I have never....dressed up as a Farmyard animal!

I love cows! Who doesn't!?  

So when I was asked to get dressed up as one for this year's St Patrick's day parade in Central London 2 weeks ago, in accordance with the rules of the New List, I gave it a good ol' Mrs Doyle stylee 'Go on!'.

Who, What, When, where?

See, this wasn't just any old cow I was being asked to impersonate, I was going to be a Frisian Cow! Frisian's, by the way, happen to be my second favourite cow, all hail the Highland!  I would be joining a small troupe of fellow heifers as part of Mandinga Arts section, alongside some giant golden peacocks and Pineapple Baianas.  I'm not remotely Irish (that I know of....) so at least this year I had a genuine reason to go out and celebrate St Paddy's day. The parade route took us from Green Park, through to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and ending up in Whitehall a stones throw from Downing Street.

Pineapple Man & Baianas (Mandinga Arts)

Why?

Choreography is comfortable.  Improv on the other hand, can be scary because there’s nothing to fall back on, it’s just you.  St Paddy’s day performance was all about improv, and as part of a big moving parade, it was going to be a challenge. 



Sometimes, I suffer from performance anxiety and it stops me from being a better performer.  Having the spotlight on me can make me feel uncomfortable and self-conscious.  But you’re a samba dancer for goodness sake?! Yeah I know but.... arrrgh, I start off calm, even thinking I’ll relish the attention and chance to shine, but as moment moves closer my heart starts to pound, the tingle of adrenaline flares up and the nervous sweats aren’t far behind.  I know it’s rational, but I can’t help it sometimes.  It’s the remnants of being a shy and quiet child. When faced with new, unfamiliar or scary situations I can get this shrinking feeling that makes me want to curl up and be invisible. The only way I found to fight this, is to be my own pushy stage mum and to thrust myself forward, whether I like it or not.  The more I do, the more my inner, introverted little girl fades away.  Man, she’s clinging on in there! But thankully over time, her grip’s loosened substantially, mostly I don't even realise she's there.

Me and my fellow heifers (Mandinga)

How was it?

Fantastic!

I got quite attached to my new bovine persona. Slowly creeping up to little children one minute and pretending to lick their faces, then, brandishing my sticky out tail like a whip the next and sashay down the street.  Once I relaxed into it, I realised how much I actually enjoy improv, having different personas to play with and make a performance more interesting.  The uncertainty and freedom of improv gives you a buzz, and one of the best things about it, is being able to interact with our fellow performers, feeding off their energy and the crowds.

Performing but having fun at the same time, is a lesson that I’m still trying to grasp.  You can always tell when a performer is really enjoying themselves, committed to what they’re doing rather than going through the motions. 

Being neurotic ties you up in knots.  It's tempting to over think what you're going to do as a performer because you want to give a good show, but I've found the times when I've just let go and had fun, are the times when I’ve performed my best.  You’re energy oozes out of you, you feel more in tune to the music and the audience, and something else happens, your movements become instinctive, you don’t think about what to do next because you’re being led by the moment.  If you’re not comfortable or confident in what you’re doing, it won’t happen.  As I said, it’s an ongoing battle for me, but doing things like this definitely help! MooOOO!

Cows, onward!

Kanika x