3 Dancer Confidence Killers and How to Combat Them

Do you ever notice some dancers' confidence takes a vacation right before a class or audition? Or how about when they’re about to go onstage for a performance or competition? Have you noticed some dancers suddenly do things they normally wouldn't do when they're under pressure (i.e. forget choreography or forget to perform)? Well, first of all, you’re not alone. Many dancers struggle with their self-confidence. Particularly when they're stressed.

Confidence is an important skill to impart to your dancers. "Skill” is the important word here. Confidence isn’t something people are born with or not. Confidence changes based on the situation. Confidence is something that can be learned.

A dancer might be very confident in a ballet class, but if they were to take a waacking class, they might be a little more hesitant. Why? Because if they’re more comfortable in ballet, they have probably practiced it more than waacking. The great news is, if a dancer isn't confident in a situation, you can shift that. Dancers can build their confidence.

Here’s are the three biggest dancer confidence killers and a few tips on how you can combat them.

1. Goals are out of control

Do you think the dancers in your classes go into an audition with the goal of being cast in the role of their choice? Or how about going into a class at a convention with the goal of being “called out”? How about going to competition and only wanting the highest score? While these types of motivations might seem appropriate for the situations, there is one fatal flaw they share: None of these goals are within these dancers' control.

Dancers have no control over whether they get cast or not. They can do their best, but they can’t make someone cast them, they can’t make a teacher recognize them in class, and ever how prepared they might be, a dancer never knows if someone will score higher than them in a competition.

When dancers don’t have control over their own success or failure, do you know what can happen? Their confidence can wane. Confidence is built upon our own belief in ourselves in a situation - that we are capable, resilient, and under control.

Setting our sights on things that are outside our own control takes the power to succeed away from us and puts it into someone else’s hands. This is called extrinsic motivation. Kendra Cherry, in Very Well Mind says, “Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity because we want to earn a reward or avoid punishment.”

When dancers have extrinsic motivation, they're seeking validation from the outside world. Now, wanting to get a job or win some attention isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if it’s the only thing they’re thinking about, it’s not really the healthiest mindset.

But, what if we chose to help dancers shift their motivation from extrinsic to intrinsic? What if we helped them learn to focus on something they can control?

Instead of heading into, say, a competition telling your team that it’s “platinum or bust”, you could help dancers set a goal that they're going to try to be as connected as possible on stage with their fellow dancers. Now, that is something (awesome) they can control. And every time they set goals that are within their power and they accomplish them, they put another rhinestone onto their glowing crowns of self-confidence!

2. They have biased expectations

The Centre for Clinical Interventions says, “Biased expectations are negative thoughts that commonly occur when you encounter an ‘at-risk-situation.’” If dancers are about to go into a class and expect to not do a good job remembering the combinations, they might just have a biased expectation.

When we create our own biased expectations, we overestimate the likelihood that something bad is going to happen. This can sometimes lead dancers to make decisions based on incorrect information. What if a dancer decided not to go to a dance class because they assumed they would mess up? Then, they wouldn't improve over time and their future as a dancer could be impacted.

One of the healthiest things we can do when we encounter a biased expectation is to help dancers challenge it. For instance, are they 100% sure that they will forget the combination in dance class? Or is there the possibility that they might not? If they're sure that they won’t do a good job, you can ask what their evidence is for that belief? Ask what other outcomes might be for that situation? Is there, perhaps, a more realistic expectation?

When we face challenges with a negative and biased expectation, sometimes our negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The next time you encounter dancers who have biased expectations, take a few minutes to go through the questions in the previous paragraph and see if you can help them create a more realistic (and hopefully positive) expectation.

3. They haven't done the (mental) work

Real talk, dance educators. Dancers are often less confident when they haven’t done enough preparation.

Creating a healthy and supportive classroom doesn't mean giving dancers a free pass to not live up to their potential. Studies show that young people perform at their highest level of capability when they have a high level of perceived support, but also a high level of expectation. So, we can ask a lot of our dancers (we should!), when we make sure they know we're there for them as well. And this includes making sure they're prepared.

Preparation is not only good for the outcomes of dancers' endeavors, it’s also good for helping them calmly approach them. Preparation can decrease performance-based anxiety and it can make dancers feel better about going into at-risk situations.

Dancers are often pegged as high achievers in most aspects of their lives, but preparation doesn’t always just mean that they've done their homework. Sometimes preparation means mentally preparing themselves for situations as well. Have you talked with dancers about what they will do if something goes wrong? If they drop a prop onstage, do they plan to pick it up or leave it on the floor? What if they get on set for a music video and are asked to improv?

The more dancers mentally prepare for the unexpected, the more confident they will be that they can handle any situation that may come their way. So, the next time you find dancers are not feeling confident about their situation, take some time to help them mentally prepare. And remind them that the more prepared they are, the more confident they will become.

By Michelle Loucadoux

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