Performance facial expression

[AngelaJP]

I find that I get lost when I don't have a mirror anymore I am so used to being in the frontmost of the class so I can watch myself dance and make facial expressions too depending on the music (lively, sensual, etc.) but when I experience difficulty in the steps or choreography, my expression becomes strained and like I'm about to cry, hahaha! Oh well, have a super lot to learn!

This is a great thread! Thank you, guys

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I find that I get lost when I don't have a mirror anymore

Well, that's your problem right there. The mirror is becoming part of your "pattern" - because you always use it, it becomes an essential part of the routine. You're relying on the mirror to tell you where you are and how you look. Get up on stage, where there's no mirror, and suddenly you're not quite sure whether you're doing it right - and that will show in your movements and your face.

If you're going to be a successful performer, you need to be able to feel where you are and how you look, without looking at yourself all the time.

What you need to do is practice most of the time without the mirror. Only use the mirror to polish the detail once you've got all the steps.

 

[AngelaJP]

What you need to do is practice most of the time without the mirror. Only use the mirror to polish the detail once you've got all the steps.

Thank you, Sirena! I'll probably ask my niece to take a video of my dancing next time.

 

[Samira bint Aya]

I think the biggest secret to having good facial expressions is to remember that your "muscle memory" extends to your face.

You practice and practice your routine so the pattern of movements becomes automatic. If you do it with your eyes downcast, or with a frown of concentration, that becomes part of the pattern.

If you then go on stage and try to look up at the audience, or add a smile, that disrupts the pattern - you immediately feel uncomfortable, or make mistakes.

Remember that your facial muscles are like any other muscle, so when you're putting your routine together, you must always dance it like you would on stage, including your face, right from when you start learning it.

I don't like dancing in front of mirrors for that very reason - because I find looking in the mirror all the time distracting, I tend to look down or away. Then I find that I do the same when I'm performing, which means I'm not looking up and engaging the audience.

I never thought of it that way. That is such an eye opener!

Recently I put together my first choreography to show my teacher (for educational purposes). I also choreographed the facial expressions, and practiced them. My teacher made positive comments about my eye contact and expressions, so I guess it works.

Personally, when I practice my drills, I practice in front of the mirror. However, when I rehearse choreos, I don’t use a mirror (also for practical reasons, my mirror is rather small!)

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I never thought of it that way. That is such an eye opener!

Samira, I can't take the credit for that advice. When I was in my early twenties, I worked in a dance organisation and had the privilege to watch some legendary ballet dancers give master classes.

They all emphasised that you must always rehearse exactly as you intend to perform, because every tiny detail of how you rehearse becomes a part of the dance. In fact, while our dance studios had vast mirrors, our main rehearsal studio had none for that very reason!

 

[AngelaJP]

In fact, while our dance studios had vast mirrors, our main rehearsal studio had none for that very reason!

That was what I was thinking too. Doing the exercises and first few practice choreographies of a BD session looking at the mirror then do the last 2-3 choreography executions without looking (or at least just 20% of the time or less) at the mirror anymore.

 

[Caroline_afifi]

Looking up and down is often a big problem for some performers and so is a fixed 'Gin Queen' smile.
I was always taught to choreograph were eyes will look for a group dance.
Facial expressions are so important for performance as it can really distarct from other parts of the body. I have never really liked Dina because of the constant strained pained look on her face.

Of course a smile is perhaps inapropriate if the lyrics are expressing pain.
It is not always easy this but expression should reflect the music and lyrics, but not choreographed like a move.
I recently watched a dancer who did this.. smile at this point.. switch to pain etc.
Facial expressions cannot be painted onto the face but need to come from within...
not easy if you are masking nerves or misery from something you need to forget for 10 mins.
There is an element of acting when you perform but too much is too obvious and the whole thing looks false.
You may need to act a little to kickstart the process and then the music movement and feeling should take over.

My advice to anyone is aviod 'Porno' faces at all costs!

 

[Aisha Azar]

Face

Samira, I can't take the credit for that advice. When I was in my early twenties, I worked in a dance organisation and had the privilege to watch some legendary ballet dancers give master classes.

They all emphasised that you must always rehearse exactly as you intend to perform, because every tiny detail of how you rehearse becomes a part of the dance. In fact, while our dance studios had vast mirrors, our main rehearsal studio had none for that very reason!

