Nerves Made Me Do It!

Nerves Made Me Do It!

Picture it.  A gorgeous 1500 seat, Vaudevillian theater with red velvet seats and luscious, red carpet.  A fresco on the ceiling with gilded columns along the walls.  On the stage is a 65+ piece professional, classical orchestra.  The music begins, and a trio of dancers glide out onto the stage to their marks.  Silk veils begin to swirl, hips sway.  And then…Elvis shows up.  He shows up on my face.  His lip “quiver and lift” makes an appearance on my face on most occasions when I dance in a large theater and I can’t see the audience.

Nerves can make us do some crazy things.  Like scribble around changing moves too quickly or not in sync with the musical phrase.  Nerves can make you clench your jaw, hold your breath and commit the dreaded frantic dancing.  I recently asked for input from dancers in belly dance groups on social media to see what kinds of things nerves made them do and what the wish they had known at the time.

Adrienne P. shared this….”My hands shook so badly I couldn’t play my zils right. It was awful.  I would have just stopped playing if I were more seasoned. (But) I just white knuckled through.”

You may already know what that feels like.  Maybe you can’t catch your breath or don’t really hear the music.  You might panic and not remember anything you did when it’s over.   Or perhaps you can’t connect to the audience and hide from them by gazing downward or dancing in only one spot?  OR…

Delores P. shares this…. “One time I was dancing on a large stage and had this burst of uncontrolled energy and went all the way to the front edge (of the stage) to start dancing. I was surprised to be there.  I think the audience was surprised too”, she added.

I bet Delores got the audience’s attention.

I love to dance on large stages with great lighting.   But that’s when Elvis shows up because I can’t see and receive feedback from the audience.  Other dancers may get hijacked by nerves in smaller settings when the audience is near, and the dancer CAN see their faces.

Nerves can be like a self-licking ice cream cone.  Nerves beget nerves.  We can either try to control them or release and redirect them.  When we “control” something, that implies that some kind of “force” is needed.  Force and control will likely create even more tension.  But release and redirection can help us use our nerves to our advantage.

Cynthia C. & Rosalind Y. both shared….. “My lips quiver!”  Rosalind adds… “I have never heard of anyone else having the issue until now 🙂 It is so bad that I end up pressing my lips together to control (it), and then in pictures & videos of course, I looked tight-lipped and unsmiling”.

Now, I was surprised that this issue came up multiple times in my request for input.   I thought it was just me and had no idea that many other people deal with the same issue.  So how can we release or redirect the tension of that cycle?

One way of doing that is if you find yourself doing something that you’d rather not do (i.e. frantic dancing, holding your breath or clenching your jaw or lips), instead of telling yourself NOT to do something (which can be UNproductive), consider replacing it with something that you DO want to do (which is PROductive).  For example, we can replace frantic dancing with spending full phrases of music on a move or idea before changing to another.  Holding the breath and jaw clenching or lip pursing can be replaced with parted lips and breathing the melody, or even softly humming it…as long as the audience doesn’t hear you.  Breathing and throat humming with the breath can be magic for softening facial expressions and easing a lip quiver.

Along with melodic breathing or humming, when I am performing in a large theater setting, I like to picture two little dachshunds named Clover and Clyde sitting up in a box seat.  That box seat moves around the theater just for them (and for me!).  If nerves hit in a smaller, more intimate venue, you might consider picturing a friendly face or some cute little animal sitting on an audience member’s shoulder, something that you can connect with to put you more at ease.  Just don’t forget about your real audience members too.

Jillian C told me…. “Nerves…that’s why I actually dance. I find that with each performance I beat my anxiety demon (whose name is Algernon) down a bit.”

Let’s recap what we’ve covered here.  Nerves can sometimes get the best of us. Some dancers may experience tension in small venues, but not in large ones or vice versa.  Rather than trying to control our nerves, release and redirection can help us use our nerves to our best advantage.

Now thankfully I’ve never been able to detect my “Elvis lip” on video.  Everyone I’ve asked tells me they couldn’t see what I described either.  So it must not be as big as it feels because it feels HUGE!  But I sure am thankful for the vision of Clover and Clyde sitting up in those box seats!  “Thank ya very much!” (in your best Elvis voice 😊 )

Farha L. shared her experience with me.  She says…. “I had a big over-dancing problem.  I practiced feeling like I was under-dancing and having patience.” She adds that “mapping the music gives me an anchor, and sort of acts like a voice saying “it’s OK, don’t speed up/change yet.  So if my confidence in my choices ever wavers, I can do an ‘appeal to authority argument’, where the music is the authority.”

Now with some nervous behaviors, chances are really good that the audience won’t even notice.  But the problem is, is that YOU notice.  Don’t let nerves rob you of the joy of your performance experience.  Learn to cultivate strategies that put you back into the driver’s seat.  It’s your show and YOU are the boss of your dance.

If pre-show nerves are a problem for you, check out our video “Expression in Improv” which has techniques to help you diffuse nerves and open up to your audience.  You can get it on its own or as part of the $5 premium upgrade when you buy the Improvisation Toolkit, Vol. 1.  And…as part of the 10-year Toolkit birthday celebration, you can save 20% on downloadable or DVD versions of any Improvisation Toolkit videos from now through November 26, 2018.  Just use the coupon code BIRTHDAY during checkout at www.bellydancegeek.com/store .