Aimee
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What does performing do for you?I am trying to motivate a group of kids to perform some MT and would like to be able to explain what they would gain from doing it. I would like to be able to pass on the kind of positive feelings it can give you and I wondered what you get out of performing?
Why do you do it?
How does it make you feel?
Please tell here.
Cheers.
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Matthew
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It cancels out everything at home.
It gives me everything the real world can't.
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Asha
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You can be anyone and do anything, singing and dancing all along.
You can burst into song, just like you wish you could do in real life. Wait, I DO do that in real life. NEVER MIND!!! 
You get away from a sucky home life for hours at a time, which is great, if your home life's like mine.
It's just such a rush. Performing in front of people, knowing that they're there to be entertained by you, having all eyes on you...It's exhilerating.
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Lena
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Being on stage makes me feel at home the way no other place can.... It definitely helped me forget my troubles at home, especially when my parents split up 2 years ago - I don't think I could have survived that without my "other self" being Liesl in Sound of Music and then Anita in West Side Story!
And yeah, I definitely agree - you can burst into song without people thinking you're out of your mind (mind you, my French teacher was about to explode when he caught me singing "Defying Gravity" instead of listening to his fascinating speech about 16th century literature).
And performing has taught me to be more open in real life as well - I was never timid on stage, but rather introverted at other times... Performing kinda cured that  !
I agree that it's an "exhilerating" experience to entertain other people... and having people you've known for years (who have always preferred to ignore you) come up to you and say "OMG! You can sing!".... Or random teachers you don't know stop you on your way to class and shout: "You! You were in the play/musical! You were amazing...."... makes you feel awkward but terribly proud !
And the BEST experience EVER is to know you've actually influenced someone's life with your performance... Someone came up to me the other day and told me their kids want to read Shakespeare now because they loved my part in our performance of Twelfth Night (I was Feste, the fool  ) !
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bwayluvor31
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It gives me an opportunity to express emotions and say things I could never deal with or tell anyone in my real life.
It makes me happy!
It allows me to look at my own problems through another person's eyes.
It keeps me sane.
It lets me wake up in the morning feeling like I have a purpose that day.
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Lena
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| bwayluvor31 wrote: |
It lets me wake up in the morning feeling like I have a purpose that day. |
I second that. Although, actually, it gives me a purpose in life - I never knew what I'd do with the rest of my life (telling others about how there is no meaning to life as we all die anyway ), but deciding to go into the performing arts as soon as school is over (oh happy day! Can't wait! LOL) has defintely changed that....
All I can say is.... "It's all a circus, kid. A three ring circus. These trials- the whole world- all show business." ..... so give 'em the old razzle dazzle !
Umm, yeah, random me. 
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Luc
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I work in a Children's Theatre and it's really cool. Everyone in the cast is so tight.
When I enter the rehearsal hall/theatre, all of my problems are left at the door. When I'm mad about something, I normally use my energy in a negative way... unless I have a rehearsal/performance. I get there, and I sing and dance my heart out. All of my negative energy was turned into positive energy. It's one of the few things that can really do that.
Another thing is that the kids in the audience really look up to you. There was one class that came to see our production of Narnia. Later on that year the kids were asked to do a writing assignment about their hero (keep in mind, this was a 1st grade class). The little boy did one on the guy who played Aslan... well, not really the guy who played him, but the character. Normally if kids do that they would reference parts in the movie, but this kid referenced his costume, his songs, and his courage onstage. That was a really magical moment for my friend who played Aslan because that little boy that he never met looked up to him as a hero. That is something unforgettable.
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MaryMag
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It allows me to indulge in emotions a sane person isn't supposed to.
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phantomphan85
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Performing gives me some purpose in my life.
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Da_Dark_Dude
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performing is the most amazing thing ever. EVER!
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Jenko
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what does performing do for me?
pays the bills
........ plus other things lol
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Aimee
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| Jenko wrote: | what does performing do for me?
pays the bills
........ plus other things lol |
LOL, I can't exactly motivate the kids with that one but good for you Jenko, I'm glad you make enough.
PS How's Buster?
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Jenko
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| Aimee wrote: | | Jenko wrote: | what does performing do for me?
pays the bills
........ plus other things lol |
LOL, I can't exactly motivate the kids with that one but good for you Jenko, I'm glad you make enough.
PS How's Buster? |
lol, well everyone has already covered the rest of the points that i wanted to make.
