Your audience is important.....but so are you

Getting great feedback from our audience is often a big motivator in burlesque - and any creative endeavour.

It's great to hear the applause of the audience and to have people buzzing over you after a show telling you how great/glamorous/fantastic you are. Who doesn't love a compliment, right?

But it can be dangerous for your self esteem too.

Who hasn't experienced that post -show blues, when all the buzz disappears?  Or where you get a quiet crowd? Or when you have an off night or tank on stage?

Yup, me too.

It’s important that you don’t measure your success solely in the eyes of others.

All we can do as performers is to prepare ourselves to the best of our ability, and set out a dedicated work plan. And it’s important that you are working in a way that is realistic and fits where you are at in your career.

Figure out whose feedback you want

Figure out that inner circle of people whose opinions actually matter. And work out why they matter? Is it the person's honesty? Their reputation? Their competence as a performer?  This should be a super small group of people whose opinions actually matter to you, and who you know equally won't blow smoke up your ass. These are the people you can turn to when you feel like an act just isn't landing for you.

Put it in perspective

Step back and put your performing into context. This is something I personally struggle with, as a lot of my identity is wrapped up in my work. But I was recently reminded that this isn't the sum of ourselves. If I have a good night onstage, it doesn't make me a better daughter, friend, lover, person. Equally, if I have a bad night it doesn't define me. I don't become hopeless, useless etc. I'm still that same person.

The audience is just one part of measuring our success. I’m not minimising their value. Anyone that is paying good money to see a performance deserves us to give our best.

But it’s also important that we are just giving our best - and not setting so much store in external approval seeking. My biggest piece of advice is to carve out time to set your own goals and work out what is important to you. Build feedback from that small circle of those that matter to you.