Visualisation for Dancers

Your imagination is a powerful inner resource that you can tap into to achieve your best with greater consistency.  It can enhance the manifestation of your dreams and goals in dance and in life as it allows you to put yourself into the appropriate state of mind, be in the flow state where everything is effortless and flows beautifully.

The aims of visualisation techniques are to focus the dancer so that they are positive and confident in their ability and enjoy the experience of learning and performing and achieve their true potential.

Scientists have discovered there is an area of the brain called the pre motor cortex that is activated when you imagine your body moving, the area that plans movement so when you rehearse a dance skill or sequence in your mind you create neural pathways in your brain as if you were actually moving and performing the sequence. All without moving a muscle this means when you do perform the skill or sequence you should find it easier as the pathways in your brain are already in place.

Generally dancers spend most of their time physically training and rehearing for performance but they don’t spend enough time preparing themselves psychologically for the pressures of dance training, rehearsal and performance.  Visualisation enhances your dance performance, this is especially important for the skills or strategies where there is little opportunity in daily training or rehearsal, the situations that only happen in performance.

Repeatedly rehearsing in your mind allows you to strengthen the neural pathways that will produce the step or sequence and help to refine your skills without putting the body through excessive stress. It enables you to rehearse anywhere.

Visualisation involves the dancer imagining themselves in a class, rehearsal or performance. The visualisations have the dancer performing the skill or sequence at their very best, enjoying the experience. Enter completely into the visualisation with all your senses: visual, sound, touch, smell and felt sense. Being in a totally relaxed state allows you to be receptive to visualisation.

Benefits of Visualisation:

• Enhances learning and motivation
• Enhances self-confidence, helps to visualise success
• Create coping strategies in stressful situations
• Enhance focus, concentration and self-discipline

Just as you practice dance skills, visualisation needs to be practised on a regular basis for you to become highly skilled and can be incorporated into your training or daily routine.

Visualisation for rehearsal of specific movements

Visualisation used to learn and rehearse specific movements or dance skills enhances learning and performance. Visualisation can explore the mechanics of how to execute the movement and can allow a dancer to explore symbolic sense the quality or energy related to improve a particular dance skill. For example, whilst executing a pirouette a dancer may visualise spinning like a top.

Visualisation for rehearsal

Visualisation can enhance you learning ability when learning new movement sequences or choreography for performance. It can enhance the dramatic aspects of a dancer character within a piece of choreography by imaging the emotions or motives felt by the character they are performing. Rehearsing in your mind allows the body to rest while strengthening the neural pathways in your brain.

Visualisation for Performance

To reach your true potential in dance it is important you have a high level of confidence in your ability to perform at your best consistently.  It is important to visualise yourself performing in a confident manner in full control of yourself excelling in you execution and feeling confident within the performance environment.

Positive Mental Attitude

Breaking negative behavioural patterns by the use of a trigger - a word, phrase or action can help to prevent negative attitudes when learning.

A trigger can be:

• A word or phrase spoken inside your head
• A physical action, for example squeezing first finger and thumb together
• A physical reminder, for example a wristband

When hearing, seeing or feeling the trigger you can shift your focus gaining a positive uplifting thought for a boost of motivation.

Visual Practice: Role Model

Observing a professional dancer who has practised the skills countless times can give you an excellent role model to develop the same skill you are hoping to learn. You can visualise being them or performing the skills as they do.

Visualisation and Goal Setting

Setting goals within training and performance is a useful tool to measure your progress. It provides an opportunity to improve your skills or learn new skills, technique or choreography. It allows you to review your training methods if you do not meet your original goals.

• Specific - Goals are focused on precisely what you want to achieve. For example: goal to improve jumps and landings
• Measurable - Assess your level of success so you can review your own progress. For example: a goal to improve the number of successful double pirouettes once you have achieved a successful single pirouette
• Accepted - You and your teacher or choreographer agree on what your goals are
• Realistic - You are able to achieve the goals you have set yourself
• Time limit - You should set target dates to achieve your goals. For example: goal in 2 months to be able to handstand unsupported
• Enthusiasm - You should be challenged and stimulated by your goal
• Record - Keep a written record of how and when you achieve your goal to assess your progress

Visualisation Exercises

 

How to use these audio guided visualisations

NEVER listen to this audio recording when driving or when you need to concentrate on a particular task.  Only listen when you can relax and not be disturbed from any distractions.

