Good showmanship in dancing consists also in being able to "sell" one's own personality in a dance. Select your offerings to suit your public. Put in the effective "tricks" in your exits that are so important in inviting applause. And learn to leave your audience "hungry" for more of you. Let them go away with a wish that they might see more of your dancing. That is your cue in successful showmanship, my dancers. Let the audience come back to see the same show again in order to once more enjoy your pretty work. That means "repeaters," and repeaters, as I told you, mean successful showmanship, and both artistic and financial success.
It is never good showmanship on the part of the dancer, or of an actor or actress in any part, to let the audience know that you know they are out there. The way you handle an audience will have much to do with the opinion of your work that will be held by the big men in the theatrical world, who may be among those present at any performance, you never can tell when—and they, remember, are hiring good dancers now and then. Their judgment of how you handle an audience is worth consideration.
And bear in mind, too, that the most important part of your dance is the very end of it, the finish, upon which always depends the applause and the recall. You like to earn your bow, and that is right. Take your bow in front of the audience gracefully and quickly. Don't milk the audience dry by your bows. Never do that. Get general applause, but don't work up a lot of bows. Come right back, bow modestly and do a short dance, to acknowledge the applause. Such good work as that will stand the inspection and secure the approval of every theatrical manager whose approbation you value. An audience does not want to see you take bows. Bows simply gratify the vanity of the artist.
So, you see, there is quite a bit of showmanship for the dancer to study and acquire, and it is very much worth while for all stage dancers to put it into practice, early in their career.
There are entertainment values that the showman himself must be able to create from his available material, which he will find and develop in dialogue, lyrics, tuneful music, voice, singing, dancing, characterization, costumes, settings, scenery, properties, lighting, and everything else connected in any way with the stage picture or the presentation of his offering. The publicity and exploitation of the show will tax his showmanship from another angle and is of great importance to the success of the play or the artist. The selection of proper music also has much to do with the appeal to the auditors. No musical show can ever be made a success without beautiful, appealing melodies, or "song hits," as we call them.
And now one final word of advice to my dancers: Three minutes is long enough for your solo dance. Concentrate your efforts. Do not present a long-drawn-out and padded dance that will weary everyone. Brevity is the soul of good dancing as well as of wit, and you will be wise to heed this from the very start of your professional stage career. Never show a dance to any prospective employer unless your dance has been thoroughly set and properly rehearsed with whoever is to play the music, pianist or orchestra. Never offer any excuses at such a time. Be sure of yourself, and only do one dance, your very best one.