Dear Oz,
One thing though, is that belly dance is a completely different form of art than ballet and the same "rules" do not apply. Belly dance is meant to be a very natural and not a supernatural process. It deals in humanness and not in story lines in the way that ballet generally does. There is less acting involved in the process of belly dance and more pulling from inside ourselves the feelings and responses that the music calls forth. A rehearsed face is not an asset in this case, because the music and one's personal response to it is in the moment.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Bellydance Oz]

Dear Oz,
One thing though, is that belly dance is a completely different form of art than ballet and the same "rules" do not apply. .. A rehearsed face is not an asset in this case, because the music and one's personal response to it is in the moment.
Regards,
A'isha

Sorry Aisha, I did not mean to suggest one should "rehearse" one's facial expressions - quite the opposite, in fact! In fact I don't believe facial expressions should be rehearsed in any dance form, inclding ballet.

What I was trying to say is - your facial expression should be a reflection of your feelings during the dance. If you feel uncomfortable during the dance, your face will not be able to react in a relaxed and natural way.

If you rehearse in front of a mirror, or at half-stretch, or with your eyes downcast, then when you get on stage you'll feel uncomfortable because something is different. Result - strained and unnatural facial expression!

 

[karena]

I understood it as being rehearsing responding to the music rather than rehearsing what that response will be, as that will depend on the response at the time. This makes sense to me.

I think we've been here before that some people don't relate to people to others not being able to just express their emotion. Therefore can't understand why others feel the need to work on it. An analogy: I was brought up a musician. I cannot fathom how people cannot hear the beat. To me it is so unbelievably obvious; I cannot not hear a beat. Really, I would struggle to explain to anyone how to hear the beat, as I cannot understand how they can't, so there is such a tiny starting point for me. But, that is what I have been exposed to. I wouldn't dismiss the need for others to practice hearing the beat. I wouldn't think it would be the best approach to just understand a beat in one piece, like just practising facial expression to do a scripted version for one piece, but to be given tools into how to start to hear the beat, like being given tools to start to express yourself, I think is fair enough. They are roads in to both being able to express the beat, and being able to express emotion.

I can practice a choreo till it is total auto pilot. But, I then have to remember my face, and often I then mess up the choreo. This is because my mind is thinking, what shall I do here, what shall I there etc etc. I am very much an analytical person, so this is how I approach any task. Obviously it doesn't work so well. But thinking of incorporating what I am doing with my face makes sense; I think I have been told it before, but the stored muscle memory really resonates with me.

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I understood it as being rehearsing responding to the music rather than rehearsing what that response will be, as that will depend on the response at the time. This makes sense to me.

I cannot fathom how people cannot hear the beat. To me it is so unbelievably obvious; I cannot not hear a beat.

This resonates with me so much, Karena! I dance ballroom and Latin with my (new) husband. It's such a treat for me to have a man to dance with, but he doesn't have a good sense of rhythm at all. I've learned not to let it frustrate me, but I'm sure you'll understand how hard it is not to start leading when he gets out of time... I, too, find it impossible to teach him how to hear the beat because it seems so natural to me.

 

[karena]

This resonates with me so much, Karena! I dance ballroom and Latin with my (new) husband. It's such a treat for me to have a man to dance with, but he doesn't have a good sense of rhythm at all. I've learned not to let it frustrate me, but I'm sure you'll understand how hard it is not to start leading when he gets out of time... I, too, find it impossible to teach him how to hear the beat because it seems so natural to me.

:lol:I think that would be then end of me! I have to try not to lead all the time with my fiance! I know my mind and like to do what I think. Just imagining us trying to dance together is making me laugh :lol:

 

[Caroline_afifi]

I understood it as being rehearsing responding to the music rather than rehearsing what that response will be, as that will depend on the response at the time. This makes sense to me.

Totally.

I can practice a choreo till it is total auto pilot. But, I then have to remember my face, and often I then mess up the choreo. This is because my mind is thinking, what shall I do here, what shall I there etc etc. I am very much an analytical person, so this is how I approach any task. Obviously it doesn't work so well. But thinking of incorporating what I am doing with my face makes sense; I think I have been told it before, but the stored muscle memory really resonates with me.

This is very good advice for troupe/group practice and solo choreography.
This somehow needs to develop to expand to improvisation.
There are tricks of the trade too, like turning your back to the audience (if possible) if you need 2 seconds to re-focus and that sort of thing. Working with live music is another aspect.
Eyes are perhaps even more important than the face and the feeling perhaps should shine through them (the facial expression will follow).
I think this goes back to your first post which talked about 'startled rabbit'. The other thing I tell people off for is 'rolling' their eyes when they make a mistake, why do dancers insist on letting you know when they feel they have made an error? I am sure no one would notice otherwise!

 

[Aisha Azar]

Face etc.

Sorry Aisha, I did not mean to suggest one should "rehearse" one's facial expressions - quite the opposite, in fact! In fact I don't believe facial expressions should be rehearsed in any dance form, inclding ballet.

