Hey followers! So as you know, Nutcracker season is up and running. In the middle of all our regular Nutcracker rehearsals we were also in the process of performing the ballet, Hansel and Gretel. It was ridiculously hectic. In H&G I was performing the
Shooting Star variation. It's very fast with lots of big jumps and dashing from one side of the stage to the other. The performance lasted for two weekends, in the first weekend I performed my variation along with the role of an
Angel in the Angel scene and in the second I was originally only going to perform as an angel. However, one of the soloists' grandmother passed and the funeral was the week of the show. I had four days to learn her solo,
The Dew Fairy, and perform it in the second weekend. To be frank... I was a nervous wreck. However, I had learned the variation in summer camp years before so I knew most of the steps. This, I was grateful for because it definitely made learning the variation easier. Within hours the costume department fit me to a tutu and before I knew it I was performing a whole new variation on that same stage. This just goes to show that, in the world of theater, you have to be ready for anything. The hardest moment of the whole ordeal was waiting in the wings just before my stepping on stage. My mouth was dry and my stomach was churning. The interesting thing about performers is they're more at home on a stage than almost anywhere else. Many people would never dare to step in front of a crowd, but we crave it and relish in every moment we have up there. As soon as I emerged from the wings and made my grand entrance I could feel myself relax as I settled into the role.
There's an old Russian saying that goes something like this: (I'm paraphrasing) "If you're calm in the wings and nervous on stage, your performance will crumble. If you're nervous in the wings and calm on stage, you will perform beautifully."
I've found this to be true in almost every performance opportunity.
Do you guys have any interesting performance experiences? Perhaps you were an understudy thrust into a role or had to learn someone else's role and perform it? Let us know in a comment below!
(Pictures from the actual show and backstage)
