In the Zone
March 18, 2010
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By Angela Capton
With countless hours of rehearsal and only a handful of performances, it’s essential for performers to have the ability to produce their best work every time. Focusing on everything they need to achieve and applying everything they’ve been taught is a challenge faced by all performers. Getting “in the zone” – a state of complete focus – is a must for all performers. Shelby Klamert of Centerville High School, Paul Winterhalther of Dartmouth High School, and Sarah Mack of Carmel High School recently shared their tactics and advice for getting in the zone.
Shelby Klamert has been a member of the Centerville High School color guard for the past four years. She often feels a little nervous before performing, but is mostly excited before taking the floor. “I love being a performer because I get to share with the audience something that means so much to me.” For her, getting into the zone means thinking only about what she needs to accomplish during the show and visualizing herself performing exactly what she’s practiced. She went on to explain, “[that way] when I'm actually performing a show I'm not doing anything new or different.”
Klamert typically puts herself in the zone whenever she’s rehearsing. However, on show days, her focus really narrows down when she enters the competition venue. “At that point,” she described, “I know that it's time to get focused on the show and forget about anything else that is going on.”
Dartmouth drum line member, Paul Winterhalther explained that he may feel a little nervous before a performance, but is confident in his preparedness thanks to the ensemble’s intense rehearsals. When Winterhalther is in the zone, he isn’t thinking about anything. “When you’re so far in the zone, you’re relying on your muscle memory and not thinking of the heights of that roll or when you crescendo those taps,” he explained. “Being in the zone is basically being in a state of complete relaxation, looking forward, and staring something down.”
For Winterhalther, being in the zone begins before you play your first note of the day. “It starts when you show up to rehearsal at least a half an hour early and prepare yourself for the day,” he explained. “You’ve eaten a good breakfast, you’ve had a good night’s sleep, and you’ve looked over your parts so you’re ready for the long day of practice in front of you.”
Four-year Carmel High School veteran, Sarah Mack, feels a mix of butterflies and excitement as she’s about to perform. She’s completely focused when she’s in the zone, imagining exactly how she’s going to attack the skills in her show. She visualizes nailing all of her tosses and reassures herself, “nobody in the crowd wants me to do poorly; that they all want to see me do my best.”
Mack gets herself in the zone during the morning rehearsal before a show, helping her to retain her focus all day. She added, “Doing chunks for each other at practices helps me feel confident for the rest of the day.”
These great performers know how to get focused and deliver their best performance when it counts. In addition to sharing how they each get themselves into the zone, they had some advice to share about reaching their full performance potential.
Following the advice of her instructors, Klamert believes that you must practice at the level that you wish to perform; if you don’t practice full out with emotion, you won’t achieve your best performance during a show. “Also, it is my personal belief that a show is what you make of it,” Klamert went on to say. “No matter what happens, if you perform your heart out and just enjoy the experience, then it is definitely a great performance.”
Winterhalther had similar advice. “The best tip I can give to have a great performance, is that you perform how you practice,” he explained. “[Our instructor,] Mr. Aungst has a motto that it’s not practice that makes perfect, it’s perfect practice makes perfect.”
Above all, Mack believes that it’s all about enjoying your performance. “My tip to having a great performance is to have fun, perform, help each other out, and be confident in yourself.”
In these final weeks leading to World Championships, it’s vital for performers to focus on having their best performance during each run through. Keep an eye out for these outstanding individuals and hopefully their approaches to getting in the zone will assist others to have their best possible Championships performances!
