The time has come. You’re backstage at competition. You’ve practiced your routine hundreds of times, but as you stand in the wings waiting to go on, an unsettling feeling begins to take over. All of a sudden you can’t remember what comes immediately after the double pirouette. A million “what ifs” start racing though your brain. Your stomach starts to flip and flop inside you. Your heart races and it becomes hard to breathe.
As dancers, we’ve all been there, but there are varying degrees of stage fright, and what starts out as butterflies – an increase in adrenaline– can grow to be debilitating for some. Whether you feel a little uneasiness or a lot of anxiety, here are some tips and tricks to manage your fears so you can get back to the thrill of performing.
Focus on why you love to dance.
For some dancers, stage fright is a mental game. For many of us, stage fright disappears as soon as we step on stage. Remind yourself of this, that you have worked all year for this moment and it’s what you love to do.
Don’t worry about what you can’t control.
Focusing what-ifs is a waste of time. Instead, ask yourself what you’re afraid of. The answer might help put things into perspective. Even the worst case scenario isn’t that bad!
If you feel your mind beginning to spin, focus on what you can control—your breathing, your warm-up—rather than what you can’t. You can’t dictate the audience’s reaction, or the judges’ thoughts—let them go. All you can do is
dance your best.
Stay Positive.
Repeat confidence-boosting encouragements out loud, such as “I’m going to nail that triple pirouette.” Hold a ‘power posture’. Amy Cuddy, a Harvard psychologist recently completed a study demonstrating that positioning our bodies a certain way doesn’t just tell people we’re powerful, it actually makes us more powerful. “Standing tall directly influences our biochemistry, increasing testosterone, decreasing cortisol, and generally making us feel dominant.” So pull back those shoulders and stretch out. Stand like Super(wo)man and you’ll become it!
Create a routine that works for you.
Find a pre-performance routine and stick with it. Listening to your song on head phones while you go through it, finding quiet time to settle your feelings and focus on the task at hand, bonding with your team-mates – what ever works for you – do it!
Breathe.
When you feel the adrenaline hit, take a deep breath. Take a few! Filling up your abdomen as you inhale. That’s belly breathing, and it helps you get as much oxygen as possible to your muscles and brain. It will calm you down quickly and effectively.
Know Your Music and Just Keep Dancing!
Become very familiar with your song – this will help you connect the movements with each part of the music, which will help if you feel lost. Remember, the adjudicator doesn’t know your dance, so very likely won’t even notice if you make a mistake. No matter what, just keep dancing!
