owl of self growth
size: 08x10
description: A brightly colored owl looking into the eyes of the viewer. The wings showing the colors of pride from queer to enby.
price: $45
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#Autistic and #allies I am working on a book about musical performance (Busking Unleashed...) most others direct "eye contact" with the audience. Brothers and sisters on Mastodon who are #actuallyautistic #nuerodivergent have educated us about the problematics of #eyecontact so I am showing this draft of a subsection of my chapter on stage presence, I am getting it right here? I would rather take criticism here than go to print with a bad take. Here is what I have: Stage presence: a note on eye contact Make eye contact with your audience in a manner consistent with your personal style and comfort level. You will see this repeated in busking guidance everywhere but that advice may be somewhat problematic for some people who are nuerodivergent. I once played viola de gamba and violin with an accomplished duet partner who was autistic. She was a skilled violist and taught me a lot about all the different tonal scale “temperaments” which are a vast topic for another book. But I also learned that people with autism have a unique ways of interacting and interpretation of non-verbal cues. So I would go a bit beyond the conventional advice and recognize that while a personable manner is helpful, it is not essential to busking. Some years later, I encountered a busker playing lovely classic rock on a six string guitar. This person avoided eye contact, even when accepting praise and gratuities. Clearly reluctant also to speak to anyone, I recognized this person was likely “ND” and probably many others going by picked up on the fact that this was someone who just wanted to relate through the music. In unspoken ways, this performer was educating the public to be open to diverse ways of being in the world. If you have an opportunity to play in ensemble with an autistic person, you may find that they have more than just greater attention to details but many other skills and abilities to focus that open new dimensions. My autistic partner, for instance, demonstrated attention to subtleties of intonation and “dotted rhythms” for which she had powerful abilities. Be mindful that there are people in the audience who may be nuerodivergent and may stop and listen without conducting themselves in accordance with your expectations. Keep an open mind and you may learn something. As for your own performance style, be aware that so-called “normal” people won’t be wild if you rivet a stare onto them. The “wolf stare”can be perceived as invasive. Some people in the audience will respond positively to a musician who puts them on the spot with a direct look and you may be permitted to serenade them. But aggressive eye contact is definitely a no-no for performers; you want to hit that sweet spot where people feel acknowledged, but not invaded.