Emoting is the basis of RP. And RP is the foundation of the sensual side of SL. Many a towel has been soiled and added to the clothes hamper after just one use... from the result of carefully, soulfully, constructed verbiage in the heat of many moments. There is much to be said for the power of words when carefully used.
Emoting had become so verbose and insincere, for me, that I had grown to dislike it as part of 'shows'. It was a distraction from the main performance. No value-added.
But I have recently done an about face. I was witness to some emoting during a show. No I wasn't awestruck but there was a small crack in my hard exterior for its promised potential. Not sure why I got this feeling but a fellow attendee also remarked with the same feeling and vibe.
I think it was because, so little was going on on stage that I found myself actually wanting an explanation of what I was seeing without fearing that I would miss something on stage. That's a clever ruse to sell an emote. Don't put the emote up against something visually demanding. Create a 'pocket' for them. Maybe slow down whats going on. I saw that done boldly. Little to no motion or pressing stage theatrics. Just a pose or AO. A moment. Perfect for delivering timely words.
And then it hit me.
We are on our way to perfecting the "story thru dance", not to be confused with dramatic productions and musicals. I think its the next major step as we write our own 'history of dance' 'our way'.
I sensed, detected, sniffed, that its the next 'new'. This time for keeps? Yes its been tried and abandoned before. But I sense a slow swelling of interest. A few venues still chip away at it, some with success with their own take on it.
But my gut says its here to stay. But this time with a conscious and a purpose as an important cog in the wheel of performance-backed-story.
It seems an unspoken rule that emotes should never exceed more than 1 line across the screen. The shorter the better. I should talk, right? Infamous for novellas passed off as blogs. Yeah I know. Heed my own words. Do as I say not as I do.
But I am qualified to speak as an audience member...as I qualify as "professional audience" if nothing else.
And as an try-to-be-astute 'watcher'...I suggest that emotes NOT describe anything we can assess for ourselves from watching and listening. They should be used as an addition, perhaps to introduce and bridge story segments, not unlike a narrator's narration.
Fill in what cant be shown like, what the person might be 'thinking' or 'feeling'. Or perhaps what transpired prior to what we are seeing. Since the primary medium is digital, feel free to use free-association of words and by-pass standard sentence structure in the name of 'terseness'. Just nouns and verbs or even just one or the other. Words can be hints or clues to meaning that we can figure out and fill in missing descriptives. But don't make it too abstruse.
Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Let us create those in our own heads from what we are seeing and hearing.
=================
Just some guidelines that i think would work as I really do like the 'return of the written word' as a key component to advance the story-telling aspect of solo and group show-dance.
I even like the idea of words on a board as that fades in and out or raises and lowers.
And as a side-note, I've noticed quite a few venues returning to the sensual side of burlesque. I hope this is a sign of things to come and not just a cyclical blip. Seductive dance is an art form unto itself, with boundless opportunities for experimentation, creativity, and honing to perfection.
Lat "Yummy / Yumz" Lovenkraft
