The Show Must Go On

One thing I've learnt from performances is that everything seem to go wrong on the day of the performance.  Be it wrong music, wrong lighting, insufficient floor space, a change in actions, a change in dance positioning, a sprained ankle, a hurt knee. And usually, they would only occur a minute before the dance, or while the dance is occurring.

One rule in performing a dance is to suck it up, smile and carry on. The purpose of a performance isn't to portray the behind-the-scenes problems dancers face all the time, the purpose of the performance is to portray a story, a thought or an emotion. 

I've had heaps of experiences and tales from fellow dancers, that when something goes wrong (even during the dance), overcome it with a confident expression.

Knocked your leg on an amplifier? 
Get back up and keep on dancing.

Slapped another dancer while flinging your hand?
Get back up and keep on dancing.

Sprained an ankle before the dance?
Suck it up, get back up and keep on dancing.

Because we're on stage, where people stare at every single movement we do. It's much like living in the world as christians, where we're being watched by society. As flawed human beings, we fall all the time. The difference between being a christian and a non-christian is this: God helps us to get back up and keep on dancing.

(Retrieved from http://flicmanning.com/refocused-and-recharged/)

In a dance performance, the show must go on. In life, God's Will must go on. :)

Eurythmy

Eurythmy = a movement of art that unites form, movement and language (Eurythmy Spring Valley, 2011).

I don't exactly 100% understand how God can move hearts through dance, but I witnessed it myself. Dancing to a story every girl can relate to regarding low self-esteem and self-hatred, I saw God touch the hearts of the audience. Even guys! Marvelous, how a simple dance could bring so much meaning to someone.

Personally, I was too caught up in not making mistakes (due to problems with floor management) to fully immerse myself into the song as I danced, but hearing from other dancers (who were not affected by the floor management problems), the tears were real.

(Retrieved from http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/3677-sorry-love/)

Have you ever seen a dance, whereby the dancers shed real tears, and the audience shed real tears as well? The entire dance, started out and ended with tears, from dancers and the audience. Crying wasn't the result of a beautiful dance, no I actually thought there were heaps of mistakes. But crying was more from an inward pain that the dancers and audience felt. It was something that everyone (well for girls anyway) could relate to. All glory to God, for being able to use eurythmy in portraying His Message.

Dance isn't merely about movements, it's about portraying your heart and your soul out through rhythm, non-verbally. Alot of people underestimate the power of non-verbal language. We put so much emphasis into speaking and listening that sometimes, the non-verbal language is forgotten. But in actual fact, I believe that non-verbal language is the most honest form of communication. Even in acting! Who says acting is fake? You immerse yourself into the character, there IS some form of real-ness there.

Everyone can verbally lie perfectly, but no one is able to non-verbally lie perfectly.

(Retrieved from
http://ballerinadiary.tumblr.com/post/14673956199/dance-is-pain-dance-is-tears-dance-is-sacrifice)