Teaching Bowing after a performance

[keyofc]

How do you teach bowing after a performance?

[m1469]

Well, I am assuming that you are asking because you are having your students prepare for a performance.  My students give 2 recitals each year (at this point).  Starting about a month before the recital, when their pieces are ready to roll, they give performances for me (and sometimes other students) in our lessons.  I have them walk through the entire routine as though they were entering (and exiting) the stage to perform.  Sometimes we go through it twice in one lesson. 

They act like they are a little embarrassed at first, they get a little smile on their face, but they totally love it.  They love bowing and I applaud for them just like the audience.  So anyway, if they have never gone through the routine with me before, I explain how it will work.  By the time their performance comes, they know the routine and it feels normal to them.  he he, I am excited for their recital, I am realizing.

Hope that helps, let me know if you want more detail.

m1469 

[abell88]

I agree with m1469, they need to rehearse the bow. As for the bow itself, arms at the sides, look down long enough to say "cheeseburger" to yourself, straighten all the way up and smile.  If you show them a few wrong ways (over exaggerate) they can see what they need to avoid!

[keyofc]

Thanks to both of your replies!
I'm glad you're getting excited about your rehearsel, m1469!  As for me,
maybe it's 50% excitement and 50% dread!
 At the group lesson I asked how many of them bowed before after a performance.
I got a myriad of different presentations.  I think they all looked ok, but the one that looked the best, was the one who kept one hand behind his back, and the other around the waist area when he bowed.  It looked more professional to me.
 I suppose each one can express their thanks a little differently, right? or wrong?

[pianistimo]

i always like to use the piano as a prop for my left hand.  for women, a leg slightly behind the other, slight nod and curtsy,  gives you less bend and rip (in a formal dress). 

singers probably have one-upped pianists in that department.  maybe the bow at the waist with hands at the sides is the most common, but with girls (even in low heels)you can feel a bit unsteady.

[Astyron]

I tell my students that there is a difference between a "bob" and a "bow".   I make a silly show of bobbing shallowly.  I've seen kids bow and never stand up..they'll bow and walk off stage bend over, they are so nervous.   And we practice.  Every now and then I'll just start clapping in lessons and they'll know that's a cue to get up and practice a bow.  It becomes a fun game because they never know when the clapping is going to happen.  I tell them:

*  Bow, not bob

*  Hands at your side or lightly sliding down your thighs

*  Bend at the waist

*  Bend far enough that you can see your toes and then think
or mumble "My shoes are untied."

*  And then stand and smile since that's such a silly thing to say. 
The girls find it more humorous since they're dress shoes don't
usually have laces.

These are obviously suggestions to use with younger students.  I don't teach holding the piano to younger students, and tell older ones to do what is comfortable.  I don't teach curtsies unless a student asks.  I've found (for myself) that even form fitting dresses allow bowing.  If anyone is playing in a dress that is so tight it will rip for  recital they need to rethink their performance wardrobe.  A dress that snug is more apt to rip from sitting down then from bowing.

[pianistimo]

you may be right.  i guess whatever is the least artificial.  sometimes it depends upon the dress, as you say.  and if some are not as stretchy as others, a less deep bow (especially if it's lower-cut) and a bowing of the head down, hold, and up - still seems appropriate.

for some reason, i can get dizzy from sitting down a while and then standing up - so that's why i like to hold on to the piano with the left hand.

[sonatainfsharp]

The big thing is to tell them to look at their feet, not the audience, as they bow or else they look like ducks.

I tell them to never to hold onto the piano even though I always do. Kinda funny, but I, too, get dizzy, so I have to hold on to it.

The best part is if they use music during the recital, 99% of them will forget it on the piano when they walk off stage.

And, yes, for kids I have them practicing bowing at least a month out from the recital.

[squinchy]

My teacher begins and ends each lesson with a bow; not only does she believe it to be good manners, but it also makes bowing much less awkward and less of a foreign motion for students.