Smiling. When was your first smile as a human being? My sister recently had a baby, and she noticed that at 6 weeks of age her baby started smiling, and he hasn’t stopped smiling. It’s been six months. I hope he will smile forever. Yet, I wonder, will life eventually happen and his smiling decline?
At piano recitals, I’ve noticed in my students that already at ages 7 – 13 years the smiling has decreased, if not become non-existent. Granted, performing and stage presence do not come naturally to everyone.
While I’ve focused on teaching my students how to bow, I’ve recently started focusing on encouraging them to smile. It does wonders for the audience and for them.
I remember my classical ballet teacher from my youth, Miss Jan. If you were lucky enough to be in The Nutcracker you spent many fall weekends rehearsing. I recall one particular rehearsal of the finale of all 100 dancers, ages 8 years through adult.
As clear as a bell, I can hear Miss Jan saying, “No one is going home until everyone is smiling throughout the entire finale.”
I remember consciously smiling, not wanting to be the reason why we all had to stay. It took us three times going through the entire finale before everyone was smiling. We became so used to smiling that when the performance came, we all smiled in the finale. It felt great to be a part of so much joy, from the dancers to the audience. What a memorable experience!
In preparation for the last student recital I held, I had students practice not only bowing, but also smiling, with teeth showing, while people clapped for them. The students that consistently smiled big smiles in practice, smiled really well at the recital. The students who couldn’t bring themselves to show a big smile in practice, did not smile at the recital. Yet, I am confident, that with more practice and experience smiling, they will be able to smile publicly.
Smiling is such a simple act that can boost your own mood and spread happiness to those around you. In a concert situation, it creates a warm environment and puts the audience at ease.
Students work so hard to prepare for a recital. Let’s encourage them to put the cherry on the sundae and teach them to smile while accepting applause. Just maybe they will smile more and more as they grow up.