Oh i have another one. It allows me to connect to people's emotions and evoke different ones, it lets me help people forget about everything else and be captivated into something they love just for a short space of time...
PS he misses you
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jcstar
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I am happiest (and at home) on a theatre stage. Performing is the greatest feeling in the world.
Andy.
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kakoforever
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Community. No matter what show you're doing, straight play or musical, the cast will come together with a single purpose. Offstage you are yourselves and have real relationships. Onstage, you unite with the single purpose of putting on a show. It's a handshake, a common aggreement to believe that I am not me and you are not you, and let's make the audience believe it. It creates the strongest bond.
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Beagle On Stage
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| kakoforever wrote: | | It's a handshake, a common aggreement to believe that I am not me and you are not you, and let's make the audience believe it. |
I love that!
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Theaterfan101
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I met and developed strong relationships with my best friends because of theater.
I developed a passion because of theater.
I have a hobby because of theater.
I have a new outlook on life because of theater.
I do stuff on weekends because of theater.
I can be an indivually because of theater.
I am part of a group because of theater.
I can imagin becaus of theater.
I have a life because of theater.
I feel acomplished because of theater.
I miss the accosionnally school day because of theater.
I have good reasons to hate HSM because of theater.
I can do anything of stage that is impossible in real life because of theater.
The list goes on and on but I am who I am today (because I knew you. JK) because of theater.
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Laura
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i'm so glad to have people to relate to...no-one gets my theatre and why i love it. I say d) all of the above ^^^^^^^ but mostly because i am in control. I can make my character, be who I want to be, be anyone I want to be. I can enter a different world, one full of magic, music, songs and love. One that I can escape to when things go wrong, and I always know that it is there.
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Cake_in_Song
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"ACTING is not a choice, it's who I am. ACTING is not a choice, and not much reason to rejoice. But it gives me purpose, gives me voice to say to the world, 'This is why I live!' ACTING is why I live. ACTING is why I do the things I do. ACTING is not in my control. But in ACTING, I have a goal for what's left of my life. I will live, and I would die TO ACT."
It's the only thing I can do to remain complete. Telling me I had to live without acting is like telling me to live with a giant hole in my life. I must do this. Not acting is like holding my breath, and burns just as badly. The theatre is the only place in the world where I'm not completely invisible and futile. It's a place where I have a purpose, where I have a chance to belong to something greater than myself. When I started, it was like something I'd always wanted to try as a hobby, but then it swallowed my life, and I became so I couldn't be happy or complete without it. I'm not a person who wants to act; I am an actor, and nothing will ever change that.
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Matthew
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| Cake_in_Song wrote: | "ACTING is not a choice, it's who I am. ACTING is not a choice, and not much reason to rejoice. But it gives me purpose, gives me voice to say to the world, 'This is why I live!' ACTING is why I live. ACTING is why I do the things I do. ACTING is not in my control. But in ACTING, I have a goal for what's left of my life. I will live, and I would die TO ACT."
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Donna Murphy is either laughing or crying at this.
I don't know which.
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Helena2
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Re: What does performing do for you? | Aimee wrote: | ?
Why do you do it? How does it make you feel?
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- because performing is as much a part of my make up as the color of my eyes.
- It takes me beyond myself and into another person, to see life from their eyes.
- because, in some ways, the people I work with there are more my family than the people I am tied to by blood.
- it's hard work, great fun, and very rewarding
- When I was younger and lacked confidence, I gained it by performing
- When I started directing as well, it helped me to realize that with good planning, thought and attention to detail, I could create an entire world on stage that was totally my vision of the author's work.
- It is a natural "high".
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xoFoRgEtReGrEtox
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gives you confidence
takes away shyness
its fun
good carreer options
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DaddyDiesel
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I think performing is one thing you have full control of. You can make it what you want it to be. Examples: if you want an escape from reality. If you want to vent. If you want to be someone else for a while. If you want to be in the lime light. If you want to share your talent with other people. If you just want to show off for a while. If you want to make people laugh, cry, be pissed at you. If you want to be the center of a attention. If your good at it you can have it pay your bills. If you want to meet new people. If your looking for challenges to overcome. If you are addicted to applause. If you have problems portraying your true emotions you can do it there.
for me its most of the above. And that moment you reach when you are in that zone. And you look out into the crowd and you see people fully enthralled with every thing your doing. Then after the show when people, from the audience, come up to you and truly thank you for there experience or are just in ah of what happened. Of course its doesnt always happen like that, but when it does its a powerful and amazing feeling.