This audio recording will guide you into a state of relaxation, it is best to be comfortable and either sit or lay down in a comfortable place free from distractions.

We advise you listen to this audio recording through headphones for best results.  To begin with, it is best to listen on a daily basis to develop your visualisation skills.

Audio running time: approx 20 minutes, as this audio recording is specially designed to become a part of your dance practice. 

Peak Performance Visualisation

Visualise actually attaining your best performance, such as receiving major recognition or a standing ovation and what it would be like.  Most success stories are first preceded by envisioning the success accomplished, visualisation is like role playing success.

Peak Performance Visualisation helps nurture strong belief in your self which provides the motivational fuel to put in the daily effort and discipline required to arrive at best achievements.

Peak Performance Visualization by lstanyer


Peak Performance Recall Visualisation

Recall is a technique that allows you to recall a positive perfromance experience. By remembering and feeling the positive sensations your body will go into the experience of flow which enables you to be relaxed and focused and in control.

Recall an experience where you were at your peak in performance, feeling wonderful. Recapture the feelings, sounds etc. and enhance them make them more vivid in light, colour, positive feelings and sounds. Watch your own feature film of your best performances when you need a boost of confidence.

Peak Performance Recall Visualization by lstanyer

 

Visualisation practice empowers and centres you for performance, allowing you to enter deeply into the present moment and harness your true potential. Along with diaphragmatic breathing it calms and unclutters your mind leading you to a place of freedom and unselfconsciousness. Visualisation is a very personal experience and skill that takes practice to discover its depth and power.

Visualization Skills in Dance Practice by Laura Stanyer

 

Disclaimer: The information contained on this web page is intended as general guidance and information only. Laura Stanyer and its authors accept no liability for any loss, injury or damage however incurred as a consequence, whether directly or indirectly, of the use this information. All advice on this web page should only be used under the supervision of a qualified dance / fitness / healthcare professional.

Relaxation for Dancers

 

I incorporate relaxation, visualisation and massage within dance  my dance practice to develop the mental and physical skills necessary for dancers to achieve their true potential in dance, enhance performance and well being. There are many benefits to relaxation practice for dancers.

Physiological Benefits of Relaxation:

• A decreased heart rate and respiration rate
• Reduces muscular tension
• Reduces blood pressure
• Decreases chortisol (a main stress hormone)
• Improves circulation
• Increases alpha brainwaves (related to creativity and the flow state)

Psychological Benefits of Relaxation:

• Greater mental clarity
• Improves concentration
• Greater mental control
• Enhances creativity
• Enhances a healthy sense of humour
• Allows mental openness and clam

Relaxation is a skill

Relaxation is a skill that allows you to focus on a goal, gives you the opportunity to be creative and reach your greatest potential. Like any skill it takes continuous practice to develop.

Relaxation training can:

• Cultivate your ability to learn
• Counteract the effects of stress
• Facilitate to achieve your true potential and enhances creativity

How we learn new dance moves (motor skills)

Learning a new physical skill is a complicated process as you learn you create and strengthen new neural pathways in your brain. When we master a new motor skill, or a simple dance move thousands of neurons in our brain have to fire simultaneously.
As you begin to learn a new dance skill at first it feels awkward and the movement is clumsy, as you practice the new moves your body will be learning via biofeedback. At first you need to concentrate on what you are doing to connect your mind to your body allowing your brain to create new neural pathways, you will make many mistakes but it is these experiences that amount to learning.

As you practice the dance steps repeatedly the neural pathways become stronger and stronger and the new step becomes easier as you establish a more solid pathway in your brain. Through practice a new dance skill will gradually improve and refine the skill until it becomes effortless, many complex actions become instinctive through continuous practice. Scientific research suggests it takes approximately 180 repetitions for a new movement to become automatic and is then hard wired into your brain.

How relaxation cultivates your ability to learn

Often as we learn new dance skills our idea of success interferes with the process of learning. Instead of relaxing and enjoying the experience we think having focused determination is the only way to achieve success and excellence. We relate discipline with hard work and do not allow ourselves to learn through play or joy. Our idea of perfection and achieving the skill immediately doesn’t permit relaxation to be a factor in dance training.
For instance when learning a new dance skill you are unable to achieve it straight away, you may become frustrated and try even harder to perform a dance skill exactly. However, the more effort you put in the worse it becomes. For example, trying too hard to achieve a pirouette, the more you attempt to prepare to balance and propel yourself into the turn the more you fall of the point of balance. If you find yourself in a downward tendency of trying harder with worse results this is the time to try and relax and explore a gentle playful approach.
If you try to relax and have fun you are more likely to see positive results because it is often your perception of what you think is right that blocks the process of learning.

