You'll very rarely find that you can enhance a performance to give it a real emotional centre and truth... after the fact.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
That's a wonderful thing, because one of the primary qualities of a good performance is honesty.
Part of what makes your performances more convincing is that your own image isn't getting in the way. And the more you can keep it like that, the better for your work and your state of mind.
So much depends on the performance, and here you are also tied up in the emotion the game evokes.
I think audiences sometimes mistakenly assume a quality performance comes from some great emotional disturbance rather than really intense concentration. Concentration and flow is what it's all about.
The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance.
Self-consciousness can destroy a performance. Getting rid of that is always good.
To me, it's important to try and make an emotional connection with the audience.
I think I avoid stepping into sentimentality by trying to be as truthful as possible with performances.
Performing is a profound experience, at least for me. It's not as if I sit down and play 'Fire and Rain' by myself, just to hear it again. But to offer it up... the energy that it somehow summons live takes me right back, and I do get a reconnection to the emotions.
Let your performance do the thinking.