Truth be told, I totally have a thing for illusionists & magicians. Maybe you do, too. What I find especially thrilling? How you only see what they intend for you to see. While this is most evident in the illusion arts, it’s a skill that successful performers use across the board to help an audience focus on what’s important, or highlight something marvelous. And now, Dear Danglers, I will share with you a Most Magical Secret: how to direct an audience’s attention. But first, two performance concepts to get familiar with.

Pulling Focus

Pulling focus onstage is exactly what it sounds like:  you’re essentially hijacking the audience’s attention, for better or worse. The most successful example I’ve ever seen was while I was watching a college production of some endless Chekhov play; one of the actors in the background pulled every blessed ounce of focus by picking his nose, and rolling the resulting boogs between his fingers as he paced back and forth. If you asked 75% of the audience what they remembered about that scene, I assure you that it wasn’t what Masha said or Medvedenko did, it was all about the nose goblins. 

Directing Focus (Misdirection)

“In The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians, author T.A. Waters writes that “Misdirection is the cornerstone of nearly all successful magic; without it, even the most skilled Sleight of Hand or mechanical device is unlikely to create an illusion of real magic.” … The mind of a typical audience member can only concentrate on one thing at a time. The magician uses this to manipulate the audience’s ideas, or, perceptions of sensory input, leading them to false conclusions.” (click here to read the whole article)

Encourage Them to See What You Want them to See

In circus, we don’t generally use sleight of hand or sustained illusions, but we absolutely want to direct an audience’s focus to the right thing. There are a number of skills we use to make that happen, and you can (and should) start playing with ALL of them at your next session. 

• Be still – audiences will watch what’s moving. If I had one piece of performance advice for new aerialists, recreational or otherwise, it would be this: don’t be afraid of stillness! If you want me to see and appreciate that split you’ve been working on for 5 years, STOP MOVING. Just give it a second. Count for a slow 5. Now you can move again. You don’t have to freeze, just pause and let us adore you.
• Control your gaze. Have you ever watched a dance performance where a dancer has been looking at the floor? And then you’re looking at the floor too? Same thing in the air. If you’re looking down, I’m not seeing whatever wonderful thing you’re doing, I’m looking to see if you dropped money. Where are you looking? Where do you want ME to look? Use your gaze to direct mine.
• Direct with a body part. Never underestimate the power of the hand! If you want me to see your gorgeous extension, can you highlight it by running your fingers up your leg? Yes you can. Or, you can use the “one of these things is not like the other” principle – flex a foot, bend an arm, or deliberately break the line of the body to interrupt the audience’s gaze.

What do you want us to see when you perform? Make sure we see it, by pulling attention away from what you don’t want us to see, and redirecting it towards all your magical fabulousness! Love and pull-ups, Laura