The fear of going on stage is experienced by many dancers in anticipation of performing. Especially when they have worked hard over the year and wish to dance their very best in front of friends and family - who are interested to see how far they have come.

These feelings mixed with adrenaline race through the brain of dancers causing them to worry about forgetting choreography, making a mistake, slipping over, embarrassing themselves, the list goes on!

Dancers may feel mild stress and anxiety as a result of these thoughts, this may cause a rapid heartbeat, trembling, sweating and feeling uneasy, but you must find coping strategies to ensure that these thoughts are not going to negatively affect your performance.

If you are feeling this way, try these 10 tips:

Try converting the “I’m frightened” feeling into the “I’m excited” feeling. Thinking about how much you cannot wait to perform will transform the negative feelings into more positive ones that will enhance your performance rather than inhibit.
Practice deep breathing or a specific breathing pattern to calm your mind when feeling overly nervous.
Remind yourself that the nervousness feeling will disappear once you are on stage performing.
Chat to a friend about something completely different rather than how nervous you are feeling. However, sharing how you are feeling may also give you and others relief to see that others are feeling a similar way. So, maybe try saying “I’m nervous, but it’s going to be so much fun!”
Visualise executing your dance routine as best you can. Try doing this every night just before falling asleep but before the performance sit down, close your eyes and imagine completing the optimal performance. This makes it more likely that you will complete the routine in that way.
Do not doubt yourself! Believe in yourself and your abilities, you’ve been practicing for this.
Keep practicing your routines! This will embed the movements into your muscle memory. The more you know the steps, the less stress you will feel about forgetting them.
Accept that you are nervous and do not fight it. Being nervous means you care about the outcome of the dance.
Smile! While different facial expressions are important to tell the story of your dance, smiling boosts your mood instantly and can also help others by spreading positivity.
Try your best and be proud of yourself! Whether your dance goes well or not, be proud of yourself and your achievements. The fact that you have worked so hard to get on stage is a win in itself.

Once the performance is over, write down which strategies helped you so that you can remember them for next time! Or, you can try writing down your feelings before the concert and then afterwards, you can compare these to help comfort and prepare yourself for later performances.

Most importantly don’t forget to enjoy yourself!

Combating Nerves