The Nerves of a Dancer

There is a feeling of tingly fingers, heavy shoulders and tenseness running through a dancer from the moment they pull up to the performance hall until their name is called to take the stage. It’s a mixed rush of emotions, stress and nerves. A thousand things racing through their mind like counts, time, lunch, floor, hair, judges, all bringing up the nerves of taking the stage. It is a part of involvement with any sport, and it’s natural to be nervous for everyone to watch, judge and support you, but it is when you have begun that it all starts to come together.

Although a dancer may be nervous to dance for family, friends, judges and the unknown, being on stage can give them a sort of comfort, knowing that is where they feel confident. Nerves seem to fade away for that short two to three minutes and all is good and comfortable. Although present the nerves learn to vanish and not take over the spotlight of the stage.

It is hard to overcome nervousness and is a very natural thing for the body to do, especially in a stressed worrisome state. A dancer may be worried about the floor being too sticky or slippery, their stomachs too empty or full, their timing too fast or slow, or their costumes being too tight or too lose. There is so much a dancer is thinking through before taking the stage for a performance and ultimately their nerves will either get to them or they will push back and show confidence in their dancing.

It is vital for a dancer to give themselves time away from over rehearsing, over thinking and over exaggerating and just take some deep breaths to calm down the nerves, stress and worry. If a dancer does not walk onto the stage cool, calm, and confident, the judges will see that and score you accordingly. The best thing you can do as a dancer is to not let the nerves break through and instead focus on the dance at hand.

As a parting piece of advice it is important to know that nerves are a natural feeling after you have been preparing so much time and effort to perfect a dance, however you should not let those nerves over take your dancing and affect you in a negative way. Being nervous should not limit you from doing what you love, stay calm and be confident in yourself and success will surely come.

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