Expressions while dancing.

[opendoor]

So, can floor presence be learned, or does it just come with time and ..experience

Of course it can be learned. But learning often is confused with copying. Copying results in blue prints and stereotypes. So better call it development. A deeper understanding of music always results in higher floor presence.

 

[scullystwin42]

Slight tangent to this - is there any way to practice not showing mistakes on your face? I had a pretty egregious mistake in my showcase performance last night. I completely blanked on steps and it took me time to recover. I finished strong but if I hadn’t been so obviously confused and then irritated looking, it might have been not so bad of a break. I haven’t really done that level of mistake in a long while. In general, I am super expressive with my face- it’s like every emotion I have is super visible, no poker face. But that was the feedback I got- stop showing mistakes with my face. Not really sure how to practice doing that

 

[tangotime]

Of course it can be learned.

I would tend to disagree .Look for a good EX. at a World final in Standard . All dancing essentially the same variations, but, there is invariably one who stands out ( above and beyond technique ) .

 

[tangotime]

By the way, Scrivener wrote a great article on facial expressions .

 

[PasoDoble4]

Slight tangent to this - is there any way to practice not showing mistakes on your face?

I used to have a teacher who would insist that when doing drills, that if you make a mistake, you must be smiling. Didn't think it changed anything, but years later I was surprised to get compliments about my facial expressions when doing rounds when I was incredibly... not happy, let's say... but nobody could tell.

Like anything else, from my experience, some teachers insist on it, others can talk about it if you ask, but don't put it as a priority, and others don't seem to care much at all about it.

 

[fiesta0618]

Slight tangent to this - is there any way to practice not showing mistakes on your face?

My approach to this is to laugh at errors. If you get into the habit of that, each mistake makes you smile (and genuinely, at that), and from the sidelines it just seems like a positive reaction to the move.

Side benefit: laughing at errors keeps you more relaxed!

 

[scullystwin42]

My approach to this is to laugh at errors. If you get into the habit of that, each mistake makes you smile (and genuinely, at that), and from the sidelines it just seems like a positive reaction to the move.

Side benefit: laughing at errors keeps you more relaxed!

Ok, I dig that approach!

 

[lucia_l]

Slight tangent to this - is there any way to practice not showing mistakes on your face?

I suspect the only way to do this is first just practice facial expressions of different sorts in the mirror-- looking at yourself to be sure you are achieving the expression you intend. Do this over and over, then actually try to do it when dancing. (Possibly, do some routine or short set of patterns you have nailed down.) Eventually, you will be adopting facial expressions you picked.

The problem is that then you will no longer be doing "natural" expression quite so much. There's a bit of "either/or" with the "natural" vs "acting". Perhaps, eventually, you can switch between so you only do the acting when you make mistakes. But I think it's a pretty big skill.

I'm fairly certain professional dancers on stages do it. If you are doing the "big" broadway number of Jets vs Sharks from West Side Story vs. Gene Kelly singing in the rain, you need to bring up the correct expression somehow and maintain it even if something hilariously funny happens on stage or if you've stubbed your toe and are in pain. There may be different theories of precisely how to do it, but I'm sure it takes intentional practice.

 

[RiseNFall]

Slight tangent to this - is there any way to practice not showing mistakes on your face?

Obvious, but practice it during lessons, where, if you are like me, you make plenty of mistakes. Ask your teacher to lead you through unexpected sequences which, while doable, are likely to create errors. Particularly in a showcase situation, or with choreography with lots of "apart" pieces, pretend you are in "presentation mode" before material is quite ready for it. That allows you to figure out how to recover well and how to look confident and happy while screwing up royally.

When I make mistakes during lessons, I tend to swear (sort of under my breath) or say "sorry" (typically if I mess up our lead/follow connection). I unquestionable dance better when I don't do that, but it has become so ingrained that without it, I cannot remember what the issue was later on. I'm trying to learn to create internal markers for myself so that I can ask about whatever felt off.

 

[scullystwin42]

Obvious, but practice it during lessons, where, if you are like me, you make plenty of mistakes.

Well duh, that does seem obvious now that you say it. I’m sure I’ve been told that too. Guess sometimes you need an epic fail to get you to change something!

 

[IndyLady]

I'm late to the party, but I was going to be a smarty-pants and say "make lots of mistakes".

I'm on a similar journey where I'm trying not to laugh when my son says inadvertently funny things... he gets very angry when ppl laugh at him. I am trying to work on that with him (because he can be frighteningly representative of that line, "Men are afraid women will laugh at them, women are afraid men will kill them."), but in the meantime, trying to contain my own laughter when he says something that he did not intend to be funny (and isn't old enough to understand why it might be) but cracks me up.

I feel like I botch a lot of stuff, so I have many opportunities to practice containing my facial expressions there. This may not be helpful to you, but I try to find "inspiration" in the people around me I know who do not seem to feel compelled to achieve perfection (a sort of cynical, resentful inspiration, but nonetheless). What would they do (besides either pretend it didn't happen, or shift the blame).

 

[raindance]

Just as you might practice various run throughs or rounds focusing on frame, timing, various aspects of technique, etc, do some rounds thinking about facial (and other) expression. Plan what you want to project (happy, sultry, serious, playful, telling a story, whatever), and practice projecting that through the whole dance regardless of how well or badly it goes.

Agree on spending some of your lesson times (when you might otherwise be making thinking faces, or oops faces, for example while learning new material) working on smiling and not letting your face betray the thinking or oops or frustration.

If you do any social dancing, this is another place to practice looking pleasant and unperturbed, regardless of what happens on the floor. Not necessarily going for a performance face, but not showing mistakes, etc. If you can look like you're having a good time despite the bad traffic on the floor, getting bumped into, you have no idea what that guy just tried to lead you through, and oh, by the way he's off time and gripping your hand too tightly ... you're on your way to not making bad faces on mistakes in routines with your pros. You can watch female pros at social dances to see how they do this. In order to keep students comfortable, I'm sure many of them spend a fair bit of time acting like they're having a bit more fun than they actually are. (I'm not saying they don't enjoy dancing with their students, just that some make it look like they're enjoying every minute, when clearly not every minute is equally enjoyable!)

In other words, it's just another skill to be practiced. You're lucky that you have some good natural expression to fall back on. Now you just need to work on your filter, and practice alternatives so you can short circuit the natural oops/frustrated/concentrating faces, and show something else during those times.

 

[Well Rounded]

I try to substitute a word or sound that is similar to what I would usually say, but that produces a more desirable facial expression. For my own mistakes, instead of "oops" or "eeks", I say/think EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. This produces something that looks like a smile. After practicing this for years, it really is a smile now. For those times the I get a little wobbly, instead of saying "whoa", I say/think "whew" in a happily surprised sort of way. This too has become genuine after years of practice.

 

[scullystwin42]

Great responses, thanks all! I have a super expressive face, which is great for showing emotion and catching the audience and judge's attention, but the drawback is that you see the mistakes too. This was a pretty epic mistake/mind blanking moment, and i haven't had that happen in a couple years. but like I said, sometimes an epic fail is the best way to shake you up and get you to realize something.

 

[Wannabe Triple Threat]

For me, there is a very clear delineation between Practice Mode and Performance Mode. You won't see full expression until the latter. For some reason, I'm way too in my head during practice/lessons, but can turn it on when it counts.

I do get chided for telegraphing mistakes, but I don't do it with an audience. One day I'll give my teacher exactly what he wants