Relaxation counteracts the effects of stress

Rest and relaxation allows you to maintain your health and well-being and a balance of work, rest and play. Learning how to relax can help you find an inner calm which allows you to connect to your natural abilities and reduces tension.
Relaxation training also improves our reaction to stress both physiologically and psychologically, which means we react more rapidly to a stressor and recover more quickly. When we are tense we tend to be slower to react and slower to recover from stress. For example, a relaxed person would react more quickly to a shockingly loud noise and recover almost instantly where as a tense person would be slower to react and would take a lot longer to recover from the shock.
The mental stress on dancers is high, especially at professional level. They perform week after week, observed by audiences and critics the effect of negative feedback can result in bad performance and affect their personal and professional life.
Mental preparation allows dancers and performers to focus; to set goals and to plan for and manage the stress of performing. It enables the dancer to raise their self-esteem and to help them maintain a high level of motivation during training, rehearsal and performance.

Relaxation permits creativity

At peaceful moments; just when you are falling asleep or a walk in nature is when we become inspired. This is when we are tapping into our alpha state; this is the state of mind when we are relaxed and extremely creative. Relaxation creates space for original thinking to occur; this is often referred to as being in the flow or zone.
Cultivating the skill of being in the here and now, being in the moment allows you to calm down, relax and enjoy the experience of dancing, learning or performing being in the moment rather than rush through the experience.

Relaxation Visualisation

This visualization is useful for eliminating negative thoughts and feelings that cause distractions that may interfere with your activity.  It enables you to focus on being at your very best.  This part of the visualization may be listened to working towards an up and coming important event.  Also, only listen to it several hours before an up and coming event as you need time to re-energise and prepare for the event.

Let Go Of Worry One by Laura Stanyer

Part two is to be listened to after the event or day and at a time you can relax to allow you to start to assess any other stress that may be affecting you.

Let Go Of Worry Two by Laura Stanyer



Relaxation Exercise
This exercise is designed to help you relax and can be performed in isolation or incorporated into your warm up to help you achieve optimal level of arousal and combined with your cool down to enhance your recovery.
When you begin relaxation exercises wear loose comfortable clothing, sit or lay down in a quiet and tranquil space with your feet hip width apart, arms relaxed by your sides. Use a mat or cushions. Allow your body to melt into the chair or floor releasing any tension you may feel from your shoulders, neck, legs, and wiggle your fingers and toes.

PMR (Progressive Muscular Relaxation)

Progressive Muscular Relaxation is a method of tensing and relaxing muscle groups or body areas to release excessive tension. This can be completed with eyes open or closed.

PMR Exercise

Tense each muscle group or body area for approximately 10 seconds. Then let go completely allowing the tension to be released and focus on the relaxed area for approximately 15 seconds allowing the area to feel heavy, warm and completely relaxed.

Sitting or lying down in a comfortable space tense and release:

• Feet and toes Legs and calves
• Buttocks and thighs
• Stomach and lower back
• Chest and neck
• Shoulders, arms and fingers
• Face, jaw, forehead, cheeks and tongue
• Whole body

Now observe how loose your body feels, a calm sensation through floating your body.
Relaxation, breathing and visualisation techniques allow you to maximize your mind body connection and enhance your true potential in dance. Breathing exercises promote relaxation, to find out more go to the breathing article.

Disclaimer: The information contained on this web page is intended as general guidance and information only. Laura Stanyer and its authors accept no liability for any loss, injury or damage however incurred as a consequence, whether directly or indirectly, of the use this information. All advice on this web page should only be used under the supervision of a qualified dance / fitness / healthcare professional.

Dance and Self-Esteem

Many dancers I've worked with tend to determine their self-esteem by their achievement in dance. Dancers are often judged on how they look and how well they perform and often allow these judgements to negatively affect their self-esteem.

What is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is your opinion of yourself, how much you value yourself how worthwhile you feel. Your self confidence is the belief in your ability to perform a task therefore not a judgment on yourself as a person. Dancers are susceptible to attach their self-esteem to their dance ability also dancers often set impossibly high standards for themselves for example one dancer I was working with expressed she still felt like a failure although she gave a great performance she didn't receive the positive feedback from the director she was expecting and this greatly affected her feelings about herself.

