The B&P Summer Performance Intensive is just around the corner June 10th & 11th! There’s still space to sign up for the Pole or Aerial Performance Intensive weekend. Michelle Stanek took some time to share her enthusiasm and inspiration for the Pole Intensive, and her specialty workshop, “Love Your Lines.”
The B&P Performance Intensive weekend is special and specific time you set aside for yourself to focus on one thing — you as a performer. This is content, uniquely crafted for the intensive, that you will never get in your ordinary pole classes. It will be two days of self-exploration, experimentation, refinement, creation and fun—Trust me, Roz’s workshop might be the best 2 hours of your life! Performing well is a skill that takes practice, like anything else. And if performing is something you want to do, or want to get better or more confident in doing, give yourself these two days to learn some insightful tips and hone the skill of performing.
There are two nuggets from my life that inspired my intensive workshop.
1. When I was 13 I taped a page from Dance magazine on my bedroom wall. It was a photo of a girl from the New York City Ballet in the most amazing arabesque I have ever seen with a quote, “Every cell in my body wants that arabesque.”
2. When I was 30, I received the best piece of performance advice, “It’s only 4 minutes of your life. But it’s 4 minutes you’ll want to remember.”
Once I understood this advice and then applied it to my creating and training processes and ultimately my performance, the quality of my performing went up to pro-level. It made a huge difference in how I danced on stage. But that took a great amount of awareness — of everything — my breath, every single cell in my body in every single movement (LIVING that Dance magazine quote from my childhood!), the feeling of the pole as I grabbed it, the follow-through of movement beyond what the audience can see, the acute sense of musicality and a deep sense of myself. I always loved dancing. But focusing on this level of awareness, I could dance with focused energy and precision. I became able to *show* how much I loved dancing on stage. And most importantly, I felt ready, confident and actually enjoyed my time on stage. This is what my intensive workshop will focus on. And in not-so-esoteric words, are your legs straight? Are your toes pointed? Are your tricks at the right angle? Are we looking at your butt and crotch waaaay too much?
In addition to your time with me, you also get special doses of inspiration, tips and skills from the brilliant minds of Kelly, Tracee and Roz. After these two days, you will feel like you have a greater sense of you the Performer. You will access a broader library of your own movement. You will gain a stronger ability to express yourself through movement in an authentic way. You will become more comfortable and confident being in the spotlight, and maybe even how to relish that moment, rather than let it throw you into a panic, and, believe me, we ALL know what that’s like. That’s why we are here, to help you slay!
We all have so much to teach you. We all have either been performing our whole lives or overcome some major hurdles in order to become the confident performers we are today. Diving into this performance intensive will get you over that hurdle too, and allow you to walk with confidence into that spotlight and enjoy it too. And that is a great performer.
To sign up for either the Pole or Aerial Intensive, visit: www.bodyandpole.com/intensive-programs/
