BWW Blog: Amanda Grillo - Getting in the Zone: Pre-Performance Rituals

Whether it be a physical warm up, group bonding, or prayer, everyone has something they do to center themselves and get "in the zone" before a performance. Whether it is an intentional ritual that you are superstitious over, or just something that makes you feel good, everyone has at least one thing.

I, personally, have a few things I enjoy doing before a performance as well as a few that are sure to bring me out of a slump.

One of the things I greatly appreciate doing before a show is a group warm up or just connecting to cast and crew members in general. I feel that if a group is connected and has that moment to feel each other's energy, this can ensure performance value. A big group warm up is a great way to connect, however in certain groups, it may not happen. If that is the case I make it a point to personally check in with cast and crew in order to have this connection, unless their personal ritual requires them to be completely secluded before a show. Being able to connect offstage with them gives me a gage of where they are energy wise.

I also listen to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" before performances, auditions, and sometimes even rehearsals that I know are particularly important. This song has a sentimental meaning behind it for me. My sophomore year of high school, I was in a play at an all-boys school in my town. This being my first "outside of school show" I was quite nervous. This song was featured in the production as the drag queen character's big number. We as an ensemble sang it during the curtain call and in that instant, I had never felt more motivated to pursue my passion. That was one of the key points that ignited the passion for theatre. I always listen to this song as a way to mentally connect to that moment and reflect on how much I've grown and how much growing I still have to do.

In addition to these rituals, I do a physical warm up as well as a vocal warm up. I do this in addition to any group warm up to take the time to cater to my own needs that may not be taken care of in a group warm up. For example, I have bad knees, so my personal warm up tends to be more attentive to my knees in ways that a general warm up may not cover to ensure that I don't pull something or hyper-extend during a performance.

I had the opportunity to ask a few of my classmates at University of New Haven what their preshow routine consisted of. Here's what they said:

"I put on my headphones and listen to music relevant to the roll I have or show I'm in. I jump around and stretch. Coming from an athletic background, I find my pre match rituals from wrestling to be effective here as well." -Robert Vaccaro

"I've done an 8 to 1 shakeout on my arms and legs since I was about 6 in dance. Now I can't go onstage without it." -Samantha Paquette

"I'm a huge fan of diction so before every rehearsal/performance I recite "Alphabet Aerobics" by Blackalicious." -Rose-Emma Lambridis

"This is really cheesy, but my theater back home used to always kick off a performance with a brief speech from the director then we would do "jump on it" where would do the dance to (you guessed it) the song "Jump on It" but instead of saying the actual words we would replace the phrase with a word or words that were relevant to the show we were doing. It was a great way to energize the little kids in the group and, overall, was a really nice tradition we had."-Katherine Lutz

Rituals and habits range throughout the entire spectrum. Some are superstitious, some are just nice traditions that we've kept up over the years. What's YOUR preshow ritual?

Photo Credit: C.Washington Photography

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