Developing Self-Confidence as a Dancer

Dance is a fantastic way to develop self-confidence, and an essential skill for a performer. However it doesn't always come naturally, particularly for young students as, like technique, it takes practice to develop. You may be wondering how you can foster confidence and let it shine through when it really matters most, and so here are some tips and guidance...

Firstly, What is Self-Confidence?

Self-confidence is the ability to believe in yourself, believing that you can land that pirouette or hold that balance without a wobble. We all have both dispositional and situational confidence levels. Dispositional confidence is relatively stable and is an individual’s general degree of certainty about their ability to succeed. Situational confidence is situation specific, how confident someone feels about their ability in a given moment. The two don’t always have to align: a dancer might have a relatively high level of general self-confidence but doesn’t feel confident in completing a particular step or routine.

Confidence comes from three places in our lives: achievement, self-regulation and our social climate. If we achieve something we thought was impossible, our confidence naturally grows, it becomes easier to believe that we might be able to do it again with the same result. Self-regulation is the ability to act in your own long-term best interest; goal setting alongside mental and physical preparation can support our self-regulation. Social climate is also known as a motivational climate. This is where the teacher comes in as their support, encouragement and trust can show students that mistakes are part of the learning process and that improvement can happen as a result.

How then can we Build Confidence in Dance?

Confidence fluctuates, and so having methods to draw upon when you need them most is beneficial to any dancer’s toolkit. Below are some ideas and suggestions for fostering self-confidence.

1. Practice Makes Progress

We might have heard the old adage that “practice makes perfect”. Aiming for perfection can create added pressure to achieve something which may already be causing anxiety. It may also lead to disappointment if we do not reach those high expectations. Instead, we might want to use the phrase “practice makes progress”. Practicing a little each day will go a long way. Finding ways to look back on how much you’ve improved, such as a video journal, can be really helpful to keep celebrating the little wins and recognise that you are improving and moving forward towards your goals.

2. Be Yourself, Different is Good

It is easy to put ourselves into a box, thinking of yourself as a dancer who is only good at one style or one type of movement. Whilst this can mean confidence is sky high in one area, it might mean we are less confident in others. Embracing your differences and stepping outside of your comfort zone can help to boost your confidence levels as you face something you might have previously viewed as daunting.

3. ‘Fake it Till You Make it’

Yet another old saying, but there is some truth here! Acting confident, even if you don’t feel it, can trick your brain into thinking that it is confident. You might find it useful to pretend you are a character who is a confident dancer. Think about their body language and how they would move. Try to project that when repeating the steps and soon enough you will no longer have to act confident, you will truly feel confident.

4. Don’t Focus on Mistakes

We all make mistakes. They are part of life, learning and a part of training as a dancer! Having the confidence to understand that a mistake is just that, a mistake, will really help to build your self-belief. Try not to fixate on what went wrong and instead focus on moving forward and how you can progress and improve. It's also useful to think about what went right, for example: maybe you did a few hops to land that pirouette, but right before that, you did a beautiful series of tendus!

5. Positive Self-Talk

We have a constant inner dialogue running through our heads. A little voice that commentates on how we are performing, what we have to improve on and how we are measuring up against expectations. More often than not, this voice can be quite negative. If you pause to listen to what that voice is saying, are you giving yourself constructive criticism or are you constantly beating yourself up? If we have thoughts such as “I always mess up that part of the choreography”, this doesn’t leave any room for us to change this idea.

Making a list and splitting it into things you like about your dancing and the things you want to improve on can help to redirect the voice in your head. The things you want to improve category isn’t about listing things you are bad at, it's about focussing on what you are able to achieve and reminding yourself that you are capable.

‘The best friend rule’ is also useful to encourage positive self-talk. Talk to yourself as if you were speaking to your best friend, using constructive criticism and being kind to yourself. Encourage yourself and be your own cheerleader rather than focussing on all the negatives, and don’t forget to celebrate the little victories!

6. Three is Key

If you are struggling with a section of choreography or syllabus work, or you want to improve it, set yourself a challenge to repeat it three times in a row without mistakes. The reason this works is that repeating the choreography once without a mistake could be luck, twice could be a coincidence, but three times without a mistake shows you can count on it in the future. If mistakes still happen, applaud the effort, review it at another time and return to it in another session.

7. Use Imagery and Mental Rehearsal

Using visualisation and mental imagery is a great tool for building confidence. Mentally rehearsing an exercise where a goal is accomplished can bring about a sense of belief that the same will occur when doing it physically. You can either imagine how it feels to perform the movement, or imagine watching yourself doing the movement as if you are watching yourself on film. We each tend to have a natural inclination to one or the other. Making the mental image as vivid as possible really helps: imagine what you are wearing, what the room smells like, what else you can see. Try not to let any negative outcomes creep in, stay in control of your mental rehearsal and make it a positive one.

8. Goal Mapping

Setting goals can be a great way to focus on improvement rather than perfection. Optimal goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and have a time frame, otherwise known as SMART goals. You can set short term or long-term goals. Using a goal ladder or goal steps can help break bigger goals down into what feel like more achievable smaller goals. You could keep the ladder in a place where you can see it and tick the goals off as they are achieved.

9. Preparation

Situational confidence needs preparation. This doesn’t just mean physical training, it can also mean preparing for what to expect. Knowing how an exam day will run or the process of an audition day can really help to improve confidence. You can then plan and prepare for that specific event. You could develop a pre-exam or pre-audition routine that helps to reduce anxiety and increase confidence.

10. Share Experiences – Know You Aren’t Alone

Speaking to others about your worries or feelings of low confidence can help, and you may realise you aren’t alone in feeling that way. Talk with your classmates and boost each other up. Ask your teachers about their own experiences.

If you would like any further guidance on developing your confidence, please come and speak to us, and we can work out a plan to help you.

Photos by Neil Mockford