Having healthy self-esteem is important because feeling good about yourself can affect your actions. If you have high self-esteem you can make friends easily, are more in control of your behaviour, not take life too seriously and will enjoy life more.

Your self-esteem is based on who you are as a person not what you do in life whether your focus is your career or children or other pursuit. If you were to take away your role as mother, father, care giver or your work or activities how would you describe yourself? What personal characteristics best describe you? Most of us struggle to value ourselves and our unique qualities and often look at what we do rather than who we are to find appreciation. For example, if I value myself as only a dancer when I was unable to dance due to Coccydynia my self-esteem may have been negatively affected however if I value that I'm a compassionate person and that I'm considerate, friendly and generous I can value myself although I'm not able to dance.

More often than not as dancers we have very high standards and expect a lot from ourselves in our achievements and we give ourselves very little room for making mistakes which can greatly affect out self-esteem. It is important to adopt a realistic perspective of achievement and learn to value yourself and all your positive qualities, value yourself for who you are not just on what you may have accomplished.

Nurturing your self-esteem

A positive, optimistic attitude can help you nurture your self-esteem allow yourself to be human and make mistakes, lovingly take responsibility for your actions not blaming others around you when your expectations are not met.

Self-esteem can be nurtured by knowing what makes you happy and setting achievable goals can help you feel capable, strong, and in control of your life. Often daily goals are the most important as taking small steps towards your goals and rewarding yourself not only for success but enjoying the process can greatly enhance your self-esteem. For example, after giving birth to my son I assumed after six weeks I would dive straight back into my dance practice and loose all my baby weight I had gained. The reality was I was unable to exercise as I was in constant pain to sit due to suffering Coccydynia as a result of childbirth. After seeing an orthopaedic surgeon I was given the information I needed to work out daily exercise goals. Ideally I just wanted to start dancing but I had to set realistic goals and start gently by walking to build up my cardiovascular fitness. At first I walked for five minutes each day and gradually increased the time until I was walking for half an hour each day. I was receiving acupuncture fro pain relief and I did daily visualisations to help with injury rehabilitation. I acknowledged the good things I was doing looking after my son and accepted I was unable to dance but optimistic I will dance in the future and gradually I lost my baby weight. As you gradually build up towards a goal that is attainable you can begin to value your unique qualities.

It is important to enhance your self-esteem to learn to like and love yourself to have the ability to survive and flourish in the world we live in and a positive attitude and a healthy lifestyle are a great combination for building high self-esteem. Low self esteem and self criticism can have an impact on your ability to function in life and can impact your general well being.

Top Tips to raise your self-esteem:

Love your body

Body image is how you feel about your own physical appearance. For many people, especially dancers, body image can be closely linked to self-esteem as many of us are concerned with our body image as none of us fit the illusion of the perfect body.

Some people think they need to change how they look to feel good about themselves. It is important to change the way you see your body and learn to accept, love and appreciate how amazing your physical self is. The more I studied anatomy and physiology the more I realized how remarkable the human body is and allowed me to change my perspective and love my body.

Write down all the things you like about yourself in a list include:

• Physical attributes
• Qualities of your personality
• Your emotional qualities
• Your creative qualities or imagination
• Recognise your beauty, inner power, your strengths, your talents, your unique qualities.

Nurture these qualities and keep adding to this list.

Write down what things or qualities you do not like about yourself
Work out from your dislike list and split into two sections:

• things to let go of and accept. For example I'm 4ft11” and accept I'm excluded from dance work in the west end due to height restrictions. I accept this and create my own work.
• things you can work on or change do so gradually.

