Browsing the interwebs this evening, I came across an interesting "Would You Rather?"
Would you rather dance or sing in front of people on demand?
My immediate reaction was "Either! I love both and do both in front of people on a regular basis! What a silly question."
Then I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that if someone came up to me and required that I either dance or sing right then and there, that I would rather sing.
Both, to me, are often expressions of emotion and what I choose to sing or how I choose to dance in any given moment is often related to how I am currently feeling. To do either requires me to open up to my audience, whether it be of one person or thousands, and I am often not comfortable just suddenly bursting into song or dance for fear of being judged, critiqued, or even ridiculed. I am confident in my ability to do both, but humble enough to realize that it's not going to be perfect every time, especially without warming up or practicing.
When singing, however, I am singing someone else's words and either applying them to me personally or a character I am trying to create. It's not entirely my own and, thus, there is still a wall between my audience and my raw emotion. I can create the emotional connection, but I didn't create the words that I am singing, and am therefore somewhat removed from the final product.
Dancing isn't quite that way. When dancing on command, I'm creating it as I go. I can often still recall dances and pieces I've done in the past, but if I were do dance on command, I would create something entirely my own, and it would likely reflect exactly how I'm feeling in that moment. The tempo, the movement, the space, and even the style I choose, would all be coming from my heart, whether I want them to or not. To suddenly do more than just a step or two for someone would require me to completely open up and let go of any inhibitions that may be holding me back. Also, while I've been dancing my entire life, I am not as confident in my dancing as I am in my singing.
Overall, I feel very vulnerable doing either, but I would be more comfortable singing on demand than dancing. That said, if my choreography session yesterday is any indication, I am actually a pretty darn good dancer and choreographer and I ought to give myself more credit. And you should come see my next show.
3 comments:
So, if you had to make up a song or make up a dance on the spot, would you dance?
I think you're amazingly talented at both, by the way!
And speaking of dancing, there's a picture of your sister on facebook and she looks exactly like you, so I told her so and I used the word "creepy." That doesn't mean I think you look creepy...it meant that I thought it was creepy how much she looked like you in the photo.
Just wanted to clear that up before there were any problems.
You're both cute. :) Especially when you sing and dance.
I know what you mean about putting yourself out there and feeling vulnerable. As I was reading what you wrote, I was actually a little surprised at myself that I have a blog. Writing can feel very vulnerable at times for me. And yet there I am, putting it out there for all the world to see.
Nancy - Thank you so much! And yes, if THAT were the demand, I would definitely dance.
Lisa - Yep. I'm much more composed here than in my journal though. My journal is uncensored and very stream of consciousness sometimes. Here I'm more focused and controlled, because I know others are reading it.
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