I agree with you, A'isha and Yasmina - first there is a feeling, the face follows that.
I hate really that same old "smile smile smile" -mantra, because as a result you usually only do a fake-smile, that kind of grin you can see in beauty contests, advertisements (and even family photographs ). Now this kind of fake-smile is something that sadly even many professional dancers do. If the balady choreo was ment to be glad and joufyll, your teacher was right to correct you, Yasmina, but I think she did it at the wrong way. She should have told you that "because this is a happy song you should try to feel happy when you dance" or something like that.
The audience is not stupid. Maybe not always, but I think they can sense unconsciously if something is "wrong" in the performance - if you smile but you do not feel happy. This is also the reason why I feel the other student was wrong when accusing that you make "porn faces". If you are just feeling sad or worried or whatever when you dance, the audience can sense that. They make interpretetations about your dance based on alsothe feelings they sense - not only by your dance movements or facial expression. Of course dance can be interpreted in many ways, but I think that for exaple in Kaya's case, it is not like she does those kind of porn faces by accident, but she tries to be sexy and seductive and thus the results can be seen on her face...
However, I do not say that you should not think about your face or facial muscles at all. As a performer, your body and face are a medium between your feelings/expression and your audience. You must be sure that body and face are expressive enough (I do not mean overtly theathrical facial expressions) and that can be rehearsed. It is a good suggestion to watch yourself from the video (as someone already said) or practice before a mirror.
Hope I did not sound too strange or off-the-ground here. It is just that I do not like to watch empty smiles... I dislike the idea that you should always look pretty-pretty and cute all the time - this dance is just too complex for that.
I hate really that same old "smile smile smile" -mantra, because as a result you usually only do a fake-smile, that kind of grin you can see in beauty contests, advertisements (and even family photographs ). Now this kind of fake-smile is something that sadly even many professional dancers do. If the balady choreo was ment to be glad and joufyll, your teacher was right to correct you, Yasmina, but I think she did it at the wrong way. She should have told you that "because this is a happy song you should try to feel happy when you dance" or something like that.
The audience is not stupid. Maybe not always, but I think they can sense unconsciously if something is "wrong" in the performance - if you smile but you do not feel happy. This is also the reason why I feel the other student was wrong when accusing that you make "porn faces". If you are just feeling sad or worried or whatever when you dance, the audience can sense that. They make interpretetations about your dance based on alsothe feelings they sense - not only by your dance movements or facial expression. Of course dance can be interpreted in many ways, but I think that for exaple in Kaya's case, it is not like she does those kind of porn faces by accident, but she tries to be sexy and seductive and thus the results can be seen on her face...
However, I do not say that you should not think about your face or facial muscles at all. As a performer, your body and face are a medium between your feelings/expression and your audience. You must be sure that body and face are expressive enough (I do not mean overtly theathrical facial expressions) and that can be rehearsed. It is a good suggestion to watch yourself from the video (as someone already said) or practice before a mirror.
Hope I did not sound too strange or off-the-ground here. It is just that I do not like to watch empty smiles... I dislike the idea that you should always look pretty-pretty and cute all the time - this dance is just too complex for that.