Preparing to compete, perform, or even attend a class can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially for amateur dancers who haven’t had the benefit of years of performance training and experience.

Professional athletes have used mental training for competitions and injury recovery for some time now, and the positive results of use these techniques is well documented, although not for the field of dance. Many professional dancers do include mental techniques in training; however, most dancers have little experience with or information about them.

One of the major advantages of the sports psychology approach is that it uses straightforward, well-researched training that you can adapt at any time. It also presents consistent data to measure the effects of stress on athletes and of the success of mental training programs in improving athletic performance.

The approach can be broken down as follows:

Understanding stress and performance. Stress affects the dancer not only on a physical level, but emotionally and psychologically as well. Without this knowledge, you may not have a clear picture of how stress affects your self-confidence, personal outlook, career goals, and even your ability to learn new skills. Understanding is critical to your success in dance–if you are not aware of its effects you may become discouraged, lose faith in your ability, and give up dancing altogether.

Goals and strategies to suit the individual needs of dancers. Setting goals to reduce stress is based on the concept of process. By understanding the goal-setting process, you can develop skills that can be adapted as needed.

Exercises to help dancers meet their goals. Techniques such as centering, developing process cues, and mental imagery are essential to combatting stress.

Evaluation. Monitoring and evaluating your progress is an essential component of the approach, as no progress can be made without awarenesS.

The Nideffer Stress Model

Sports psychologist Robert Nideffer, Ph.D., has developed a diagram he calls “The Stress Model” to explain the effects pressure on performance.



Nideffer Stress Model

From the diagram you can see how stress creates a snowball effect on performance. When stressed, your muscles tense, breathing becomes shallow, you feel pain or cramps in the stomach, and your hands may begin to shake. These physical responses affect your balance and concentration to say the least.

Many of the physical responses to stress result from excess adrenaline. When you sense a threat of any kind, your brain sends signals to your neurological system to prepare for action–the ‘flight or fight response.’

Muscle Tension

The primary danger to performance comes from increased muscle tension. Good performances are almost always the result of relaxed muscles.

Unfortunately, most people tend to tense the very muscles that are most needed for performance, particularly in the extremities. Musician’s hands may start to feel stiff; your hip or knees may begin to ache.

Negative Thinking

Psychologically, the most damaging affect of stress is negative thinking. The faster your mind goes, the less efficient it is, and the more scattered your thoughts become. Self-doubts take over, and thoughts of failure add to other issues dancers experience.

Negative thought patterns experienced by performers under stress fall into three categories:

1. Focusing on Failure

2. Irrational Thinking

3. Tunnel Vision

Many dancers start out predicting failure before the performance or competition has even begun, with such self-talk as ‘I’m going to blow this whole show.’ They may also give in to irrational thinking, which includes unreasonable thoughts and fears, such as the fear that the floor will cave in on you during a competition, or that your instructor may not want to teach you if you don’t win a competition. Finally, dancers often develop tunnel vision, meaning that they focus too much on the outcome, not the process: ‘I’ve got to win,’ ‘I have to be thebest,’ etc.

Motivation: The Importance of Goals

To succeed, performers must have an inner sense of purpose, or motivation. This purpose or determination is often more valuable than talent. In addition, it is one of the key factors related to performance that dancers can control.

Motivation requires setting clearly defined goals and concrete strategies. Goals a dancer chooses should be specific, inspirational, and attainable. Examples of specific goals in dance performance include technique improvement, such as the ability to execute multiple turns or lead a particular pattern; and mental skills, such as the ability to remember a choreography or movement sequence.

Your goals should be personal and meaningful to you. Depending on others to create goals for you can backfire. Remember that your goals should inspire you to go beyond your current abilities.

Adopt goals that you can reach within a given time frame, and make sure they are not below your current level of ability. If your goals are too distant, you will lose focus; if they are too easy, you will become bored.

Intensity: Finding a Balance

Intensity refers to a level of physical energy and is a measure of the physiological preparedness you have reached by the time of performance. Changes in intensity occur in the hours and minutes leading up to a performance and may positively–or negatively impact your performance. For example, one dancer might label the physical changes as “excitement,” while another may call them “fear and loathing.” Both dancers feel heightened states of intensity, but the result is very different. Fear often results in shutting down, muscle tension, difficulty breathing, and loss of coordination. In contrast, excitement usually increases energy and motivates you to work harder.

Some dancers perform better when they are relaxed; others do better when they feel energized. The ideal level of intensity is very individual, and each dancer must find the right level between over- and underintensity.

Yerkes-Dodson Inverted-U Theory of Intensity

Symptoms of overintensity include extreme muscle tension, numbness in the limbs, shaking muscles, difficulty breathing, and excessive perspiration. Other symptoms are psychological and emotional, such as negative self-talk (‘I know I’m going to screw this up,’). Symptoms of underintensity include lack of energy, poor concentration, and lethargy or boredom.

