The majority of dance students dance because they have a genuine love for it. Very often when they are younger they find it easier to perform as they dance. Simply because they are uncomplicated and approach their classes and choreography with such enthusiasm that it just spills over to their performances. When they become pre teens and then teens and are filled with angst and uncertainty about themselves and everything around them, they begin to internalize their feelings and very often temporarily lose their ability to relax and perform. Of course, as teachers we understand that at this age the students have a tendency to try to avoid drawing attention to them in any way. As a result, performances can sometimes end up being unemotional and dull.

Dance is a living art and really needs to be performed in order to keep it that way. Some students are quite convinced that they can show absolutely no emotion or expression on their faces during rehearsal and that they will automatically be able to turn it on, like a light switch when they are on stage. Of course, this is not the way it is until you become a very seasoned performer. There are a number of ways that I use to try to help the dancers improve these skills.

First of all, I always explain to them that as a young teen, I myself was quite shy and had difficulty expressing emotion through my dancing despite the fact that dance was my main focus in life. Of course, some find that hard to believe, as over the years I have conquered that shyness through performing professionally and also performing as a teacher. It does, however, let my students know that I understand if they are having difficulty so that we can work together to make it a more enjoyable experience for them. After all of the hard work physically and mentally that goes into dance training, the light at the end of the tunnel is to be on stage and be able to perform successfully in front of an audience feeling confident. As I tell my students, your mother will always applaud for you but you want to be able to reach all the other audience members too! Really it is all about sharing your feelings with your audience and making them feel your joy or pain.

Here are some methods that I have used in classes to get the faces moving.

 Have all the dancers face the mirror and just make faces at themselves. This usually at least gets them laughing and in turn that starts to relax their faces! Warming up those facial muscles is just as important as warming up the rest of your body. Making noises is also a good idea to make the mouth change position. Use the vowels.

Give them six different emotions that they need to show on their faces. For example: Happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disbelief, kindness, to name a few. Make them hold or develop the facial expressions. Suggest scenarios that they can associate with these emotions such as, a surprise birthday party, an argument, the loss of a person or pet, a break with a friend. Anything that they might be able to identify with. It is helpful if they can really relate their feelings to circumstances they have experienced in some way in their lives.

Have them partner up or get in a small group to choreograph a few counts of eight with a definite theme emotionally. Suggest for the next class they bring in props or some kind of accessory that helps to further the story line. There is safety in a crowd and I find that dancers who are painfully shy are able to relax more in a group setting until they are able to build their confidence to stand alone.

Ask them to do each exercise at the ballet barre interpreting that particular music. Reminding them to really use their faces as well as movement to make the mood clear.

Give them some homework. Ask them to watch their favorite dance movie and look to see which dancer they can most identify with. Then have them write down the reasons why. If they dont have any dance movies, show them one of yours. Talk about the different movies in class or rehearsal, find out why they liked a particular performance and perhaps incorporate that style or feeling into some of the choreography that you give to those dancers.

These are just a few ideas to get the dancers to use their minds and ultimately their faces when they perform. Let them know that every class is a performance and that if they treat it that way they will not only become better dancers but will have a lot more fun getting there!