Teach your primary school students how to bow on stage and end their performance like a professional with our guide to bowing out in style!
Their singing was only just short of angelic and the audience have erupted in rapturous applause! As the final notes die into an echo, you’re deservedly swelling with pride and looking forward to a glass of red on the sofa. Your work here is done, right? Not quite! We all know the saying ‘It ain’t over till the fat lady sings’ (weird fact: this was apparently a term coined by a sports reporter commentating on a baseball game!), and a concert isn’t over until everyone has left the stage. So, even when all the singing, blowing, scraping, acting and waving at mum in the front row has finished, it’s still possible to make or break a performance. Applause is an audience’s way of saying thank you for the performance itself as well as all the behind-the-scenes work that has gone into pulling it all together.
Shuffling awkwardly off stage looks scruffy and actually can feel quite embarrassing for the audience, whereas taking a confident bow (more on this in a moment) and exiting the stage gracefully adds professionalism to your performance and gives all involved a sense of accomplishment and pride. So, how exactly do you get a group of excited, fidgety kids to bow with all the coordination of one of those incredible flocks of birds you see on Attenborough’s Amazing Animals’?
So, at your next concert or performance, make sure you bow out in style!
At Out of the Ark Music we are passionate about producing fantastic musicals for schools. So don't forget to check out our fantastic range of Primary School musicals.
Their singing was only just short of angelic and the audience have erupted in rapturous applause! As the final notes die into an echo, you’re deservedly swelling with pride and looking forward to a glass of red on the sofa. Your work here is done, right? Not quite! We all know the saying ‘It ain’t over till the fat lady sings’ (weird fact: this was apparently a term coined by a sports reporter commentating on a baseball game!), and a concert isn’t over until everyone has left the stage. So, even when all the singing, blowing, scraping, acting and waving at mum in the front row has finished, it’s still possible to make or break a performance. Applause is an audience’s way of saying thank you for the performance itself as well as all the behind-the-scenes work that has gone into pulling it all together.
Acknowledging the clapping is the performers’ equivalent of saying, ‘You’re welcome!’
Shuffling awkwardly off stage looks scruffy and actually can feel quite embarrassing for the audience, whereas taking a confident bow (more on this in a moment) and exiting the stage gracefully adds professionalism to your performance and gives all involved a sense of accomplishment and pride. So, how exactly do you get a group of excited, fidgety kids to bow with all the coordination of one of those incredible flocks of birds you see on Attenborough’s Amazing Animals’?
Try this: on a prearranged cue, ask your choir or orchestra to bow from the waist and look at their shoes, silently saying, ‘Have I tied my shoes today?’ Then stand straight again while saying, ‘Yes, I’ve tied my shoes today’. This is a great way of timing the bow so that your choir all bend down and come up at the same time. Asking them to look at their shoes also discourages them from looking out at the audience as they bow. Of course, if you feel that this looks too choreographed for your tastes then a simple alternative is to ask your choir to stand, looking straight ahead, while you take a bow on their behalf. Whatever you decide to do, a really good bow is an element that is worth spending a little time practising. It’s the cherry on top of your musical bun.
So, at your next concert or performance, make sure you bow out in style!
At Out of the Ark Music we are passionate about producing fantastic musicals for schools. So don't forget to check out our fantastic range of Primary School musicals.
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