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Once again I am going to address this to the youth on the board as the adult professionals will already know and have learned this lesson. I've spoken about rehearsal and the importance many times, but this is just an another example as to <why> it is important.
My daughter was asked to do a 2-night engagement for her old dance teacher's annual show. My daughter has done this show in the past and as much as she loves doing this for her old teacher, and participating in this show, being back in with all her old friends--- it is also the most frazzling for her as a performer.
She was thrust into a whole new dynamic --- which is good too -- and put to the test in a way. It also goes to show that it is good to challenge yourself from time to time.
Her teacher asked her to work up a short magic performance that would include two songs. One of her choosing and one her teacher chose which was Candyman by Sammy Davis Jr. Now the difficult part-- she had to incorporate about sixteen, yep I said 16, little girls between the ages of 3-4 into the act. Not an easy task.
We had to really sit down and look at our magic arsenal and figure out what would work with the music, that wouldn't be given away on stage to the little girls & the older girls in the "wings", that would be easy enough for the young girls to understand, and make this look like a professional performance that didn't make my daughter look like just a kid playing around up on stage. It was a tall order.
Oh, did I forget to mention that we only had the group of little girls for (2) five minute run throughs only?
So how do you put this all together? First of all you have to be disciplined. You have to practice... a lot. And you have to be confident, know your routine and own it in order to be able to pull it off with the extra "helpers". You also have to expect the unexpected when working with this age group, think of what 'could' happen, and how to avoid it.
The first night's 5-minute run through was a complete disaster! Oh, it was bad. Little girls going every which direction. Oh, but were they cute! LOL The second night's rehearsal was a little better, but definitely not up to show quality.
The part you have to remember is that if her performance went badly, it was not going to reflect negatively on the little girls at all-- they were too cute and adorable-- if her performance flopped it would all fall on her shoulders and what audience member would want to hire her as a magician after that?
So how do you rehearse for such an event? Like any other! With a lot of hours and using your tools.
We took video of each night's rehearsal. We studied those videos like any other time to see where my daughter needed to improve. She choreographed her performance to the music. She spents days practicing for hours so that she knew her routine. This part was all normal practice, but how to control the girls? Again, that went back to the props she could use and watching the video. She needed something visual and bright, that would also help to curtail the children and we decided on a brightly colored line of silks. It looked great, and gave the girls a 'line' to hold onto so that they weren't running all around.
The night of the show came and we were nervous. Although I am happy to report that it all came off without a snag and looked really cute.
So the point of this long post--- there are all different jobs out there and this may not be your typical one, and not one my daughter would do if it weren't for her dear teacher, but don't sell yourself short. Remember, that whatever type of show you do to think about your audience and who you are performing for, think about your routining, put in the necessary days and hours it takes, don't forget to use your tools (i.e. video camera) and give yourself an honest critique.
You can achieve whatever goals you set for yourself as long as you are willing to put in the time and the effort. Is it easy? No. Does it take a lot of hard work? Yes. But remember, you control the outcome.
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