Long-time dancer terrified of performing solo

[Delphi]

This is probably going to sound very silly but, I need some help!

I have been dancing for well over a decade, mostly in Irish Step, belly dance, and ballroom & Latin. I've taught the two latter for the past 4 or so years and have competed in them, as well as Irish Step, for just as long. I've also started teaching belly dance again after a few years hiatus and absolutely love it. In general, I love to teach and find it a very comfortable and easy thing to do. The thing is, I'm terrified to perform live!

I've done Irish Step live quite a few times, mostly at Renaissance Faires and Irish restaurants with live bands, and it has almost always been impromptu and a spur-of-the-moment thing. I *never* get butterflies in my tummy and even if I screw up, I don't get nervous or scared and just keep smiling and dancing. I've also done quite a few live performances with my belly dance old troupe, "The Celtic Gypsies" (Irish Step/Scottish Highland/belly dance fusion), and I was perfectly fine. But when it comes to belly dancing solo, I'm absolutely horrified! I don't know what it is but any time the opportunity comes up, I freeze with terror and just can't do it. If it's improv, my mind goes blank and all I can do is the simplest of moves, and most of the time they don't even go with the music. If it's choreo, I forget it no matter how many times I've practiced and I usually end up just messing the whole thing up.

I'm well past the point in my dancing that I *know* I should be comfortable in performing solo. I just can't seem to get past this fear! So please, fellow dancers, give me some advice and help me get over this so I can finally enjoy dancing like I've always wanted to! Thanks!!

 

[Roshanna]

I don't want to come across as mean, especially since you are new here, but having read your post, I do wonder if you are ready to be teaching bellydance classes yet? It seems that although you are experienced in other dance forms, you aren't yet very experienced as a bellydancer, if you have not yet performed solo. Since solo performance is such a vital part of this dance, it is really important for teachers to be confident as solo performers, so that they can pass these skills on to their students.

Experience in other dances can be a slight advantage when learning, but it doesn't necessarily translate to being good at bellydance straight away, as the movements are so different to the other dances you've learned. The solo, improvised nature of bellydance, and its relationship to Arabic music, are also things that make it unique and challenging to perform.

If at all possible, I think the best thing for you would be approach bellydance as a student for now, and work on improvisation and developing as a solo performer. If you are able to find a regular class with a good teacher who provides performance opportunities for her students, then you'll have the chance to work on your performance skills in a safe environment - most teachers I've been to will teach improvisation and performance skills to their higher level students, with opportunities to do things like dance for each other solo or in small groups, or taking turns to improvise in a circle, to get over the fear of performing.

Good luck!

 

[Delphi]

Hi Roshanna,

I don't think I explained myself correctly before. I'm sorry. I'm currently teaching belly dancing as more of a light work-out/self-embracing/community dance than anything, as the classes are held at a yoga & healing studio and are very zoned in on a certain end-game. Very beginner and very basic. I wouldn't dare try to overstep myself and teach something I'm not entirely comfortable with such as advanced or above.

Basically what I'm asking for here is advice on how to get over this ridiculous fear I have. To be brutally honest (and if you knew me, you'd know that I absolutely hate tooting my own horn in any way, shape or form!), as a belly dancer I know what I'm doing. It's not the lack of knowledge of moves or execution or musicality that's holding me back but this strange sort of stage-fright I have that only seems to really effect me as a belly dancer. How do you *know* that you're entertaining your crowd? How do you *know* you're not boring them? Basically, I think those are my two most prominent fears.

Thanks for the input though, Roshanna. It is appreciated!

 

[Yame]

I agree with Roshanna. If you have never performed belly dance solo, this leads me to think your experience with belly dance is minimal. It doesn't matter if you're teaching "just" baby beginners or advanced students, your students have the right to learn from someone who is experienced in what they are doing.

Performing isn't for everyone, and some people are better at teaching than performing. I have no issues whatsoever with people who teach and are retired from performing, or people who mostly teach and don't perform often, but I do have a problem with people who teach without having ever performed on their own. If you have never performed solo at all, you have not developed enough as a dancer to be out there teaching. There are many things you have not yet learned.

And to be perfectly honest, maybe you should be scared. As a teacher, you are a professional belly dancer, and other belly dancers will expect a high quality performance from you. From the moment you started teaching, you have raised the bar for yourself and raised the expectations other people will have of you. You are not just a student and you can not hide under that label and use it as an excuse for poor performance skills, because at this point you should be able to act as an example and inspiration for your students and your peers.

Could this perhaps be the reason this stage-fright you have is unique to belly dance?

 

[Delphi]

Hi Yame,

I have performed solo before. It's how I know that I have this terrible stage-fright to begin with. But maybe it's just like you said, maybe I'm better at teaching than performing.

 

[DancingArabian]

Basically what I'm asking for here is advice on how to get over this ridiculous fear I have. To be brutally honest (and if you knew me, you'd know that I absolutely hate tooting my own horn in any way, shape or form!), as a belly dancer I know what I'm doing. It's not the lack of knowledge of moves or execution or musicality that's holding me back but this strange sort of stage-fright I have that only seems to really effect me as a belly dancer. How do you *know* that you're entertaining your crowd? How do you *know* you're not boring them? Basically, I think those are my two most prominent fears.

