Suzanne Farrell Quotes

Performing live in front of an audience is such a matter of will - all of those things you can do just fine in your basement, suddenly you have to do them in front of hundreds or thousands of people, and it becomes a different matter entirely.

For me, every time I step on the stage it feels like a battle is about to start. It's not like we're going on stage to fight against our audience obviously, because for me, when I go on stage, I'm always trying to reach a new level of how am I going to make today a great night for everyone that's present.

I know what it feels like to walk out in front of a sold-out crowd of a thousand people that are there for you, and how good that feels, but as an opener, you just have to train yourself to think that it's going to be harder.

I played shows in front of like 25, 50 people, and it's a lot harder to do your thing in front of a crowd that's small.

Every time I step onto the stage, it's not only proving to the audience that I'm capable but to myself.

If you're up there [on stage] thinking about what you're doing, you're just not there and it's not going to happen.So trying to learn how to overcome those - which is a normal thing to do. You're in front of a lot of people. People are going to get very self-conscious. So you have to learn to sort of overcome that tendency towards self-consciousness and just blow it wide open. And you jump in and join all those people that are out there enjoying what you're doing together.

I wasn't comfortable on stage for years. It was good - 18 shows. I want to do it again.

It feels like the more I'm out there in the public eye, the more criticism I get. You need to have confidence - that's what it takes to walk out there and sing a song in front of a huge group of people.

I always said that I wouldn't use a teleprompter, and if I start to sing real flat, I'll hang it up.

Nobody was listening when I learned how to play music. But there's something about being on stage, talking to the audience, looking at them and smiling, that's always been difficult for me. I'm a lot more comfortable now, but there are still moments of awkwardness.

People buy a ticket to see your show, so from the moment I get onstage, I can have no insecurities, because they're already there. You have to get people to listen. If they listen, everything's cool.

As for the stage fright, it never goes away. When I'm waiting in the wings to go on, it's agony every single time but I stay focused and I know that once I'm on stage it'll be fine; I'll be in my happy little bubble.

Once I get out onstage, it's the same sort of basic production that it is anywhere else. But I might be a little bit aware that there might be people I know out there, who wondered where I was.

I expect if you're a professional public speaker, you probably wouldn't want to go onstage and sing and play drums.

I don't feel nervous or fearful when I'm on stage.

You have to open up on stage.

When you stand on the stage you must have a sense that you are addressing the whole world, and that what you say is so important the whole world must listen.

I'm nervous the first few songs, and then I'm like, 'I got this audience. I'm ready!'

Sometimes, the most daunting thing about performing is making eye contact with your audience, so just look above them and at the corners of the room. Soon, you'll totally forget they're there.

When I performed at 'Open Mic U.K.' I had this connection with the audience that I'd never felt before, and I loved it. It was my first big thing, and looking out into the crowd... was just amazing.

I never used to speak to the audience at all. I never really knew what to say onstage.

I've done a lot of stage in my life, but I never had to dominate a stage for three hours.

The one thing about going from the audience to the stage in just three years is that you know how it feels to be down there.

There's nothing about the stage to be afraid of; there's nothing about the cameras to be afraid of. You just have to be yourself.

I can sing in front of people. I can go on a TV show, live, and not feel like I'm going to throw up.