Hazel Honeysuckle

Surprise! Just posted some new images from my work with actress and burlesque performer Hazel Honeysuckle @hazelhoneysuckle with make up and hair by Jessie Campbell @jcampbell_mua . It’s like we were shooting for Vanity Fair @vanityfair or something.

Backstage at Temple of the Virgins: Coco TeAmo, Nina LeVoix, Sincerely Yours, Rosie Cheeks, and Jo Weldon. Photo by Broadway Brassy.

The best Way to raise the bar on your understanding of how to affect and audiences is to submit your numbers to others for critique. An outside eye will give you insight a mirror never can….

A great way to conduct critique sessions is to get together a group of performers prepared to present their numbers at any level, from the beginning stages of ideation to the numbers they have already performed.

When Critiquing:

1. Be prepared to give at least one positive and one negative  comment.

2. Think about what the performance is like from the audience’s point of view. You may state your pet peeves, but a statement like, “I hate it when performers turn their gloves inside out,” is not as useful as comment such as, “I couldn’t see your hands at that point.”

3. While you are critiquing, if you disagree with another person’s critique, it may be appropriate to say so; it helps the performer tremendously to know that not all critiques are to be taken as gospel.

4. When critiquing, keep in mind the nature of a given performer’s audience, if you have an idea what that might be, as well as of your own credentials and experience of the criqtiuers. Are people with your preferences and point of view likely to be in the audience?

5/ If you have an idea, don’t offer it to the performer unless you are willing for them to use it. If you want it for your own act and they can’t actually incorporate it into theirs, say so.

When Being Critiqued:

1. State the level at which you believe your performance to be, whether it is just and idea you not yet sure you’re going to manifest„ or a fully developed number you’ve already been performing for years.

2. Try to resist the urge to overexplain your number and justify your performance decisions. You usually wouldn’t have that option onstage, so it’s not relevant. The people doing the critique will let you know if it “reads.”

3. While being critiqued, simply listen and take notes. Don’t argue or explain any more than you would be able to do with the viewing audience. You may, however, say things like, “I was hoping it would look like I was riding a motorcycle, so what do you think I can do to make it look more like that?”

4. It is okay to explain what type of show you expect to be in or what kind of audience you expect to see your performances. It may help those doing critiques to put themselves in that context.

5. Try incorporating at least some of the suggestions you receive into your numbers.

This is what we do backstage—we say to each other, “Oh my god, you would look even more like a chicken if you did this move!” It doesn’t hurt your originality or self-expression to collaborate—it makes it stronger!