Thanks for the input though, Roshanna. It is appreciated!

How do you know when doing ANY dance whether or not you're entertaining your crowd and not boring them? Or is it that when you're doing other dances, you're not worried about those things?

IMO it sounds like a lack of confidence in your abilities that's manifesting. Maybe you feel like you're only good enough to teach the baby steps but not perform the big ones.

 

[Ariadne]

How do you *know* that you're entertaining your crowd? How do you *know* you're not boring them? Basically, I think those are my two most prominent fears.

How do you know that when you perform other styles of dance? How often do you just dance improve at home to BD music? It sounds like you've internalized Irish Step/Scottish Highland dance but you haven't internalized bellydance yet. Practice, practice, practice. If you can get yourself a teacher too. The best dancers never stop learning and there is always someone better at something (my teacher who had been a performing professional for years still took classes from another pro for this reason).

 

[Dunyah]

I don't disagree with the concerns raised about teaching when you've rarely performed. Yes, belly dance is a performing art, but it sounds like you are not teaching people who want to perform. You can refer students who do want teaching in that area to another instructor, that would be the ethical thing to do. But I will address the stage fright issue.

One thing you can do is to "throw" your awareness out into the audience so that you are attempting to see things from their perspective instead of having all of your attention focused on yourself. This is a trick I learned when studying public speaking, but it also pertains to any performance. Try to be less self-conscious and more concerned with the experienced the audience is having. Try to send out love and energy through your hands, heart, face. Try to really feel that love you have for them, for the music and the dance. Try to project that feeling all the way to the far corners of the room.

Be thoroughly prepared - including videotaping yourself in the costume you will be wearing. Practice in front of friends or students. Imagine people watching as you rehearse and practice making eye contact with them.

I swear by L-Theanine, a nutritional supplement available at health food stores. It is made only of green tea, which has two active ingredients, L-Theanine and caffeine. Green tea is known for its calming and focusing properties as well as the energy boost from the caffeine. L-theanine is the concentrated form of the calming/focusing ingredient in a capsule form. Take two of these an hour before your show. Practice ahead of time so you know how you react to it, but I have found the results to be amazing. I have danced far longer than you and stage fright has been a demon I have wrestled with from the beginning. Once you have a few experiences performing without the debilitating stage fright, that mental loop will be broken and you won't get as scared in the future.

L-Theanine won't make you dizzy or less conscious, it just relaxes your mind and helps you focus.

Use affirmations like "I love my dance, I love my costume, I love all these people." Or whatever works for you right before going out to perform. If you perform from a place of love and not fear, people will respond positively to your dance.

And just try to get out there and perform as often as you can, it's a set of skills related to but different from purely dance skills.

Hope this helps, good luck. Let us know if you are able to overcome the fear.

 

[AspiringDancer]

I'm in the process of overcoming stage fright. The difference between now and last year is incredible. It's so frustrating to get stage fright because I/we love the dance and want to share it but the nerves can be absolutely debilitating. Unfortunately, the first time I even realized I had serious stage fright was performing with a live band and I was going through the movements but I wasn't smiling, looking down and obviously uncomfortable and scared. Some things that are helping me:

-Focus on your character/story. When you are involved in creating a story for your dance you become less concerned with your fears.

-The audience wants to see you smiling and happy. I've seen some pretty bad technique but when it's paired with love, enthusiasm and a big smile it looks a heck of a lot better than the most skilled dancer with no expression.

-You need to trust your musicality, skill and desire to want to share your dance.

-Like a poster mentioned, practice a lot and always imagine the audience.

-I like to put my iPod on shuffle and dance to whatever comes up so that I get used to the unexpected.

-Develop a pre-show warm up. It can be meditative, self-affirming mantras, visualization. One teacher told me not to imagine the performance but to visualize smiling and being happy after it's over.

I'll be watching this thread because I need more advice too. Every little bit helps!

 

[gisela]

Lots of good advice here. Some things I think I will try myself. After 9 years of dancing and lots of solos and even a few competitions, I am still awfully nervous and scared. It doesn't make me freeze up or go blank though, but I'm terribly uncomfortable for quite a while before.

When I was learning to do improvised performances I chose a really short song (2 minutes or less) and worked up from there. The first few times were awkward and not great by any means. I'm thinking you could try something similar. Do a really short solo just to gain some confidence and get out on the "stage" at haflas or any low-key event. Accept that it might not be your best performance right from the start. Then challenge yourself a tiny bit more each time.

 

[Darshiva]

I do get terrible stage fright and it is horrible. I'm always the one nervously pacing backstage trying to talk to everyone else to distract herself from the mass of hungry hordes that want to see her fail!

One thing that really helped was seeing a seasoned pro of 20+ years experience having trouble with her own stage fright and when I asked her about it, she said that if she didn't get butterflies she'd stop dancing because she knew she no longer cared.

