Are you a little nervous?
Talk to your friend or other dancers back stage, start a game of hangman if you are
not able to talk, it will get your mind off the show and calm your nerves. You might even find some girls (or guys) that are
as nervous as you, and have a back stage rehearsal!
If you are not allowed to talk backstage, or don't have many friends at the show, bring a portable CD
player, your favorite magazine, a coloring book, even a sewing kit!
Bring something that will soothe your nerves and keep your mind occupied so it won't have time to worry!
Stretch! Keep limber before the show. Don't do your splits unless you are able to do
them very easily, it would be awful to pull a muscle right before you go on stage! Keep to simple stretches,
if there is a bar backstage you could do some bar exercises, stretching will relax your muscles
and keep them from getting tight on stage.
In and out, in and out. If you haven't caught on yet breathing is a great way to stay occupied before
the show, and calm your nerves. If you have a friend you can breathe together, this might sound funny but
it works. Try this: have your friend facing you to where you are looking eye to eye. Grab his/her shoulders and let him/her
grab yours while you are still holding on to their's. When you inhale raise your shoulders and and expand your chest, when
you exhale drop your shoulders and contrct your chest. This is called group breathing, you can do it
with more than one person by forming a cirlce if you would like.
Remember the moment. Bring a camera and take pictures back stage, or a small canvas
pillow that everbody can sign. It will keep you occupied and busy before you go on stage.
What do I bring?
It can be hard knowing exactly what you need back stage. At my last recital I brought basically my whole bath room, I
used everthing I took with me. Some things you can't leave with out; lipstick, always re-apply before going
back on stage. Hair-spray you never know when you are going to need it, it is also good to spray the bottoms
of your shoes and tights before you go on stage. Clear nail polish and rubbing achol will shrink runs
in tights and keep them from getting bigger. Rubber bands and bobby pins these will never go unused. A
chinese folding fan if it is hot back stage or on stage this can be a life saver, it also helps nail polish applied
to tights, wet make-up, and hair spray dry quikly. Saftey pins this is one thing I wish I had brought this
past year, my friend and I had some draw-string pants in one act and her string was stuck in the pants! We had to rubber-band
them shut, luckly it was just the dress rehersal and she was able to fix them up by catching the string with a saftey pin
and pulling it through. So my one piece of advice is to bring saftey pins! Make-Up any make-up that
you apply before the dance bring with you, you never know if you are going to need it. Make-up remover for
touch-ups gone wrong. Band Aids for any slips or accedents that could happen. Small towles you
can use these for just about any thing.
I hope these tips are helpful, and good luck!
