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Do you remember the video we watched of the three-year-old conducting Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with such joy and abandon? Now, it’s your turn.
Stand up and move to the music. Express what you hear with your entire body. This is not so much about getting an aerobic workout, as was the conducting exercise presented in Chapter One, as it is about feeling the music, anticipating its movement, and expressing it in gesture, movement, posture and even facial expression. If you feel the need, take your cues at first from Arturo Toscanini’s movements as he conducts in this video; google music conductors on your computer and study how many different conductors move in different ways; or even return to the video of the three-year-old for a more active, enthusiastic experience! Soon, you will feel confident enough to move away from these examples to create your own unique conducting style. Just as each person’s way of listening to music is unique, depending on that person’s history and mood, so each conductor must lead the orchestra in her own personal way—and at the same time discover more about who she is as an individual.