What I was trying to say is - your facial expression should be a reflection of your feelings during the dance. If you feel uncomfortable during the dance, your face will not be able to react in a relaxed and natural way.

If you rehearse in front of a mirror, or at half-stretch, or with your eyes downcast, then when you get on stage you'll feel uncomfortable because something is different. Result - strained and unnatural facial expression!

Dear Oz,
I think there is a difference between the way that western and Middle Eastern dancers approach this element in the dance. I think they rarely worry about what their faces are doing, and they express with it naturally rather than worrying about it. My face rarely does what I want it to do and Often in still photos I look like hell, but the over all effect is very natural in stage. I used to worry about it a ALOT. then one day I sat down and really watched Suheir Zaki, Nagwa Fouad and Lucy and several other dancers, and what I saw were grimaces, wrinkled noses and foreheads, toothy grins, double chins, and all kinds of other less than "professional" looking faces. I was astounded and pleased to see that the dancers react with their faces in the most human of ways, and thrilled to know that what was happening on my face was just like what was happening on theirs!! This taught me alot about how the Middle Eastern dancers sees the dance very differently than the western dancer, in that they see it as a natural extension of human expression and not a work of perfection of any sort.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[karena]

This is very good advice for troupe/group practice and solo choreography.
This somehow needs to develop to expand to improvisation.
There are tricks of the trade too, like turning your back to the audience (if possible) if you need 2 seconds to re-focus and that sort of thing. Working with live music is another aspect.
Eyes are perhaps even more important than the face and the feeling perhaps should shine through them (the facial expression will follow).
I think this goes back to your first post which talked about 'startled rabbit'. The other thing I tell people off for is 'rolling' their eyes when they make a mistake, why do dancers insist on letting you know when they feel they have made an error? I am sure no one would notice otherwise!

Yes that's me! I am working on now showing people I made a mistake.
The shining emotion though the eyes thing is interesting too. Recently, we were doing emotion in a class, and I did sadness. I really put some into it, and the people really reacted to say how sad I was making them feel, but as soon as they said that, it switched off. I guess I wasn't used to sharing emotion and it scared me a little. But it was a step in the right direction.

 

[Aniseteph]

The other thing I tell people off for is 'rolling' their eyes when they make a mistake, why do dancers insist on letting you know when they feel they have made an error? I am sure no one would notice otherwise!

:lol: We have a girl in our class who was an absolute menace for this. Her dancing is lovely not least because her face is so natural and relaxed and "in" her dancing, no dead face or scared rabbits, but when she goes wrong her face has "oops" written all over it! When we got told NOT to telegraph when we went wrong you could see "oops I went wrong" followed closely by "...and I let it show", then "...and the teacher saw me". All with a great big grin, and then everyone else was falling about laughing. :dance:

 

[Mya]

This dance has shown me just how terrified i am of being vulnerable. I can dance to the saddest song when i'm alone and express it in a way that makes me scare myself sometimes, but the thought of doing that on a stage for people, STRANGERS to see makes me cringe from the inside out - how do you find the balance?

 

[Aisha Azar]

Dance etc.

This dance has shown me just how terrified i am of being vulnerable. I can dance to the saddest song when i'm alone and express it in a way that makes me scare myself sometimes, but the thought of doing that on a stage for people, STRANGERS to see makes me cringe from the inside out - how do you find the balance?

Dear Mya,
This is rather esoteric, but I think also valid. I believe deep in my soul that part of the intrigue and mystery of the dance lies in the fact that dancers ARE vulnerable in expressing human emotion. We rarely allow other people to see who we really are, and yet in dance, that can not be hidden. In belly dance especially this is true because, it is very much about being a human being with all the warts as well as all the beautiful qualities that people can have. It is not telling a story with heroes and other types that are iconoclastic. It is expressing our humanness that is the deepest appeal of the dance, I think. And this is culturally applicable all over the world, since I see that humans everywhere feel the same things, but sometimes we think and act differently about what we feel.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Bellydance Oz]

Aisha, I would say I use my face in exactly the same way in belly dance that I did in ballet or jazz or flamenco - that is, I let the emotion of the dance express itself in my face.

The difference lies in the fact that in both flamenco and belly dance, I find myself getting far deeper into the emotional aspects than I ever did in ballet and jazz - with a corresponding effect on my facial expressions. When I danced flamenco, I know I had some awful looks on my face - but then, watching the great flamencas, they do exactly the same thing, so I didn't worry about it!

 

[CarolineT]

Don't know if this will help Karena but I'm one of those who rolls eyes and everyone knows when I've made a mistake. I now tell my students - and myself - to smile harder when they/I make a mistake.

It's helped me mask the eye roll a bit!