I have been doing back-to-back shows ever since I was 16-years-old. Quite often my students and admirers ask me the preparation that goes into the one such performance. Today, I want to tell everybody that one needs to keep calm and relaxed before a competition or a performance.
One of my dancer friends had a big dance competition coming up and she was quite understandably freaking out. Having butterflies in the stomach before a performance is normal, but one needs to be mentally relaxed, and that’s what I help my friend do. She was marvelous, for she went on the stage with a relaxed mind.
For myself, before I get on the stage, I get very anxious and nervous, and many a times just flat out feel sick in my stomach. The more I get this feeling, the worse I do in the competitions, and the lower my score is. I came up with some ways to relax, and I go through them before I go on stage.
Take deep breaths: Just slowly breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Slowly sip on water. I have found that drinking water relaxes my nerves.
Stretch calmly: If you stretch slowly on your own, you wouldn’t have to hear everyone talking about the competition, and it wouldn’t make you nervous. It will only add to more stretching before the competition. Also, eat something sweet. Mooh meetha karna chahiye, have a chocolate or any mithai as it gives you a sugar rush and calms you as well.
Listening to music: I normally listen to my iPod to block out other noises and people’s conversations. Many a times, I start getting butterflies in my stomach days before the competition. I started practicing for a shorter duration rather than a long tiring span. For example, instead of rehearsing for nine hours in a day that I am supposed to, I rehearse only for three hours, and the rest is spent in visiting the mall or watching movies, or just doing something fun.
This helps in getting my mind off the competition. The more I dance, the more I think about it and it gets me nervous. This leads to a messed up routine, which makes me frustrated. It is better to just walk away and come back. The day of the actual performance, while everyone is flipping out and having anxiety attacks, I am quietly in the corner taking in deep breaths and slowly letting it out. I am drinking little sips of water and calmly stretching. I have my iPod in and blocking out everything around me.
When my dance mates see this, they know that I am in my relaxation mode, and they know not to bother me because if they did, I will only get more nervous and frustrated. I believe that these strategies can help anyone calm down, but I usually use them before getting on stage because that is when I find myself the most nervous. All of this seemed to help me a lot when calming down before a performance. Hopefully it will help you too.
There are various stress factors all around, be it the costumes or the make up or even the light and sound details. So, the best way to tackle stress is to block everything. Do not forget the audience is out there to watch your dance and it can look wonderful when only performed with a calm mind. So do not bother, forget the world and its problems just look at keeping your mind focused and mesmerise the world.