Be Self Loving

• Love and respect yourself for who you are
• Be self-aware so you have a positive self-image
• Respect your own healthy value system
• Have a clear idea of your life purpose
• Have realistic expectation of your goals and outcomes

Trust Youself

Learn to trust yourself, challenge and question the current state of affairs. Trust your own value system to enable you to take risks and trust your intuition. For example I did a full physical assessment of one of my dance students and we discovered she's slightly knocked kneed (Genu valgum, a variation of the knee strucutre) it is a condition where the knees angle in and touch one another when the legs are straightened. I advised her to make adaptations to her contemporary technique and not stand in parallel but with feet slightly apart to prevent injury to the medial side of the knee. Her contemporary dance teacher insisted she stand correctly as she would spoil the aesthetics the art form and may fail her assessment. Contemporary dance is an art form that is evolving but she had to challenge the situation and decide what was more important to her; maintaining her long term health of her knees or maintaining the traditions of technique to receive the grade she desired. What would you do in her situation? Should her self-esteem be affected if she doesn't pass her assessment even though she is an excellent dancer but chooses to respect her unique body? Sometimes we need to take risks that support our wellbeing but may be in conflict with the current state of affairs.

Self-trust is a combination of three emotional and spiritual qualities:

• self-awareness an accurate assessment of who you are and what you care about or values
• self-acceptance embracing who you are in all your complexity
• self-reliance your ability to utilise what you know about yourself to reach your goals without constant worry about the approval or disapproval of others.

Self trust is an important quality of heart and mind as you trust yourself you can better find a way through challenging times and as you accept yourself for who you truly are you will be able to learn and adapt to the experiences of life.

Create a treasure chest of success

Keep a box or journal and write and keep objects and thank you cards or symbols of your successes no matter how small.
Each time you achieve something positive write it down and keep a log. Keep it up to date so each time you feel low go to your treasure chest of success and as you read and look through you can boost your self esteem and confidence. Write down what you are thankful for you can wash away your self doubt by looking at evidence of your achievements and what you appreciate this helps you run a reality check and put overwhelm into perspective.

Fully commit to your responsibilities

When you are working you are fully committed to your work or dance practice. It is important to be in the moment and fully committed to accomplishing your work or dance practice. If one of your responsibilities is to look after your child or children it is important to be fully in that role and give you love and attention fully to your child or children and have quality time and experiences with them. It is important to have time just to be yourself and let go of any judgments from the other aspects of your life. For example do not let what you achieved in your dance practice affect time to yourself but give yourself permission to relax and just be.

Be resilient

Develop the ability to pick yourself up when things go wrong. When you face disappointment learn not to take it personally. Learn visualisation and relaxation skills that develop positive thinking during adversity. When you believe in yourself you are more self aware and able to recognise mistakes take lessons from them and are able to bounce back from disappointment.

Detach from criticism don't take it personally

It can be difficult but attempt to understand when you receive criticism from another person they are criticising an action or behaviour not you as a person. Try to separate the criticism from you as a human being and not take it personally.

Stop being overwhelmed by your inner critic

You will be harming your self-esteem if you constantly listen to your inner critic. It is important to understand your inner critic is attempting to protect you from failure or success. However it can overwhelm you and stop you from progressing sometimes it is healthy to make mistakes as this is how we can learn and improve.

To stop being overwhelmed by your inner critic try:

• Change the sound, volume, speed and tone of your inner critic's voice so it sounds more supportive. If it is very loud change it to a whisper.
• Explore the outcomes of failure, are they as bad as you imagine or what lessons may you be missing from avoiding failure. Is the fear of failure stopping your personal growth?
• Detach your behaviour or actions from your characteristics or who you are as a person. Failure in one task in life does not imply you are an incompetent person.
• Also striving for success can be seen as a distasteful trait and evoke disapproval from others. Ask yourself what success means to you and what would it be like to be successful. You may want to ask what is more important other peoples opinions or what success may do for you.

Do not compare yourself to others

When you compare yourself to others whether you compare your physical appearance, abilities, natural talents or past achievements you may harm you self-esteem. We are all unique and no one can be you so be the best at being you.

Develop outside interests

It is important in raising yourself esteem to participate in things you enjoy other than your work or family. Most people devote themselves to one aspect of life and neglect themselves in the process. In nurturing yourself you can give more to others and work with greater vitality and enthusiasm.

Build a support network

It is important to surround yourself with people who support you and make you feel good about yourself. Seek out nurturing people who are like minded and have similar value system. Avoid people who don't support you. This does not mean they are bad people but be aware of people who drain you and avoid them. For example, a nurturing, sensitive person can blossom around other caring compassionate people but feel isolated in a competitive environment. Find true friends who love you for who you are as a person first. They do not judge you based on your career, status or outward appearance but appreciate you for you as a person.

Nurture the people around you

Treat the people around you with love and respect so you can enhance others self-esteem which in turn the people around you can support and encourage you creating a positive and supportive environment. Positivity is infectious and can create a joyful environment.

