For a dancer, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of stepping onstage to perform. Full of anticipation, a dancer will look out over the awaiting audience as the first few notes of music begin to fill the air—music that the dancer has come to know like the back of their hand thanks to hours of practice. The lights come up, the dancer assumes their first position, and then they dazzle the crowd.
Though performing can be like this—magical, rewarding, and fulfilling—as a dance teacher you know that it can take great amounts of time and preparation to get dancers to feel confident enough to enjoy the experience and give it their all.
So, what can you do to help your dancers as they’re prepping for a competition, recital, audition, or showcase? In this guide, we’ll give you five strategies to implement well ahead of your next performance:
While these strategies will be especially helpful for young performers who are new to the stage, don’t overlook their value for experienced competition teams, community performance troupes, and even high schoolers preparing to submit college audition prescreen videos. Even the most seasoned dancers can benefit from tuning up their performance preparation regimens!
Let’s jump right in!
It’s a no-brainer that to successfully perform, your dancers must know their dances inside and out. This helps dancers stay motivated, gain confidence, and learn how to work together as a team. Thus, rehearsals become part of the pre-performance logistics (just like using an audition scheduling tool to sign up for a big school audition or making sure costume alterations are completed in advance).
For effective rehearsals, you should stick to a regular schedule. If you’ll be scheduling a couple of extra rehearsal times outside of your regular class times, let your dancers (and their parents) know well in advance so they can plan accordingly.
Here are some tips to get the most out of your rehearsal time:
Rehearsing is of the utmost importance before a big performance. But remember, there’s no need to overdo it, especially in the last few days or hours before your dancers take to the stage. An Olympic-hopeful runner would never, for example, run a marathon the morning of their qualifying race! Be mindful of how much you’re asking your dancers to do ahead of the performance—too much rehearsing can lead to burnout, self-doubt, and even physical injury.
Performing is physically demanding. While taking care of their bodies should be a priority for dancers at all times, it’s especially critical if they want to do their best on stage.
As a dance teacher, you know the importance of taking care of yourself, and with students looking to you for guidance prior to a performance, you have the opportunity (and responsibility!) to encourage them to get the rest and nutrition they need.
Encourage dancers and their families to implement a regular sleep schedule. Dancers and their parents should learn how much sleep they need and strive to make healthy sleep habits a priority. You can also recommend dancers practice good sleep hygiene by:
In addition to getting great sleep, dancers should also be fueling their bodies with nutritious foods. Provide dancers and their families with lists of suggested meals and snacks or set up team or class potluck dinners ahead of the performance. In general, dancers should be eating foods containing protein and carbohydrates which will provide them with the energy they need to give their dancing their all!
It’s one thing to not know your choreography, but it’s another issue entirely when dancers become paralyzed with fear under the stage lights. Stage fright can be a big roadblock for dancers, and it’s a topic worth covering thoroughly in classes and workshops leading up to a show, audition, competition, or recital.
You might even set up an “Overcoming Stage Fright” camp dancers can enroll in so you can work on stage resiliency together in more depth. Here are some suggested activities you could incorporate into a stage fright prevention camp:
Talking about stage fright and performance anxiety isn’t just a conversation for a day camp or a pre-performance pep talk. You should also talk about stage fright after the performance while the experience of being onstage is still fresh. Learn from your dancers what coping mechanisms worked and what didn’t, and strive to come up with additional ways to ride out the nerves together.
When your dancers are a few days away from performing, you should create a pre-performance checklist of tasks they’re responsible for completing before the big day. This will help dancers and their families stay organized and avoid getting overwhelmed before the show.
Here are a few examples of what you might include on your pre-performance checklist:
In addition to these three checklist items, you could include reminders to bring nutritious snacks to share backstage, protocol for picking dancers up after a big performance, and audience behavior (like whether pictures and videos are allowed during the show).
Performances are important because they allow dancers to show off what they’ve learned in their classes and challenge themselves, and sometimes performing even opens up new and exciting doors of opportunity in the world of dance.
But one single experience on stage won’t define someone’s entire dancing career, no matter if they bump into a fellow performer or have a flawless performance.
That’s why it’s important to stay positive and remind your dancers to have the time of their lives while they’re out on stage. After all, this is why they’re taking dance classes from you—to have fun!
This important reminder will help your dancers focus on enjoying the experience, whether they’re performing for a national competition or a local school fundraiser. And, ultimately, as a dance teacher, you want your dancers to come out of every performance feeling excited to return to class and the stage.
Focusing on the enjoyable aspects of performing, like unique pre-performance rituals (such as team cheers and songs), post-show parties, pictures with dance friends, and the exhilaration of bringing your best to the dance floor will go a long way in helping you to foster a positive studio culture and empower each and every dancer to love dancing.
As a dance teacher, you know that preparing your dancers for a performance is no small feat. But, by leveraging these five strategies, you can prepare your dancers for success and set them up to have a wonderful time doing what they love under the bright stage lights!
This is a guest post by Emily Hucle at Acceptd. Emily Hucle is the Operations Director of Acceptd, a Togetherwork company that is the premier recruitment, application, and audition platform for the arts. In her free time, Emily enjoys decorating homes and events, creating floral arrangements, and attending concerts and shows.