How frequently performing artists ,actors and musicians, are able to perform in potentially stersfull situations in front of a large

audience-hence they must be stres resilient and yet they are often very emotionaly labile and uncertain- so two different levels, one impresivily robust and other verging on the neurotic There is always a niche available to look at factors which may disturb performance and more especially how do actors cope with these potential stressors . n my opinion the most important thing which keeps the actors strong is the ritual . actors and musicians manage the stess of performance because they are so much trained , hours and hours of rehearsals which give a security of a think which you know how to do it. n the same time the succes of a performance depends of so many people and external factors and situations even of public, that this creates a stressful and labile emotions and the awareness that actually you never know the certain way to do your best. WE used to take the pulse of the audience before each performance. Question like: how is the public? What kind? A lot of kids? From which school? Old people? Etc are often heard behind the curtain so the actors will know how to play, what to stres, how to handle the public. The play is same, the actions inside the performance is same but the performance as a spectacle is different every representaion. Of course all these abilities are growing up along with experience Some actors prefer to stay away from public, from the conection with them, so they are some how protected into their own shell.This security is given by the stanislavkian theatre, by the fourth wall which almost melt the theatrical reality into the reality of the actor. But nowdays the interaction with the public is very important also the direct comunication with them . these involves different trainings and different kind of actors. There is a story about Lawrence Olivier. One night he was amaizing in Othello . The public was absolutely charmed and moved by the tragedy , everybody were full of joy and satisfaction of the succes, except Olivier. He was very sad and preocupied and when he was asked why he is not happy , he had never been so good like in that night, he answer he is sad because he doesnt know how he did this to be able to repeat it. The most stressful thing in an artist life is competition. n my opinion competition shouldnt be a must in art, even todays it is almost imposible to realise something without being in competition. can understand that some people find an impulse in it but on the other hand i think we lose the truely pleasure of creation. The training is trying to separate the artist from the stresfull factors throught body awareness, relaxation and the awareness of the present. t says that most of actors are identifing themselves with their carier, because being an artist is a way of life, and in actors case is not that the artist is identifying himself with his opera but with his image because showing their body it is the way they expose their creation. To make that image exist they need recognition from the others , from the outside. Can you imagine how fragile is this personality and how it depend of a smile, a word or a admirative look. Poor actors! The Hegels teory of recognition( master and servent) is matching so dramatically here. There are the exeptions who will be able to keep themselves detached of this mirage and think they are the ones out of competition. These are just my opinions trying to answer to your questions, the answers are coming from my 10 years experience on the stage colaborating with a lot of actors and directors. The subject is very complex and difficult to be cought in a theory without a very good research. More, they are working with emotions and not all the time you can control them . When i am talking about this it recalls Michael Jackson and his insomnias. He was pomping so much energy that he was not able to control it anymore so goodbye sleep. t happened to me also especially when you have a succes feels like you can do anything , you can jump all night you love everybody and you are happy , the body is full of adrenaline. When you think it is

not good what you just have done and you didnt pleased the audience the energy is flowing out of your body. ts still about competition. But there is another case, the moment when you really have something to say or to give to people and we came to another modality of managing the stresfull situations. When you really have something to say or to give its forming an energetic flux between you and the people who are watching you , exactly like in a conversation, or a story telling. The difference is that the actor receves a bigger energy which can put him down or he can take it, fill himself with it and send it back together with his message. This is how i imagine this procese and how i experimented it. There are also breathing techniques which balance the level of energy in your body and help your control. The sudden awareness of the situation you are in, can disturb the performance, an interuption into the flux of acting can make you forget your text and the reality is invading your theatrical reality like a cold shower and for few seconds long like minutes doesnt exist anything just you and a big group of people watching you and how it appears your questioning about what are you doing there and why and if this is not clear it can ruine your world. remember few moments like this from where i came out using kind of shock, swearing in my mind or with very low voice( this idea came to me spontaneously), my body got hot and memory came back. After performance i found out that nobody observed my lack of memory and it had dured about few seconds seemed like long minutes. Sometimes the uncontroled energy of personal emotions goes into your legs or voice. But also these are taken by the energy of your clear message send by movements or sounds. When things are not clear or you dont agree with it or dont understand what it meens in the context ( if it is a negative one) , the message is weak, the audience lose interest you feel you are useless and that cold awareness apare again with its fundamental questions: what am i doing here and why? The profesional training is saving you again, you will be able to bring your performance to an end in low capacity. The audience will find out that something important is missing from your acting but they are not sure about what it is. t happened to me few times to want to get out urgent from the stage and i understood that my preparations before performance were not good and strong enought t depends of the structure and of director.