Healthy self-esteem

Take responsibility for your own well being and take small steps each day to nurture your own self-esteem, respect yourself and your own values and seek what you like about yourself. Reframe any negative thoughts about yourself and forgive yourself easily. Give yourself time, space and a goal to aim for, allow yourself to make mistakes, find like minded friends respect yourself for who you are.

If you have a positive body image, you probably like and accept yourself the way you are. This healthy attitude allows you to explore other aspects of life such as, self trust, developing good friendships, growing more independent as a person, and challenging yourself physically and mentally. Enhancing your sense of humour not taking life too seriously and not just seeing yourself as a dancer but developing the various parts of yourself can help boost your self-esteem.

Being Your Best Visualization by Laura Stanyer

Disclaimer: The information contained on this web page is intended as general guidance and information only. Laura Stanyer and its authors accept no liability for any loss, injury or damage however incurred as a consequence, whether directly or indirectly, of the use this information. All advice on this web page should only be used under the supervision of a qualified dance / fitness / healthcare professional.

Stage Fright, Performance Anxiety and the Dancer

 

Dancers can experience stress while learning new skills or choreography and most dancers naturally feel nervous before a performance. This stress or anxiety can affect their level of confidence and performance.  I have worked many years as a dance artist, performing, choreographing and lecturing and have experienced and witnessed a wide range of effects of performance anxiety from dancers full of apprehension, doubt, worry about letting themselves or the company down to experiencing a heightened level of excitement to perform at their very best.

I have worked in many different environments from theatres, for film, on location, site specific, street theatre in performance and in dance studios preparing dancers for audition or practical assessment. Each experience gave me the opportunity to develop effective methods to prepare myself, dancers and performers to perform to their best ability.

The main focus in managing performance anxiety is the emotional state just before performance. However, I feel our perceptions about the pressure of performing may be addressed at the start of the rehearsal or preparation process and worked on throughout learning new skills, throughout rehearsals and through all performances.

Cultivating a positive emotional state and enhancing mental focus throughout the preparation process enhances the physical learning experience of the work and in my experience brings the members of a company working together in harmony. When individuals have the opportunity to share their worries, other company members are experiencing similar concerns may come together in a supportive way enhancing the company morale through stressful rehearsal periods and enhancing performance overall.

Psychological Pressures

With significant pressures on dancers to constantly improve their performance, their mental and emotional states become significant. Professional dancers have to cope with demanding rehearsal schedules, performance stress and have to balance their commitments to work, family and their personal lives. Performance anxiety also known as stage fright is an issue faced by many performers even at an elite level.

Self Confidence

Self confidence is the belief you have in yourself to achieve a particular task and can influence your ability to succeed in performance. The more confidence you have in your ability to perform you’re more likely to perform well. Therefore the more anxious you are it is more likely you will underperform.

Motivation

Motivation is the driving force that compels us to do something. In dance, dancers will be motivated for different reasons.

Motivation can be:

• Intrinsic - The motivation is the pure pleasure derived from participating in dance. You value dancing; you love to participate for the enjoyment, friends and creativity
• Extrinsic - The motivation is the desire to achieve something external: achieving a qualification, medal, financial reward or recognition

Anxiety
A negative feeling, nervousness or feeling of fear felt just before you perform in front of an audience, audition panel or camera. The physical symptoms of arousal occur before the performance however the mental and emotional anxiety surrounding performing can occur long before performance though out rehearsal and have an impact on you ability to learn the material.

What can cause it?
It is your individual perception of the demand that determines if you enjoy the experience or experience anxiety. We are setting ourselves up to be judged by an audience or assessors and our idea of success or failure is a high level risk that relates to us as a threat to our well being.

How does this affect you?
Our physical, mental and emotional responses to this perceived threat is a primal instinct as if it was a real threat to your life. You subconscious mind cannot distinguish between a real physical threat and a perceived threat.

What is arousal?
Arousal is a physiological state of alertness and anticipation, which prepares the body for action. It activates both mind and body and is a neutral state. To perform to the best of our ability, we need to be in the appropriate state of activation, not too little, not too much.  It allows us to function effectively, whether to digest a meal or dance.