To be honest though, I find that the butterflies disappear after a few moments on stage when the love of the music and dancing to it takes over. I realise that everyone experiences stage fright differently, but this is the primary reason why I encourage my students to smile while they're dancing - because it reminds you how much you enjoy dancing. If you don't enjoy bellydance, why are you doing it? I'm not suggesting it's wrong to have other motivations, but maybe thinking about this question and answering it honestly will hold the key to dealing with the way that stage fright affects you.

But I think the most important thing to remember is that you're nervous because you care.

 

[khanjar]

Everything I know about being comfortable in front of others be it dancing or anything is down to self confidence, you don't have the self confidence everything will become a wall in front of you, but the OP teaches so confidence must be there somewhere inside. Could it be because the OP has stated the level at which she teaches is a measure of her abilities, whether those abilities be real or imagined and so in a performance situation the word performance is the problem because unlike eager dance students what is in front is people who perhaps paid to be entertained and the reality is the OP might believe she is not good enough and that based on the admitted level at which she teaches?

 

[AndreaSTL]

How do you *know* that you're entertaining your crowd? How do you *know* you're not boring them?

Please accept that you won't be able to entertain every audience member for every minute of every performance. Think about the last show you attended and the conversation with your friends afterward. Was there a dancer that you loved and they didn't or vice versa? Check out the thought provoking thread in costuming - one person can't stand a costume but another thinks it's fun and interesting.

An audience member might like or dislike you based on your skill, musical choice, interpretation of the music, costume choice, or physical appearance. There's no way to cater to all of that! Be who you are, and put it out there with the understanding that it will not be loved by all. Creative people in all fields - painters, sculptors, writers, fashion designers, architects - do it every time they present their work. It isn't easy to do, I know. I'm fat, and I've seen disgust on an audience member's face because of it. They don't see my dancing just my size. It's hard to see and a confidence killer to be sure, but then I see someone else who's face is lit up and I focus on them.

It's funny that even though we're sometimes scared to death to perform we're still driven to do it anyway. If you can figure out the root of the fear you might be able to minimize your stage fright. Until then know your choreography, take deep breaths, take supplements, bounce on the balls of your feet - do whatever it takes to calm yourself before you step out there. Hopefully you'll find something that works for you!

 

[Dunyah]

It's funny that even though we're sometimes scared to death to perform we're still driven to do it anyway. If you can figure out the root of the fear you might be able to minimize your stage fright. Until then know your choreography, take deep breaths, take supplements, bounce on the balls of your feet - do whatever it takes to calm yourself before you step out there. Hopefully you'll find something that works for you!

I know that for me, I hate the feeling of being judged. Of course you are being judged every time you get on stage, but putting myattention on the audience and what I am giving, instead of on myself and my insecurities does help me. I'm not good in competitions, they are just not for me, though I do them sometimes just to push myself.

I can't focus on all my shortcomings before a show, I need to focus on projecting good energy. Feeling prepared and feeling confident are important, too.

 

[AndreaSTL]

Dunyah, you are a step ahead of me! At least you know why you get nervous. I have no clue. It's not even a constant thing. Sometimes I'm not nervous at all, other times it will hit me just before I go on, and sometimes I'm mildly anxious all day (this doesn't happen very often). There's not even any consistency about what type of performance it is - hafla, workshop show, public thing. I can never predict if I'll be excited or nervous to get up there. If I do start to feel anxiety I try to close my eyes and take some deep breaths for focus.

 

[Delphi]

Thank you all for your wonderful posts! I'm going to try everything you've suggested - supplements, mantras, breathing exercises, and, of course, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! I believe that it's a good mixture of lack of confidence in performing and good ol' stage fright on my part, but I am *determined* to get over it. I love dancing and it is a huge part of my life, and while I do love teaching and, yes, have more confidence in that than I do for performing, I really am going to work on getting myself out there more often and pushing myself to do it. My goal is that I will someday walk out onto a stage and be wholly focused on what I am doing and the love I have for the dance and the music and the audience and feel not a shred of anxiety or fear. Again, thank you all for your fantastic advice. I'll keep you all posted on my progress, and of course keep on checking to see if anyone else has more advice or reports on progress of their own!

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I have been dancing for well over a decade, mostly in Irish Step, belly dance, and ballroom & Latin. I've taught the two latter for the past 4 or so years ... In general, I love to teach and find it a very comfortable and easy thing to do. The thing is, I'm terrified to perform live!

I've done Irish Step live quite a few times, mostly at Renaissance Faires and Irish restaurants with live bands, and...I *never* get butterflies in my tummy and even if I screw up, I don't get nervous...but when it comes to belly dancing solo, I'm absolutely horrified!

You say you started teaching after six years, which isn't long, considering you were studying several different dance styles during that period. Were you studying belly dance throughout those six years, how many classes a week were you attending, and at what age? How long did you study "straight" belly dance (either traditional or Tribal) before moving into fusion styles? What classes are you attending now?

Like some other posters, I wonder if your stage fright with belly dancing is telling you something - i.e. that you're not as ready as you think you are. Knowing a bit more detail about your background would help us give more specific advice.