Performing For an Hour on stage!

goddessyasaman

goddessyasaman

New member
hey lady's i have been dancing for over a 10 years, but I never had to dance on stage for an hour with just myself, I have danced for 2 hrs but I took small breaks though this time I don't have anyone to dance for me for breaks so yea, have any of you every had to dance on stage for an hour without breaks?

I am putting my program together still, I think I can do it but wanted to know if any of you ladys have had to do anything like this before, it's a festival and I want to make sure everyone watching stay entertained for the whole hr.

any thought?
 
mahsati_janan

mahsati_janan

New member
goddessyasaman said:
hey lady's i have been dancing for over a 10 years, but I never had to dance on stage for an hour with just myself, I have danced for 2 hrs but I took small breaks though this time I don't have anyone to dance for me for breaks so yea, have any of you every had to dance on stage for an hour without breaks?

I am putting my program together still, I think I can do it but wanted to know if any of you ladys have had to do anything like this before, it's a festival and I want to make sure everyone watching stay entertained for the whole hr.

any thought?
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I have performed hour long shows by myself before and the keys for me are pacing and variety. Once you know who your audience will be, you can start building your set. For an American audience, alternate fast/slow/prop pieces. You can also start in a veil wrap so that your costume isn't visible for the first song or two - this helps make it seem more varied as well. (Won't work for Egyptian style) If you are dancing for Egyptians, I would suggest settling in with some of the classics and a nice long beledi progression. Variety is still a very good thing, but think more about adding in folkloric pieces. At a show last year where I performed for an hour at an Egyptian wedding, my set was structured as

  1. Shamadan zeffa entrance, then shamadan removed to start full show-
  2. Entrance song with 'swish, swish, toss' veil
  3. Intro song - medium
  4. Modern Saiidi
  5. Mood change song - starts fast, transitions to medium
  6. Beledi Progression - long
  7. Mood change song - move to upbeat
  8. 2 Upbeat pop love songs
  9. Finale and Exit
Depending on the event, you may want to talk through your song list with the organizer to make sure that you are both on the same page about the expected show. You may also want to talk through the timing to see if an hour is really the best length for this show. Different audiences have different attention spans, so it might be too much or even too little.

In addition to having the stamina to dance for the full hour and the ability to maintain the interest of the audience for that time, I hope that you have also negotiated a good pay rate for this show. A full hour is far more taxing than most gigs, so it would need to be priced accordingly in order to be fair compensation for you.

If you want to do the gig, but aren't sure if you can perform for a full hour (for any reason), is there another local dancer who can switch out with you? That way, there would always be someone dancing, but you would not have to do it all by yourself.
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
Good tips mahsati_janan! I wanted to add: is it possible to do a quick costume change in between? That would give you a small break plus is nice for the audience to see a different costume. I would recommend to have glasses of water nearby because dancing for an hour without drinking is nearly impossible. Drink a lot of water beforehand too!
 
Greek Bonfire

Greek Bonfire

Well-known member
Yes, I hope you are getting a break and a costume change as well. Would it be too much to hope for some good bucks too? I know we all love to dance and it's not unusual for us to dance for an hour in the privacy of our homes but for the GP, I hope there are extra perks as well.
 
goddessyasaman

goddessyasaman

New member
Greek Bonfire said:
Yes, I hope you are getting a break and a costume change as well. Would it be too much to hope for some good bucks too? I know we all love to dance and it's not unusual for us to dance for an hour in the privacy of our homes but for the GP, I hope there are extra perks as well.
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No costume change, not sure about break, I'm sure I will take one though, Well the money is good they will also have free food and drinks for perfomers, and I will be selling merchandise as well, so I will get paid well enough :D
 
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