Although arousal itself is neutral, if it is associated with negative thoughts and perceptions we experience anxiety. This is a negative emotional state associated with feelings such as worry and apprehension. Anxiety may be created by a situation, which we see as threatening; perhaps we doubt our ability to cope.   For example, in the time leading up to a performance you may feel anticipation or apprehension and fear may begin to emerge. This is the fight, flight or freeze response and at this point adrenaline is released into the bloodstream.

Performance Anxiety
The demand, also known as the stressor, is the initiating factor and it is your individual perception of the demand which determines whether or not anxiety will result:-

• Demand The stressor - example: major performance with large audience or an important assessment.
• Perception of the demand Negative perception - example: Under-rehearsed, not physically skilled enough.
• Response to Stressor Arousal & Anxiety - example: unable to remember choreography, legs feel weak.
• Outcome Poor performance

Some examples of negative stressors:

Reframe your thinking

Each thought you think creates your experiences:

• Threaten our self-esteem: When criticized - by tutor, friend or audience. The criticism may be taken personally and then become self-conscious at public criticism. Being evaluated by others can threaten our self-esteem.
• Cause Personal Harm: When asked to perform a skill which you feel unable to perform because you fear sustaining an injury or feel too technically difficult to perform.
• Create uncertainty (fear of the unknown): When you do not understand what is expected from you from your tutor/choreographer, or in an audition not knowing what will be asked of you and judging your ability unfairly. Another example is coping with unpredictable situations like performing in a different venue each night.
• Creative frustration: Unable to achieve your goals, not setting realistic time scale or programmed training/rehearsals to achieve your goals.
• Creative pressure: Unexpected events such as music not playing, or playing too fast or problems with other circumstances out of your control (lights, costume, set other dancers etc).

The anxiety increases by your perception of how important the situation and the outcome is to you.

Responses associated with performance anxiety:

Before a performance:

Cognitive symptoms (your thoughts and feelings):

• Worry and self doubt
• Disturbed sleep and restlessness
• Overwhelming negative thoughts
• Feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope

Somatic symptoms (physical experiences):

• Sweating palms and butterflies in the stomach
• Shaking and muscle tension
• Frequent urination
• Pacing and other nervous habits

During a performance:

 Cognitive symptoms (your thoughts and feelings):

• Disorientation and inability to focus on the task at hand
• Irrational feeling of loss of control - mind goes blank
• A feeling of paralysis feel frozen unable to dance

 Somatic symptoms (physical experiences):

• Sweating palms and increased heart rate
• Shaking and muscle tension
• Feeling nausea and dryness of the mouth

How to manage performance anxiety

If you have experienced the negative thoughts that flow into your mind during class, rehearsals and before performance that lead to self defeating behaviour there are a variety of strategies you can use to manage performance anxiety.

It is important to remember that at the start of a performance your arousal levels increase and this is a neutral state of activation.

It is your interpretation of the arousal that is important:

• If you perceive it as positive you can experience excitement and energy.
• If you perceive it as negative you may experience fear and anxiety.

Your thoughts create your experiences. Anxiety comes from the negative things we say to ourselves that create distractions. It is important to understand your inner critic and to understand the power of your mind that creates positive or negative cycles. Therefore, it is so important to manage your thinking and the emotional state your thoughts create.

The important elements to unlearning negative responses:

• Write a detailed history of past situations where you experienced an anxiety response. Include performance and non-performance anxiety situations if they seem relevant.
• Work out what your stressors have been in past performances such as being under rehearsed. Indentify and dissociate from them.
• Put the original experience of performance anxiety into perspective.
• Create a plan of action to stop the panic if a stressor occurs.
• Run a reality check, on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being no anxiety 10 being very anxious. Work out your level of anxiety working through rehearsal and up to performance and see if you can develop the various strategies to diminish the anxiety.

Strategies to manage Performance Anxiety

Maintain you general health and well being
Understand the body, mind and emotion connection, and that your general health will affect your perceptions of your experiences.

• Make sure you are physically fit enough, improving over all cardio-vascular fitness and muscular endurance.
• Make sure you have adequate sleep, the right amount of sleep and a good quality sleep will impact on your well being.
• Eat a healthy balanced varied diet to maintain healthy mind and body.
• Appropriate rest and relaxation to release excess tension and the effects of adrenaline after performance.
• Prepare your mind and body appropriately for your dance schedule.

