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Collective wisdom on Stage Fright
- What is stage fright?
- Coping with stage fright
What is stage fright?
The cause of stage fright
[from the rec.juggling post:fiblBOApIS87EwVt@lair.demon.co.uk]As far as I can tell, the physical symptoms of "stage fright" are caused by the release of adrenaline (a.k.a. epinephrine), which is a hormone associated with the "fight/flight" reaction.
When the body-mind feels that it's in a stressful situation, the sympathetic nervous system dominates the parasympathetic system and physiologically:
- the pupils of the eyes dilate
- heart-rate and force of cardiac contractions increase
- blood vessels of non-essential organs (e.g. kidneys and digestive organs) contract
- other processes that are not immediately essential (e.g. peristalsis in the gut) slow down or even stop
- blood vessels in the skeletal and cardiac muscles, and in the liver, dilate
- the rate and depth of breathing increase
- blood glucose level rises as glycogen in the liver is converted to glucose
- the medullae of the adrenal glands are stimulated (by the hypothalamus in the brain) to produce epinephrine & norepinephrine; these are hormones which tend to prolong the effects just described (source: principles of anatomy and physiology by Tortura and Grabowski)
An excess of these effects without the actual life-threatening need to fight or run away, causes the physical symptoms of stage fright. It is a real physical phenomenon (i.e. it's not just "in the mind"), although it is initially caused by the (autonomic, i.e. subconscious) nervous system.
A little adrenaline is useful (that's why nature made it) but too much can cause the shakes and butterflies. The more used to performing you are, the more controlled is your release of adrenaline likely to be.
Indeed, the alertness that comes from a little adrenaline is one reason why many people like getting on stage - aside from the fame, the money and the public acclaim, of course :)
Adrenaline is also the reason why many people can down a couple of pints in record time immediately after performing, and not feel drunk for a while (the digestive system is more or less shut down).
However, if you practise when you're blood-stream is not full of adrenaline, then later, on stage, when it is, you'll be trying to do the same tricks but in a different state of internal chemistry, and this is why they don't work the same! (Hope that answers somebody's question.)
Then your subconscious, knowing that you fluffed the trick last time, "helpfully" decides to give you more adrenaline! - so stage fright can be self-perpetuating. (This subconscious reaction evolved in the days when running away was quite often a really good idea.. but it's not helpful when we're on stage.)
As Dick suggests, sometimes if you're strict with yourself and really imagine each practice to be a performance, you can "trick" your subconscious into a little extra adrenaline release even in practices. It's usually not so strong, but it can be done and helps a bit. It can also be useful to "practise in public" - e.g. in the park - for this reason.
However, to get to my real point, something that has helped me when I've been in the grip of an excessive adrenaline rush is to do these things:
- breathe into my lower abdomen (not just inflate my upper chest, but breathe deeply and steadily right down into my belly - "diaphragm breathing".) Slow and *steady* breathing is needed.
- breathe "into" (i.e. visualize breath going into) the shakiest parts (usually my calf muscles)
- try to feel "spaces opening up" between the bones in my joints - e.g. try to allow my shoulders to move outwards, to open up spaces inside the shoulder joints. Similarly allow the head to feel like it's floating upwards, not being pulled down onto the neck.
- relax my forehead (stop frowning!)
- allow my back and neck to lengthen (e.g. avoid contracting the occipital muscles along the base of the back of the skull, which is one common anxiety reaction, and allow the lumbar region to flatten, helping to release excessive tension in the hip joints.)
- feel my connection to the earth, through my feet on the floor, feel my weight evenly balanced between my feet, more on heels than toes
- feel my connection to heaven, like a golden thread from the top of my head
- and breathe into my lower abdomen some more!
This may all sound rather simple and trivial, but it has really helped me. I've practised some yoga and, more recently, chi gung, not initally with any direct reference to adrenaline control, but I've found it helps. Chi gung helps to focus the attention on the flow of energy within the body. Having had the experience of getting into quite meditative states (while not on stage!) helps me move a little way towards such a state quite quickly when I am on stage.
To consciously breathe steadily and calmly seems to give the autonomic nervous system the message that things aren't quite as bad as it first thought, so it may decrease the amount of adrenaline it is dosing you with.
