“Performance art is about joy, about making something that's so full of kind of a wild joy that you really can't put into words.”
— Laurie Anderson
When it comes to taking the stage, there are four things that make a good performance.
Originality
A performance need not have a conventional theme. Most often, it’s the unknown themes that are remembered. To make the audience enjoy the art, it’s essential to avoid being predictable. As Heath Ledger shouted out as The Joker, even a remake can be the perfect reinvention of its predecessor.
Jack Nicholson as The Joker
Heath Ledger as The Joker
So the next time you’re performing, try not to do it ‘just like that person does it’. Rather, do it your way. You may even end up creating the next big thing.
Spontaneity
It’s okay to forget your steps or fumble with your lines. Just remember, the show must go on.
And at times when your memory fails you, just make it up as you go along.
Expression
A performance without emotion is like a meal with no salt. A truly skillful show makes the audience feel the artist’s emotion, and constricting your movements isn’t the best way to achieve this. You may think you look a certain way, but your audience won’t be able to see it. If you’re trying to express an emotion, make sure it shows on your face and isn’’t just in your head. Let loose and use loud, bold, and visible expressions to avoid looking like these guys:
Using the Space
Occupying all the space available to you is essential. Otherwise, you end up looking something like this:
Keep your performance dynamic, and use the space you’ve got. It connects better to an audience.
The performing arts are a celebration of the diversity in how we express our feelings. Performing artists use their bodies, voices and faces as paintbrushes to convey abstract expression. A performance is their take on things around them, not in 2000 words, but in a shorter, far more interesting way.