices inside you. Motivating the movement counts. Understanding the emotional arc of the choreography counts.'
'Before you walk into that next audition, invest in celebrating the actor that’s inside every move your body makes.'
