College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota
Twin Cities Campus
101 Pleasant St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Sarah's Blog
Stage Fright
I will be performing at the Ted Mann Concert Hall in the West Bank Arts Quarter in about a week and the stage fright is starting to set in.
I was cast in the School of Music's University Opera performance of the Seven Deadly Sins as a dancer though my part involves some acting as well. Though I have performed and danced in front of audiences many, many times throughout my life, I've never had to play a man before.
How do you perform "a man?" How do I portray masculinity through my female body? How is masculinity portrayed through a feminine man? Is it still masculinity? or does it become femininity? What is masculinity if not defined by the stereotypes through which I view it? These are questions we are frequently faced with and theorize about in my academic dance and cultural studies courses.
Though I may spend class periods theorizing the cultural representation of manliness, having to enact that which seems undefinable is proving rather difficult. Perhaps that is why I love to perform and learn about performance. The preparation for the stage and the performing itself requires an understanding, albeit one that is hard to come by.
Wish me luck as I attempt to define this role and perform it in front of a very large audience!
