What is Stage Presence?
Stage presence is dancing in a relaxed manner from your heart. You can be dramatic, comedic, whatever. It’s when you transform yourself and the audience says, ‘wow, that’s amazing’.
Stage presence is being able to express an emotion that is felt by the audience; it’s more from the gut. I hear teachers say, ‘give me a smile’. Even if the students smile, it’s not necessarily stage presence.
Stage presence to me is when the whole body, head to toe, is at its highest point. It’s when everything comes together. It’s the ability to perform to an audience.
Why is Stage Presence Important?
It’s what makes people follow you where you are going to lead them. All the other things you have may be for naught if there’s no presence about. Dance always starts with imitation but you have to get beyond it.
If you don’t have stage presence, people won’t think there’s anything to watch. There won’t be anything special about your performance. Whatever you do, you have to make something.
It’s important because you learn to show why you dance. Open your heart, spread the love around.
What Can you do to Improve Stage Presence?
You first have to learn how to bring out what you have and then let that ooze and infect the rest of the world of movement and drama. And, it’s a practice. It’s not in your head. I see stage presence as an action thing. Get onto stage more. And, if you’re a student ‘fake it ‘til you make it’.
It’s going to be difficult to develop stage presence if you are afraid to take a risk. Trust what you’re good at, trust your technique and then go out there, take a risk, and let it all hang out.