The Past is Now Another Land...

           I performed my audition peice (The Past Is Now Another Land from Aida) Tuesday, with, admittedly, some major flaws. For one thing, I hadn't really practiced in about a week, which threw me off balance, causing the rest of my issues... but overall, I did okay. There are some things I regret doing, but that is common for me to think. In my opinion, my singing wasn't the problem - most of me issues are rooted in my posture and body language. 

          I think I would give myself an A/A-. I felt as though I did do well on the signing part, but not quite as well as I could've... and as I did, before break. My voice wasn't as prepared as it could be, I was shaky on the lyrics and hadn't listened to the song in such a long time that some pitches were difficult to find. As always, I still need to work on singing the right pitch - it's something I have always struggled with. However, I did meet my goal of improving on pitch, just not quite as well as I would have liked... but hey, there's always next time!

          The part of the performance that I am actually concerned about is the choreography. Movement and dancing were never my favorite things to do growing up, because I am tall and can sometimes be awkward. My rule is that if you give me a dance routine, and show me how to do it, with practice I will be able to perform it well. Unfortunately, this rule doesn't apply when I'm singing a song and trying to make the silence less noticeable by walking from one side of the stage to another, "choreographing" it by myself with no trained dancers in front of me. On the other hand, the song I chose was more of a stand and sing type peice, but I still feel as though I should have included more movement. This was one of the leading causes of my consideration for an A-  

          On the topic of movement, but unlike in a way unlike dancers, my facial features and expressions are something I am extremely proud of. I smiled when remembering the good times, looked angry when I was mad and let my face fall when I was upset... well at least, I tried. This was honestly, to me, well done. Like I say every time, I could have done better, but I'm actually really happy with my facial expressions. 

          Ever since I started performing, I have always been insecure about how I sounded, and the way I looked. Did it sound off, or was I holding myself awkwardly? Nonetheless, I definitely did meet many of my goals, because I managed to stay reletively on pitch, and I chose a song that was different for me, yet actually had meaning. I still need to work on many things, but I did improve. Don't they say that's what counts, anyways?  

Thanks for reading! 

Sam Weed.