Recently one of my students came up to me and said that she would be taking a year’s break from dancing as she had to prepare for her board exams. I was quite surprised to hear it since I remember never taking a break to “prepare” for exams.

In fact, I have never taken break in 35 years of my dancing life. So my student came up to me and said, “Sir my parents and I believe that dance will distract me and I will not be able to concentrate on my studies.” This girl is a very talented dancer and coming from someone like her made me feel bad about why do people look at dance as means of distraction or a way of losing out on academically.
Taking a break from coming to class during the exam days is what I understand, as it will save up travel time, especially in big cities where you end up getting stuck in traffic. But a break for a year was something beyond me to comprehend.
Exams are an integral part of student life. However, giving these exams can be an inordinately stressful experience for many young students and to top it all, even parents end up getting stressed due to exams. Much as we would like to avoid exams they are an unavoidable reality of our lives. However, with some simple strategies it is possible to cope with the stress of exams.
Some tips to help you relax before an exam
n A positive mind ensures that you perform better in the exam. It is quite common to go through the exam jitters and have negative thoughts. The only way to counter this is through positive thoughts.
n It is important that you complete your studies well in time so that you can take the exams without the fear. Plan your studies out properly, read notes, solve past questions and discuss problems or issues with common friends. Group study can also help you cover the portion in time. As you study make a list of your strengths and weaknesses.
n If you plan and study properly then you will feel more confident and it will give you to write the answers well. While you are preparing for the exams take some time out to relax. Use your break to go for a walk or take up an activity that will help you relax. Research has proved that dance is one of the highest ways of stress relief methods.
Many students feel nauseous before the exams. To control the feeling of anxiety and to prevent panic from setting in you can try to breathe deeply and slowly. Remember your first day when you met your favourite dancer or your dance teacher and you were nervous as hell. This is the same feeling. Deep breathing will help you loosen up. You can tell yourself to take it easy and relax. If you do that you will realise that the feeling of anxiety can pass easily.
n It is equally important that you reach your exam centre or hall in time. Keep to yourself at the exam centre. Refrain from discussing with fellow students as you may discover that you haven’t covered some areas and that can make you feel panicky. Carry a watch so that you can keep track of the time while you are writing your exam.
n If you catch yourself worrying about any question stop yourself there, take a deep breath just the way you did before a dance performance and regain your composure. You can use a mantra or an auto suggestion to infuse confidence in yourself.
Once you are finished with the exam do something good for yourself, immediately get back to your love, dancing. This will help you stop worrying about the exam and your performance. And remember it is just an exam at the end of the day so don’t judge yourself on the basis of an exam and its results.
Having read all this, don’t you feel this was just the way we feel when we are preparing for a show or a big mega performance? Giving an exam is just like preparing for a dance performance.
Dance is always looked at as an fitness and distressing activity. But as a dancer or as a parent of a dancer, you must know that apart from the above, doing an activity which the child enjoys like dance, will help the child concentrate better in their studies than the contrary. Creating the balance between the two is important.
I would always suggest that instead of putting a stop to dance completely, it is better to reduce it during the exam time. If you dance daily for an hour, reduce it to half an hour, but completely stopping it will distract the child more. I leave the rest to parents to decide.