Because the symptoms of over- and underintensity are usually physical, they can be wrongly identified as health problems, e.g., what you ate before a performance, coming down with a cold., etc. These symptoms are almost always the result of stress, not actual injuries or health problems.

The key to reducing overintensity is building self-confidence before you jump into a stressful situation. Relaxation and other techniques, regular physical exercise, and sleep are some of the ways you can lower your intensity level before performing. In addition, you should desensitize yourself and even look forward to high intensity by simulating situations that cause anxiety or competing more often. You must also learn to activate and deactivate quickly, that us to say, to quickly and effectively adjust your intensity level under stress.

Centering Down

Centering is a strategy used to channel nervous energy under extreme circumstances developed by Dr. Robert Nideffer in the 1970s for athletes. It is a crucial skill for shifting from left to right brain activity right before a performance. As your left brain speeds up, your thinking becomes more scattered and probably more negative. The faster it goes, the less you’re focused, the tighter your muscles, and the more negative the outcomes you envision.

Following is a summary of Nideffer’s method of centering down:

1. Find a balanced position. Begin by sitting comfortably with your hands in your lap. Or you can stand with your head tilted down slightly, your feet shoulder-width apart, and your arms hanging heavy at your sides. Either way, find a balanced position. If you want, you can adopt either of these poses with your chin resting gently on your chest.

2. Form a “Clear Intention.” In the Centering Down process, there is a ‘going in’ and a ‘coming out.’ You start the process by forming a clear idea of what you intend to do when you ‘come out’ of the Centering. Focus your attention on exactly what you want to accomplish. Your clear intention must be stated in precise terms. For example, you might say: 'I am going to practice turning or hitch-kicks for the next twenty minutes.’ For now your clear intention might be: 'I’m going to learn how to Center Down.'

3. Pick your focus point. Direct your focus to a specific location in your performance space, some distance away, where you will channel the extra energy that accompanies most stressful performances and adverse circumstances. This focus point should be below your eye level, which makes it easier to focus on effortlessly. Again, your focus point is a precise spot. It could be a chair in the back of the auditorium. Just make sure that it’ is lower than eye level.

4. Focus on your breathing. After choosing your focus point, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Eventually you will be able to focus with your eyes open, looking down, with a ‘soft focus.’ For now, practice with your eyes shut. Breathe slowly and deeply throughout your entire torso. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Do this for three to seven breaths, or as long as it takes for you to become fully mindful of your breathing.

5. Scan for excess tension and release it. Check your muscles. The simple process of checking them will release tension. As you continue to breathe fully, begin to scan your body for tension. On each inhale, check one area. Then breathe out any tension you find on the exhale. Continue to do this for three to seven breaths, until all of your muscles are relaxed.

6. Find your center. Concentration is like a still pond–each thought that you have is like a pebble splashing into the water. Centering requires that you quiet your mind before performing. Locate your center-- approximately two inches below your navel and two inches into your body. This is your center of gravity. Use a hand if it helps. It is not as important to define a precise location for your center as it is to get out of your mind and into your body. Focus on feeling the ground or chair beneath you as a solid, stabilizing force. If you are seated, sense your seat bones against the chair, and releasing your lower back muscles to achieve more contact. Whether you are sitting or standing, the idea is to create a solid foundation from your waist down. Typically, when under stress, we move our center of gravity up, making it more difficult to balance. Your power comes from your center; your solid foundation is below. You need to focus your energy downward, towards your center. Feel stable in your center and stay there for three two seven breaths. Repeat this exercise often.

7. Repeat your Process Cues. Once fully at your center for three or more breaths, use supporting images or words, known as Process Cues, to move your brain from left brain thinking to right brain imaging. Think cause words rather than effect words, such as ‘support’ and ‘flow’. These help bring you back to the idea of process. Having found your center, coordinate your Process Cues with your breathing: inhale, 'flow', exhale, inhale, 'flow', exhale. Do this for as long as it takes to get into your right brain, where you can ‘quietly’ see yourself doing the correct movements and feel yourself performing well. Imagine that!

8. Direct your energy. From your solid base, gather your energy at your center. Then allow it so spin up and through your torso. Feel it rise up to your neck, open your eyes, and allow it to go out in a flowing motion. Then narrow and intensify it, like a laser beam. Direct it a place in the distance, at your focus point.

9. Sense the connection between your center and your focus point. You are ready to make your clear intention a reality. Summon your courage and trust your talent and experience. You can smile, as you let go and go for it!

The entire exercise should last no more than a few minutes. You should practice this exercise several times a day at first, perhaps with your physical warm-up exercises.

Aside from exercises such as this, there are a variety of techniques for controlling intensity that are employed by athletes, professionals and military personnel for controlling intensity, including meditation and biofeedback, all of which may be worth investigation by dancers.