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Salome
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Laurence Olivier said it best.
"without acting i cannot breathe".
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Robinflamingo
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My reply is a little larger and more organic. A lot of you have concentrated on acting, and I'd like to talk about performance:
Theatre is a great leveler. No matter how talented you are or aren't, how outgoing you are or aren't, or how beautiful you are or aren't, there is a place for you to belong in theatre. No performance is successful without the curtain puller, the makeup artist, and the person who hands out the programs as you walk into the theatre. The performance is a giant synergistic organism where every person involved contributes to the whole. There is room for everybody in theatre.
There ya go!
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Jordan
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| xoFoRgEtReGrEtox wrote: | | good carreer options |
Indeed, waiting tables is a swell way to earn a living 
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Lena
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| Salome wrote: | Laurence Olivier said it best.
"without acting i cannot breathe". |
Also like Oscar WIlde's approach:
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”
| Robinflamingo wrote: | My reply is a little larger and more organic. A lot of you have concentrated on acting, and I'd like to talk about performance:
Theatre is a great leveler. No matter how talented you are or aren't, how outgoing you are or aren't, or how beautiful you are or aren't, there is a place for you to belong in theatre. No performance is successful without the curtain puller, the makeup artist, and the person who hands out the programs as you walk into the theatre. The performance is a giant synergistic organism where every person involved contributes to the whole. There is room for everybody in theatre.
There ya go! |
Nice reply ! Couldn't have said it better myself! Although the original question was more about motivating kids to go on stage  ...
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Robinflamingo
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| Lena wrote: | | Salome wrote: | Laurence Olivier said it best.
"without acting i cannot breathe". |
Also like Oscar WIlde's approach:
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”
| Robinflamingo wrote: | My reply is a little larger and more organic. A lot of you have concentrated on acting, and I'd like to talk about performance:
Theatre is a great leveler. No matter how talented you are or aren't, how outgoing you are or aren't, or how beautiful you are or aren't, there is a place for you to belong in theatre. No performance is successful without the curtain puller, the makeup artist, and the person who hands out the programs as you walk into the theatre. The performance is a giant synergistic organism where every person involved contributes to the whole. There is room for everybody in theatre.
There ya go! |
Nice reply ! Couldn't have said it better myself! Although the original question was more about motivating kids to go on stage ... |
I thought the original question was about performing. I guess I consider every member of my high school drama group to be performers, that's all. They are all so very important to me, and the non-actors who perform their jobs remarkably well don't get nearly the recognition they should...and often the way a young person gets involved with performing is through a non-acting position. Some kids just gotta work up their nerves, but still want to be a part of the performance!
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Lena
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| Robinflamingo wrote: |
I thought the original question was about performing. I guess I consider every member of my high school drama group to be performers, that's all. They are all so very important to me, and the non-actors who perform their jobs remarkably well don't get nearly the recognition they should...and often the way a young person gets involved with performing is through a non-acting position. Some kids just gotta work up their nerves, but still want to be a part of the performance! |
Hmmm... well, it definitely is a good way of looking at things !
Most of the crew members of our HS shows are part of the cast as well, so all of their motivation is usually being on stage. Maybe that's why I consider performing to actively perform, not being behind the scenes .... I'll see whether directing this year's musical instead of starring in it will make a difference  .
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Aimee
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Thanks for so many brilliant answers. If anyone objects to me using theirs as sound-bites please say so, otherwise your words may be read out as examples to children in the UK very soon. [I'd love to but can' use them all].
Any more are welcomed.
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Quique
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| Robinflamingo wrote: | My reply is a little larger and more organic. A lot of you have concentrated on acting, and I'd like to talk about performance:
Theatre is a great leveler. No matter how talented you are or aren't, how outgoing you are or aren't, or how beautiful you are or aren't, there is a place for you to belong in theatre. No performance is successful without the curtain puller, the makeup artist, and the person who hands out the programs as you walk into the theatre. The performance is a giant synergistic organism where every person involved contributes to the whole. There is room for everybody in theatre.
There ya go! |
I am a different person when I go to the theatre. It's almost as if I'm in a dream. I feel as if life just doesn't get any better than that. I'm happy and giddy. I take it all in - the orchestra, the lights, the scenery, the performances, the theatre, the programs, everything. I have never been one to enter a theatre and take everything around me for granted. Even the lighted marquee on the way into the lobby is magical. The whole experience is something that can't ever be rivaled. Theatre is magic.
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