Performing means dance and music too!
The Grammys honor great musicians from multiple categories. And each year, there are performances in between awards. I love them, especially this year! Since I don't watch music videos much, it gives me a chance to put faces with the music I've enjoyed over the years.
This year was remarkably different for me, in that, I watched almost the entire show. I enjoyed every performance! It was so wonderful to watch artists that I knew by voice only until that night! Now I'd recognize them on the street like everyone else!
Great performers are typically just great performers. That's why so often you'll see singers become actors and actors become singers. Performing is performing in so many ways. Sometimes, being famous gets you your first acting gig, but if you're not talented and do not pursue it seriously, you won't get to stay in the game or be taken seriously. We all have to work for it and stay on top of our craft or crafts.
Once upon a time, most actors could sing and dance, too. A lot of them still can. I took two years of ballet because a mentor of mine, Ernestine Mercer, said that I needed "stage presence" and that my motions were too small. She told me to take ballet. So, I did.
As it turns out, I'd finish class in our big dance hall and then pour my sour, tired, and very happy body in to my Eclispe only to find that I was stomping on the clutch a bit and wondered who moved my stick while I was in class. It's amazing how broad sweeping your movements are after a hard ballet workout. She actually told me to be careful driving when I first began. She knew that my physical expectations even after one or two classes would change. Helen Hunt danced ballet all through the years when she was working in lots of movies per year.
There's so much that goes in to dance that can beautifully and fully impact your acting. All the stars of yesteryear could dance. I realize we live in a fast-paced society where many of us actors have jobs in addition to daily career pursuit, but I still recommend that every actor at least take a few ballet classes for the appreciation of it. For the serious actor, I recommend more. My mentor was right. Dance makes you better as an actor. The artists winning Grammys know the value of music and most know the value of dance, too. Do you?
This year was remarkably different for me, in that, I watched almost the entire show. I enjoyed every performance! It was so wonderful to watch artists that I knew by voice only until that night! Now I'd recognize them on the street like everyone else!
Great performers are typically just great performers. That's why so often you'll see singers become actors and actors become singers. Performing is performing in so many ways. Sometimes, being famous gets you your first acting gig, but if you're not talented and do not pursue it seriously, you won't get to stay in the game or be taken seriously. We all have to work for it and stay on top of our craft or crafts.
Once upon a time, most actors could sing and dance, too. A lot of them still can. I took two years of ballet because a mentor of mine, Ernestine Mercer, said that I needed "stage presence" and that my motions were too small. She told me to take ballet. So, I did.
As it turns out, I'd finish class in our big dance hall and then pour my sour, tired, and very happy body in to my Eclispe only to find that I was stomping on the clutch a bit and wondered who moved my stick while I was in class. It's amazing how broad sweeping your movements are after a hard ballet workout. She actually told me to be careful driving when I first began. She knew that my physical expectations even after one or two classes would change. Helen Hunt danced ballet all through the years when she was working in lots of movies per year.
There's so much that goes in to dance that can beautifully and fully impact your acting. All the stars of yesteryear could dance. I realize we live in a fast-paced society where many of us actors have jobs in addition to daily career pursuit, but I still recommend that every actor at least take a few ballet classes for the appreciation of it. For the serious actor, I recommend more. My mentor was right. Dance makes you better as an actor. The artists winning Grammys know the value of music and most know the value of dance, too. Do you?
posted by Sarah Jean Fry at
3:34 PM
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