r/MadeMeSmile • u/astral12 • Jul 29 '24

Little girl performs by herself Good Vibes

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u/PacquiaoFreeHousing Jul 29 '24

I hope my kids are as resilient as that little girl

4.3k

u/Putrid-Effective-570 Jul 29 '24

Best hope so. I feel for the boy. That had to be a whole living nightmare from the moment he froze up.

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u/Primary-Border8536 Jul 29 '24

Idk why a parent or teacher didn't go and help him or anything

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u/vlncxntf9 Jul 29 '24

just from a stand point of teaching someone to be on stage - the show must go on. if you stop everything for a crying kid to take him off the stage just because he got scared and started crying he's never gonna overcome it.

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u/fugue-mind Jul 29 '24 edited Jul 29 '24

He only looks about 4. He's not at an age where this will teach him anything about "overcoming". More likely he will just have permanent stage fright moving forward, will never want to perform again, and just have a vague memory of terror on a stage from his youth lol

In general I agree with you, it's just not a lesson this kid is remotely equipped to learn from

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u/Renegade_Mermaid Jul 29 '24

From someone who has been on stage a lot, as well as taught children’s theater classes for several years, my take would be to have someone from backstage accompany him. It would likely only take a little bit of coaxing to assure him he’s supported, to the point he would feel confident continuing by himself. And even if it didn’t, what is more important - the performance or the child?

Everyone will have a different view on this, but as a theater nut, I’d truly hate to see a child lose their interest in the arts because adults were worried about coddling or supporting. Being on stage is SCARY. I have done dozens of shows and I still get a gut sinking feeling before I go on. You’re vulnerable, exposed. Even in a sea of people, you’re putting yourself out there in a very real spectacle-esque way. People have come to watch you do everything you learned. It’s a live test in front of strangers.

To me, this experience will solidify as pure embarrassment and he won’t easily recover. Plus, this forms distrust of those who prepared him for this (all adults involved). Kids aren’t circus animals. Sure, it’s important to continue the show, and that is a very real principle to be learned, but at this age, he’s likely deciding that this is something he will NOT want to do again, especially if forced. And it’s a shame, because arts education and involvement supports so much else both developmentally and academically. And socially, theater and dancing already lacks a strong interest from boys. This is a loss all around and hard to watch.

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u/PinkNinjaKitty Jul 29 '24

Yes, I agree! This is really close to what happened to me — like almost every other girl, I did ballet when I was 5. My big memory of being on stage is turning to look at a teacher in the wings and then hearing the whole audience laugh — at the time I thought they were laughing at me, thinking I was turning at the wrong time, but now I think it was just affectionate laughing at all the cute little ballet dancers. But perfectionist child me was embarrassed and I decided I never wanted to do it again 😅

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u/Renegade_Mermaid Jul 29 '24

A perfect example of this! I would be willing to bet the audience was enamored with the performance, because ballet recitals are super cute!