• Be aware of the warning signs e.g. negative self talk
• Stop any negative self talk. Befriend your inner critic and teach it to make positive statements focus on what you want to achieve.
• Reframe you inner critic Change the voice of your negative internal dialogue e.g. if it is loud change it to a whisper, if it is stern give it a soft quality to the voice, turn you critic into a supportive coach.
• Question inappropriate beliefs about yourself or your abilities and replace them with positive alternatives. E.g. What is your negative belief? - "If I make a mistake the dance is ruined"  Is this true? - Can the audience enjoy the performance anyway, or will all the audience even notice the mistake?  Change the negative belief into a positive one - one or few mistakes will not ruin the whole performance
• Ask yourself is your anxiety caused by:
  Internal dialogue - your thoughts, feeling, your reaction
  Or External - other dancer, music, set, director other situation?
  Does this feeling need to remain or can this be a temporary feeling and not affect the rest of the performance?
• Run a worst case scenario check, work out what is the worst that could happen. On a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being not at all likely, 10 being definite. Work out the likelihood of your worst scenario happening then work out what you may do to prevent or handle the worst.
• If you're overwhelmed, find a Role Model and imagine how someone you admire may handle the performance.
• Focus on what you can change or have control over and accept the things you cannot control.
• Eliminate any outside distractions to focus on the task at hand you can do the golden box visualisation.

A confident dancer may find the physical affects of adrenaline such as butterflies and sweaty palms and perceive them as signals of being ‘psyched up’ and ready to perform and therefore will not experience the negative effects of adrenaline. It is important in order to control the negative effects of performance anxiety to reframe the physical experiences of arousal and build self confidence.

Goal Setting

Setting goals within training and performance is a useful tool to measure your progress. It provides an opportunity to improve your skills or new choreography. Goal setting is an important strategy to manage performance anxiety as you can set goals to cope with the stress of performing. Please see Visualisation for Dancers article for further information.

Be in control of your body

• Be aware of the warning signs e.g. physical discomfort or excessive tension, e.g. biting nail, teeth grinding or tension headache.
• If you feel physical tension, begin to bring your awareness to your breathing and slow your breathing down to a clam natural state. See relaxation article for more information
• To release excessive tension in your body engage in PMR exercise. (Relaxation article)

Visualisation for Performance Anxiety

Visualise yourself performing the dance skills and sequences you will be performing at your best.

 

Peak Performance Visualization by lstanyer

NEVER listen to this audio recording when driving or when you need to concentrate on a particular task.  Only listen when you can relax and not be disturbed from any distractions.

This audio recording will guide you into a state of relaxation, it is best to be comfortable and either sit or lay down in a comfortable place free from distractions.

We advise you listen to this audio recording through headphones for best results.  To begin with, it is best to listen on a daily basis to develop your visualisation skills.

Let Go of Worry Visualisation - to eliminate distractions

Part one

This visualisation is useful for eliminating negative thoughts and feelings that cause distractions that may interfere with your performance.  It enables you to focus on performing at your very best.  This part of the visualisation may be listened to working towards an up and coming performance.  Also, only listen to it several hours before an up and coming performance as you need time to re-energise and warm-up and prepare for the performance.

Let Go of Worry Part One

Part Two

Part two is to be listened to after the performance and at a time you can relax to allow you to start to assess any other stress that may be affecting you.

Let Go of Worry Part Two

Worst Case Check

In performance, situations can arise that may cause you to feel anxiety. Prepare yourself by going though a series of worst-case situations so should they arise they have a solution.

Potential situations:

• You are late to the theatre
• Costumes are damaged, lost or forgotten
• The performance is delayed
• Changes to the choreography, set, environment or music
• It very hot and humid
• Another dancer forgets the partner sequence

Work out what your concerns are and consider possible solutions and coping strategies to prevent them affecting your confidence levels.

The aim of all these strategies are to reduce the fear to a controllable level and reduce negativity until the arousal level is neutral so feeling nerves or excitement is comfortable to you. With continuous practice of these techniques you can make good progress of reducing and eliminate performance anxiety.

Ideally, it is helpful to create a working environment where individuals are nurtured and the group are supported to work together to create an atmosphere where all focus on the success of the whole performance. The great performance is its own reward.

Disclaimer: The information contained on this web page is intended as general guidance and information only. Laura Stanyer and its authors accept no liability for any loss, injury or damage however incurred as a consequence, whether directly or indirectly, of the use this information. All advice on this web page should only be used under the supervision of a qualified dance / fitness / healthcare professional.