Prepping for Your First Aerial Showcase Performance

First, some background

We’ve been running choreography classes and student showcases for over a decade. We’ve also been running a performance company for even longer, and mentoring performers new to aerial. The tips we’re giving you here are the same ones we’ve given our students over the years.

First things first

Aerial is an art form, but it’s a very technical art form. The very first thing you’ll need is complete mastery of the skills you plan to perform and a deep understanding of the apparatus you’ll be performing on. This comes about through productive time well spent on the apparatus. Before performing, be sure to give yourself plenty of time in classes and training to get so comfortable with your apparatus that it feels like an old and trusted friend.

This is so important! In live performance anything can happen, and when you’ve completely mastered your material then you’ll literally be ready for anything.

Building an act

There is so much that goes into building an aerial act. In our choreo classes we set three distinct parts of the process, and work on them each with equal intention. In no particular order, they are:

• Choreography (the moves you’re going to perform in an interesting order with relevant transitions.)
• Music (or other sound if any). This is the audio soundtrack for your act.
• Character/intention. This is the reason for the act. Are you representing a certain emotion? An actual character? Going for a certain vibe? What costume matches your character? The character and intention you choose for your act will help you answer so many questions about your act as you go through the rehearsal process.

Let’s set the scene

These three distinct parts of the process can be approached in any order. Let’s look at one approach:

Music:

You’ve discovered the perfect song that is your inspiration for your aerial act. That’s great! Start by asking yourself what that song conveys to you and what you want to convey to your audience. This can help you define your Character/Intention.

Character/Intention:

Is your music dark and moody? Maybe your character will be angsty and your costume will be black. Is your music upbeat with a circus-y vibe? Maybe your character will move lightly and bounce around on the apparatus, and wear bright colors. You get the idea.

Choreography:

Putting choreography together is a huge process that we’ll dive into in more depth in future articles and courses. Remember that your act should have a beginning, middle, and end. Don’t make the mistake of trying to cram in every move that you know! Trust us, you’ll be exhausted and your audience will be overwhelmed but not in a good way.

Start by defining just one move that you know you want to include, and begin to build your act around that.

• Is there one particular climb or mount you know will go perfect with the beginning of your song? Play with that and see where it leads you.
• Is there one particular dramatic shape or drop you know you want to use as a finale? Play with that and see how you might get to it.
• Block out your choreography in stages like that, and leave lots of room for exploring the movements and transitions all throughout.

Prepping to perform

In our choreo classes, once our students have all three of these elements set, we still take an additional month to prepare for the showcase. If you don’t have that long don’t worry…if you work frequently and more quickly you can still get a lot done. That last month for us is when we focus on all of the polishing details that can really make or break a performance. Here’s what we focus on in the final month leading up to the performance:

• Audience connection: This is crucial!! Making a connection with the audience means being so comfortable with your choreography, costume, and soundtrack that you no longer have to think about any of it in the moment. Then you’ll be free to enjoy the moments onstage and make connections with your audience.
• Costume finalization: This includes testing out any alterations and accessories for at least a few run-throughs. You want any problems that might happen to happen during a rehearsal so you know exactly what to do in the moment without losing that audience connection.
• Muscle memory: Get that act ingrained in your muscle memory by running it through as much as you can. Run it through with an audience as much as you can! With people watching you’ll likely have a bit of adrenaline and that can make you miss important timing cues if you’re not prepared. Practice, practice, practice.

Finally, enjoy your moment of glory!

With all of that prep under your belt, we promise you’ll enjoy your performance and your audience will too. Everyone gets nervous, but once you’re onstage and in the comfort of your well-rehearsed routine you’ll be able to simply bask in the audience’s energy and enjoy the experience.

Over the years the most common feedback we hear from our showcase performers is that the prep was the hardest part, and that once they were onstage performing was easier than they expected.

From our perspective that enjoyment and ease showed in their acts and the audience responded, creating a positive energy loop that lifted up the entire space!

At the end of your act, remember to soak up the applause and enjoy your bow. You earned it!

Want more teaching and training tips?

Join Aerial Fit Online for a wealth of aerial resources.