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This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, and suddenly you can feel a pit in your stomach. Standing backstage, looking performance ready and yet you start to question if you are good enough, if you are ready to perform and if the person ahead of you is better. What can you do to calm your nerves and give a confident performance? We asked eight dancers to share their tips for calming their nerves before taking the stage.
8 Dancers Share How They Calm Their Nerves Before Going On Stage To Compete
2Using earbuds to listen to my solo song backstage helps keep me stay focused on my choreography. – Chloe
3I can’t watch other dancers, not even my teammates. As much as I would like to cheer them on, I’ve learned that I have to stay focused on myself in order to do my best. After my performance, I stay backstage to cheer others on. – Emma
4I don’t like to look at the name of who is competing before me. If it is someone who I know is really talented, it freaks me out and I don’t do my best. – Hannah
5I have a stretching ritual that calms me down. I play my music and get relaxed and stretch. It was something my teacher suggested when I was younger and it has always worked for me. – Abby
6I prefer to have a friend with me to talk to me and keep me distracted until it is time to go on stage. – Lauren
7I try to visualize my success. I run through my dance in my head and then at the end I try to visualize the judges being pleased with my performance. – Ava
8I actually like to watch the dancers before me. Most of my friends think that is crazy, but it helps me to think through the parts of my dance I need to nail in order to be competitive with the dancers who went before me. Watching them dance helps me get my game face on. – Blair
9I like to stand off to the side and do some breathing exercises to keep myself calm and focused on my dance. – Ashley
The key to success on stage is number one being confident in your preparation. As shown above, there are a variety of ways to approach pre-competition jitters. Through trial and error, find what works for you and enjoy taking the stage confident and ready to give it your all.
