Performing Arts Research Paper

I have been involved in the performing arts since I was in Kindergarten, but I have struggled with presenting myself in front of groups of people for my entire life. Despite this struggle, this aspect of my life has become a very important part of who I am. The question then, is how did the performing arts become so important in my life? Anyone can understand that when an individual has been doing an activity for most of his or her life, that activity becomes a major part of who that individual is, as it is in my case. My introduction to performing was piano lessons, when I was five years old. My mother refused to allow me to quit playing, even though I constantly tried to quit until I was in seventh grade. One year after I began piano lessons, …show more content…
After thirteen and a half years, I have finally learned that the key to any successful audition or performance is to eliminate the fear of judgment. Although I have come quite a long way in eliminating this fear, I still struggle with it every now and again. My journey truly began in first grade, when my teacher decided that our class was going to perform a play called The Great Kapok Tree. Although I cannot recall which part I played, I remember having a lot of fun putting on a costume and pretending to be someone else. After all, there is barely a difference between acting and “playing pretend”. I did not experience the terror of an audition then. My first audition was in second grade, at Claudia Grispn’s Performing Arts Center (C.G.P.A.C.). C.G.P.A.C. was an outside of school program which allowed for children in the community to participate in musicals. I do not remember my audition in second grade, but I do remember forgetting my lines on stage in second and third grade, and the directors whispering my lines to me in the middle of the performances. Even though the audience believes that it is cute when you forget your lines in second grade, it is embarrassing all the same. Otherwise, I …show more content…
But at every audition, I would let my nerves take control of me, and I’m sure that they were evident in my stage presence. My nerves were written clearly on my face in bright red, and could be read in my voice and on my hands as violent shaking. It didn’t help that there were words in some of the scripts that I didn’t feel comfortable saying, such as “damn” or “ass”. I am over that now. But in ninth grade, those words only worsened everything. I’m sure that in some context, everyone has seen or heard the phrase, “it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks”. For most of my life, I was afraid of looking stupid. But the more that I had convinced myself of that phrase, the more comfortable I became on stage, for both auditions and performances. In eleventh grade, I finally participated in one of the school productions as a member of the cast, with the role of Deputy #2 in Night of the Living Dead. In the spring of that same year, I was cast as D.A. Joyce Riley in the production of Legally Blonde. Recently in our production of The Pink Panther Strikes Again, I played the part of McLaren. I believe that I have greatly improved how comfortably I present myself in front of groups of people, and I hope to continue my improvement. After all, actors can’t be afraid to feel