Building Confidence and Reducing Stress with your Dancing
It’s easy for teachers to say “Don’t Stress” or “Just Relax” when it comes to dancing, as if it is as simple as turning off a light switch; and with our own added self-pressure of ‘getting it right’, makes relaxing (at times) seem impossible.
So, what are some things we can do to relieve the tension and essentially bring an air of confidence to our dancing?
Posture: One thing we can do is look at our posture. By lifting our chest and lowering our shoulders it physically and subconsciously changes our way of thinking to a more positive state. Next time you dance, try to keep your head lifted and be proud of the fact that you are trying. Let your ‘chest light shine’.
Breathing: We all know how to breathe, but under nervous or stressful situations we may sometimes forget to breathe or tend to take shallow chest breaths. Deep, controlled, low abdominal breathing helps us to feel grounded in our dancing as well as helping us to be more certain and reassured. Deep breaths in a way can make it feel like time has slowed down because we feel more at ease and relaxed and those fast dances may not seem as fast.
Visualisation and Language: Our mental health and state of mind is just as important as our physical health when it comes to dancing. Negative thoughts or saying “I will never be good enough” stops us from ever reaching our full potential. Changing our language and internal monologue to be more positive helps to build confidence. Visualisation is also great tool too. By imagining yourself doing the steps, it gives your brain a focus and a goal to work on. People who set goals in their learning are more likely to improve faster than people who do not.
Trust and Ask: Teachers are there to help and support your learning. Your teachers wouldn’t lie to you or saying you’re doing a good job, if they didn’t believe that you were progressing in your learning. Trust in your teachers. If you have concerns or worries don’t be afraid to ask your teacher for help, they may have a solution. We are our own harshest critics and our problems could be all in our head.
Embrace your Uniqueness: Even the Professionals have their worries! Did you know, that famous dancer Fred Astaire was ashamed of his “abnormally” large hands, so he used to wear white gloves or use a cane in his routines to hide them. This look of gloves and cane became his signature dance style look. Sometimes we don’t realise what we consider our biggest flaw can also be our greatest asset. No one else can do what you do or dance like you. Embrace your ‘flaws’ and make them your own personal style.
The bottom line is we all get stressed from time to time and it may be hard to look pass our struggles and see the silver lining or see how much we have improved. Having skill may make someone a good dancer, but it’s having the resilience and the determination that makes someone a GREAT dancer. Push pass the stress and the confidence will come.