Stage Movement

Last week we discussed presentation for your solo numbers for your own concerts. I say your own concerts because we seldom, if ever, include solo numbers in our concerts. The reasons for this are several.

  • The energy level, both for the performers and the audience, is considerably greater for ensembles.
  • Audience does not get enough chance to hear ensembles and hence must be enthused about an opera just by listening to arias - a formidable task.
  • The performers get a chance to act and make their parts come alive - this also applies to scenes which are little more than back-to-sback arias rather than ensembles such as the Doretta scene from La Rondine or Signore Ascolta followed by Non piangere Liu. Put them together as a scene, which of course they are in the opera, and they become alive.
  • The ensembles give the audience a feel for the operas.
  • When the ensembles are scattered over a wide assortment of operas, we present a show rather than a concert and the audience feels much better about opera in general besides having been thrilled by you, the performers.
  • It is a good way to make the performer concentrate on the actual dramatics of the scene and forget about the voice. When the performer stops thinking about the voice and becomes a character in the scene, the voice takes on many extra qualities that not only surprise the singer but also thrill the audience. There is an old saying in show business: "never let your audience see you working". Just so long as your mind is focused on your voice, the audience sees you working and you are not saying anything to them. In short, you are not communicating. For a singer who lacks performance experience, the temptation to switch out of the communication mode and into the technical mode is overwhelming. Hence the audience politely claps, mouths platitudes but goes away never to come back to such a boring ordeal unless it's mum and dad.

But now, lets get back to your own presentation for your own solos.

Is your body moving with the rythm of both the music and the emotion of the piece or are you standing stock-still expressing no inner feeling at all? Even when we stand still, our thoughts (which are given to us by the words and music) invoke perhaps small gestures and are mirrored in our faces and in our bodies. A man in love walks on air and his body is elevated. A man drowning in grief shows it in the ever so slight droop of his body, the slight hooding of the eyes and above all in his face. A heavy heart does not produce an elevated body nor does a happy thought produce a drooping body. Every mood has its effect on our body, our stance (or posture) and our face.

Let us assume, you want to play to your audience in a special way, perhaps in a folk song or a ballad and you feel that you must move - in fact I advocate movement where it improves the impression left upon the audience but prefer a still posture, in contrast, when the piece does not warrant movement. For instance does "Comin' thro' the Rye" or "All through the night" even warrant movement? Are they not more powerful when rendered still? But does not "The Road to Mandalay" or "Dearly Beloved" or "Santa Lucia" or "Torna a Sorriento" compel you to move towards your audience. The scale of the move must match the song. But remember, the object or subject (whichever the case may be ) of your song is the audience itself, for the audience is the object of the words you are delivering or in some cases the subject, that is the inspiration for the thoughts you are expressing. Songs demand an audience. They demand an object or a subject. That audience is your lost love or a young man or girl or a mother or an inspiration for a picture etc., that you wish to express. Are you walking toward your audience? Are you simply stepping toward your audience? Are you gesturing? As you move, is your body and face expressing your thoughts or do you look just like you're walking down the street? If it is the latter, do you think the audience came along just to see you walk down the street. Would they have even come at all if they had suspected that? Do you wish to be that "incognito" or do you wish to be an artist? Worse still, are you moving self-conciously so that every little step and every gesture looks awkward and fake? If it is the latter, no matter how beautiful the voice, or how well you sing, you will be forgotten and the audience will be relieved when the concert is over. BUT, if you have the right moves, the right posture, face and gesture, the audience will be sorry when the concert comes to an end and will dearly wish it could have gone on and on.

Where do you find the answers to the above. First and above all, learn to say your words as if you mean them. If you don't mean them, how is your audience ever going to be convinced? Let's look at a song in particular, "Into the night".

It is written in Common time - the rythm one would use to denote a steady journey of slow steps. The words themselves have inspired that choice of rythmic time:

"Silently into the night I go,
Into the fragrant night, I know not where;
The path is strange my weary steps are slow
I do not find you there.
Does one stand, step or walk? My sense tells me that one step, as I make eye contact with any one member of the audience, is sufficient at this stage, because the words tell me and my audience that the journey is slow and long. It is a very small but deliberate step indeed. My body must assume the stance of a searcher, so my eyes will glide in contact with my audience's eyes looking for that ideal "you," and then fixing that ideal with steady gaze. In short, I'm believing the words I sing and hence, to coin a modern phrase, I am selling the piece. If the concert hall or theatre is dark, I will estimate the eye level of the audience and imagine that ideal "you".
I turn my gaze toward the morning sun
As from the East he comes thro' the dark and the dew;
The flowers lift their heads, the night is gone
But where are you?
I have been walking through the night (many nights in order to make the song convincing), but comes the dawn and I have not yet found my ideal "you." No step is necessary, but a slight lifting of the head toward the imaginary sun and back again to eye level is in order. My face shows utter dedication. I will not give up this journey. I have been through the hell of life's journey and yet I will continue to travel that hell in order to find the paradise at the end, the ideal "you".
The countless weary steps I do not heed (another small step but this time toward the imaginary ideal "you")
tho' they be overland or boundless sea;
I care not where the road may lead
If I but come again at last to thee. (another small step.)

By small step, I mean no more than a few inches but made in such a way as to convince the audience that this is but one of countless steps. Again my body and face are searching, searching, longing , yearning and yet never giving up hope.

Silently, into the night I go,
Into the starry night of heavenly blue;
What matters where the road may lead
If I but come again at last to you!

My body swells with dedication, as I make yet another small step, always on the down beat, my body elevates and my face is filled with hope and dedication. I am absolutely unaware of what gestures, if any, my hands are making, but if there is gesture, it will be a reflection of my mind, not something I will impose on the song. Similarly, although my steps are mentally choreographed, they will be prompted by both the beat and the words.

Silently,
Silently,
I come to you.

Three steps, my senses and body tell me a they are little firmer and a little longer but just by inches and my face will say "I will find you my love, I will find you."

Every song, every aria will dictate its own presentation. Look at the words. Say them with the emotion intended. When you can say them convincingly, you can sing them convincingly. You do not have time to think about your voice during your recital. If you do, everything else goes out the window. You will be practising instead of giving a recital.

Like every actor/actress, you should practise in front of a mirror as you say your words. You are singing actors/actresses. If your teacher tells you otherwise, you will not be served well. It is your art, your life, your career and above all it is your audience. It is you who must satisfy them and keep them coming back. It is you who must share the thoughts, scenes, emotions, of the pieces you choose with your audience. Yes you share everything with them. You do not deliver but you share. A man who delivers his speech will not sell you anything but a man who shares his enthusiam with you has an excellent chance of success.