Top 3 Performance Psychology Tips for Dancers

From building confidence, to empowering self-talk and managing nerves, Former soloist and mental performance consultant Lauren Ostrander-McArdle gives her top 3 tips that can change the way you perform and feel about yourself as a dancer.

1. Build confidence by tracking evidence of your ability

Confidence is defined by the belief in ourselves and our ability. We can have multiple sources of confidence (Albert Bandura, 1977), including what we call mastery experiences.

We are often very quick to write down corrections, go over notes of what to improve, and focus entirely on what’s lacking. These are all important aspects of growth and progress as a dancer AND when we only focus on that, it can be easy to lose sight of our strengths and what we are already doing well.

This strategy involves keeping a journal of your corrections (like you’ve been hearing since you were young) and writing down the things you’re doing well too.

Keep track of feedback such as:

• “better!”

• “that’s the correct timing!”

• “this looks so much stronger today”

• “good!”

• “that was gorgeous”

• “I love the way you used your port de bras here”

Those notes deserve a permanent place too, just like keeping your turnout, staying on quarter, and keeping your shoulders down. 

The goal is that the more evidence you can find of your ability, the stronger your belief in yourself will be.

2. Be aware of what you are saying to yourself about yourself (self-talk)

Your thoughts directly impact your performance. They influence your emotions, your physical state, your confidence, your pirouettes, and so much more. Your thoughts matter.

Productive > Positive

It doesn’t have to be positive all the time, but we do want the content of our thoughts to be productive, effective, helpful, and focused on what we want to achieve vs what we don’t.

Thoughts are not laws

Thoughts are just thoughts. They aren’t facts, they aren’t laws, and you can choose which ones you give power to. 

If a thought comes up that isn’t helpful, let it pass.

Shift your focus

If you can direct your focus to something effective and let your self-talk reflect that, your performance will likely follow.

Example: “I’m worried I’m not good enough to do this role.” → notice it → let it pass → shift your focus to how much you’ve prepared and how much you love dancing

3. Learn to manage nerves, not eliminate them

Awareness is key. Everyone’s experience with nerves (performance anxiety, stage fright, etc.) is different and often varies by role, rank, and performance. Start to notice the symptoms that show up for you, how do you know you’re feeling nervous vs normal?

Common examples include increased heart rate, sweaty palms, jitters, muscle tension, butterflies, dry mouth, pacing, racing thoughts, self-doubt, and fear of mistakes. 

The benefits of awareness of these nerves are long term and numerous. 

1. Catch the ramp-up: You can catch nerves early and bring them back into a manageable range before they escalate.

2.  Find your sweet spot: Some level of activation is helpful. We don’t want to feel too low, but we also don’t want to feel out of control.

3. Stay in the driver’s seat: Each dancer has an optimal zone of activation (adrenaline, energy, etc.). Being able to recognize where you are, where you want to be, and how to regulate that allows you to stay in control, instead of getting nervous about being nervous.

Working with a mental performance consultant can help you identify your optimal zone and build a personalized toolkit to manage nerves and perform at your best consistently.

Written by Lauren Ostrander-McArdle, M.S. Mental Performance Consultant & Former Soloist