--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was always acting, singing and dancing…" description: "\"It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved. Not the horror of performing on the piano in front of an assembled audience of quiet people. I'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/linda-lavin-32584_acting_it-was-always-acting-singing-and-dancing_123142.jpg" --- # It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved… ![“It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved. Not the horror of performing on the piano in front of an assembled audience of quiet people. I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great . This was not anything that gave me pleasure. This was…” quote by Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/linda-lavin-32584_acting_it-was-always-acting-singing-and-dancing_123142.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/linda-lavin-32584_acting_it-was-always-acting-singing-and-dancing_123142.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/linda-lavin-32584_acting_it-was-always-acting-singing-and-dancing_123142.jpg) > “It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved. Not the horror of performing on the piano in front of an assembled audience of quiet people. I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great . This was not anything that gave me pleasure. This was fulfilling somebody else's dream.” [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She loved performance art but dreaded the pressure of live piano recitals, feeling they served someone else’s ambitions rather than her own. **In simple terms:** Performance felt like a burden, not joy. Key Takeaway Art can become a duty when driven by external expectations. Themes performance anxiety artistic integrity self‑expectation Mood anxious reflective Type personal confession artistic critique When to use this quote - stage fright before a solo - accepting a role for fame - fulfilling a family’s musical legacy - compulsory school recitals Key Concepts authentic expression external validation Practical Applications - reframe performances as personal exploration - set boundaries with collaborators Questions to Reflect On - What would you enjoy doing if no audience watched? - How can you separate personal joy from others’ expectations? A Different Perspective Even when external, some may still find genuine satisfaction in mastery of their craft. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Concerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerto-250244/) [Concerto Panic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerto-panic-1430812/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancing/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Fronts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fronts/) [Fulfilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfilling/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Music making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-making/) [Panic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panic/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Performing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performing/) [Performing Piano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performing-piano-1430814/) [Piano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piano/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Quiet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quiet/) [Quiet people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quiet-people/) [Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing/) [Singing and dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing-and-dancing/) [Went Concerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/went-concerto-1430813/) ## Related quotes > [I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great. This was not anything that gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/i-d-forget-the-piece-just-before-i-went-out-to-do-the-concerto-the/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/it-was-always-acting-singing-and-dancing-that-i-loved/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [A wedding is earth and water and a species of irreducible light and the flat belly of a harbor and a mango about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mcmorris/a-wedding-is-earth-and-water-and-a-species-of-irreducible-light-and/) [Mark McMorris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mcmorris/) > [Harmony is pure love, for love is a concerto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lope-de-vega/harmony-is-pure-love-for-love-is-a-concerto/) [Lope De Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lope-de-vega/) > [I usually listen to the same thing over and over again: Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major. And Leonard Cohen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-townsend/i-usually-listen-to-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-tchaikovsky-s/) [Sue Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-townsend/) > [It's fine with me if people want to applaud between movements of a concerto. It doesn't bother me - it's part of performance experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-hahn/it-s-fine-with-me-if-people-want-to-applaud-between-movements-of-a-2/) [Hilary Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-hahn/) > [At the end of the competition, I played the Liszt concerto and I felt my head was on the block. Well, I won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-boucourechliev/at-the-end-of-the-competition-i-played-the-liszt-concerto-and-i-felt/) [Andre Boucourechliev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-boucourechliev/) > [“concerto that Lacey recognized but couldn’t name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-weeks/concerto-that-lacey-recognized-but-couldn-t-name/) [Abby Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-weeks/) > [It's fine with me if people want to applaud between movements of a concerto. It doesn't bother me - it's part of performance experience.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-hahn/it-s-fine-with-me-if-people-want-to-applaud-between-movements-of-a/) [Hilary Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-hahn/) > [“The air was warm and heavy as sprinkles began to fall from the clouds high above. The Triton glided through the waters and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-kahler/the-air-was-warm-and-heavy-as-sprinkles-began-to-fall-from-the-clouds/) [Victoria Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-kahler/) > [“So it is with the concerto of our lives. Individual notes must be learned and played and practiced before we achieve harmony. And above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/so-it-is-with-the-concerto-of-our-lives-individual-notes-must-be/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [When you play a concerto with a small orchestra, you don't feel it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/itzhak-perlman/when-you-play-a-concerto-with-a-small-orchestra-you-don-t-feel-it-is/) [Itzhak Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/itzhak-perlman/) > [The way it works: The orchestra plays a few selections of its own and I terminate the first part of the programme on piano,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-shearing/the-way-it-works-the-orchestra-plays-a-few-selections-of-its-own-and/) [George Shearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-shearing/) > [It's nice not to have the majority of the attention on me like there is when playing a concerto with an orchestra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila-josefowicz/it-s-nice-not-to-have-the-majority-of-the-attention-on-me-like-there/) [Leila Josefowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leila-josefowicz/) > [Do you know that my very first experience as a composer was a 'Concerto for Accordion?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-schnittke/do-you-know-that-my-very-first-experience-as-a-composer-was-a/) [Alfred Schnittke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-schnittke/) ## More by Linda Lavin > [I didn't want to do anything my mother wanted me to do so surely I wasn't going to sing for her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/i-didn-t-want-to-do-anything-my-mother-wanted-me-to-do-so-surely-i/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [Thank God that I am not over 75 so that James Earl Jones knows who the hell I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/thank-god-that-i-am-not-over-75-so-that-james-earl-jones-knows-who/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [Once you have the pattern of life of this person, the choreography, so to speak, you have the canvas that you present eight times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/once-you-have-the-pattern-of-life-of-this-person-the-choreography-so/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [Rose was sexy. It was my fantasy about her. She accomplished so much and came from so little in terms of a background that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/rose-was-sexy-it-was-my-fantasy-about-her-she-accomplished-so-much/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [My mother gave me singing lessons; that was totally painful, because I couldn't do what she wanted to hear. She used to say: there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/my-mother-gave-me-singing-lessons-that-was-totally-painful-because-i/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [The play is one of the very few pieces of great dramatic and comic writing that I have read in a long, long time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/the-play-is-one-of-the-very-few-pieces-of-great-dramatic-and-comic/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/it-was-always-acting-singing-and-dancing-that-i-loved/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [Making a film of a work you've played for six weeks gives you intimate knowledge of the character. By the time you go in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/making-a-film-of-a-work-you-ve-played-for-six-weeks-gives-you/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [So I majored in Drama, did all the plays that were possible to do, skated through school in order to be in every production…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lavin/so-i-majored-in-drama-did-all-the-plays-that-were-possible-to-do/) [Linda Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lavin/) > [We give you this story. It is for the audience to be moved and gut wrenched, not us. 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You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [Acting is a grind, just like music is a grind. Sometimes it takes longer than what you can give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/acting-is-a-grind-just-like-music-is-a-grind-sometimes-it-takes/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [It was only when I started making short films in college and I was looking for girls to play the me-ish parts that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/it-was-only-when-i-started-making-short-films-in-college-and-i-was/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. 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I do believe that young adults go to college to learn things, and that this process will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-weingarten/i-do-not-believe-in-public-shaming-i-do-believe-that-young-adults-go/) [Gene Weingarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-weingarten/) > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) [Browse all 12,062 Acting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was always acting, singing and dancing that I loved. Not the horror of performing on the piano in front of an assembled audience of quiet people. I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great . This was not anything that gave me pleasure. 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