The state of mind of someone suffering from stage fright is, by contrast, usually not well focused internally, but more on things like their plan for the next 15 seconds, the existence of the audience, the very fact that they're nervous and everyone's looking at them, etc. - in other words they are "up in their heads". Moving towards the state of mind that is created and preserved by e.g. chi gung and focused breathing, helps the adrenaline rush go away. And as soon as you feel it start to decrease, you feel more confident (more in control of your body and it's autonomic nervous system), and this positively feeds back to reduce the fright even more.
As with many problems, to deny their existence helps no-one. Also to feel helpless and at the mercy of your errant subconscious isn't useful. But to understand what is happening, may help you to begin to take some control of your autonomic nervous system! Once you have even a little success, it becomes easier and easier.
Micky O'Flannel
The symptoms
[from the rec.juggling post:bb710049.0110300640.40a28386@posting.google.com]
Talk about stage fright. I am very much looking forward to a future article in Juggle in regards to this topic. I get complete anxiety attacks more or less. My performance on stage is like 1/6 of my true ability....seriously. I get on stage, and within 3 minutes I'm completely drenched in sweat, shaking, and my mouth feels like the desert. I practice profusely for routines I have done. Several weeks ago the company I worked for had a charity basketball game at a YMCA, and I was the featured performer during the half-time show. I practiced tricks for 2 weeks straight...had some nice transitions between tricks....had nice and shiny performance props, a proper outfit. I was perfectly calm before the performance (note: there were probably 150 people in the gym, and I performed in center court), and as soon as I finished getting changed for my routine, and waited until they called my name....it all hit. The shaking started....I didn't do terrible...after all, my weakest trick was far beyond anything that anybody could do, and people congratulated me on a job well done.
What they didn't know what that on "stage" I had forgotten half of my tricks, and the only 3 ball tricks I could "think" of were shower and mess. I had forgetten everything else, and I raced through the whole ball routine. If anybody saw me perform at Toss-Up 2001 last April, same thing.
A while ago, I thought performing was something I SHOULD do as a juggler...increase my variety, but performing (part time professional hopefully) is something I WANT to do. It's not that I am afraid I will fail and be made fun of because that has never happened....it is more like I'm nervous just because I'm on stage....like the two go together. I still can't understand this.
I have to give credit to any performer who doesn't feel this way. To combat this....I'm trying to do any performance I can....anything....anything that will get me in front of people. Whether it's performing for 3 minutes or any length of time.....
I'm trying to limit the number of props I use, not take too many risks, and not rush through every routine.
Jason Kollum
Coping with Stage Fright
Planning your show
[from the rec.juggling post:UGFD7.228$7W.73998@newshog.newsread.com]Apart from the advice that others give, you can combat your stage fright with good writing.
If the act that you wish to perform has flexible spots written in, then there is less pressure for perfect execution. The street juggler metaphor is the drop line. If you make a mistake, go with it, and use that opportunity to enhance the performance. If you are doing a technical routine to music, then the notion of making some wise crack to the audience is inappropriate. In this situation, there are other drop covers that don't require talking that could be used. A kickup, or some rolling tricks, or an acrobatic aside can all keep you in touch with the audience and deal with the alleged mistake.
Not only can you write it into the choreography, but you can write it into the character. If your stage persona is a klutz, then there is little fear of mistakes. If you stage persona is supposed to be a manipulation master, then you had better produce a flawless execution.
If you are doing Moschen-esque, crystal ball, contact juggling, then you had better be prepared for some tense shows.
If you are working to music, and the music is simply background for your manipulation, then you have a great deal of freedom to add or omit moves to cater to your feelings at that particular performance. A drop in this situation can be recovered and you can slip back into the act without worrying about your music. But, if your act is closely choreographed, and linked to the music, then the best thing to do may be to simply admit the mistake and move on. To prepare for that, make sure that you have very specific points in your music that you know where to go if there is a drop. Clearly learn that if there is a mistake during a certain musical phrase, that the place to pick up the routine is at the next musical phrase. This gives you a very clear amount of time to deal with the drop and relate to the collective situation.
Practice drops with the music to challenge your understanding of the act's structure.
The audience is empathetic to you. As a juggler, your primary tool is control. Any break in that control causes an emotional ripple to surge through the crowd. More often than not, a drop is interpreted by the audience as a loss of control. Your best weapon against this is to communicate to the audience that you are OK with the mistake. If you "tell" them that everything is still in control, then they will be far more willing to accept you and the inevitable fact that you are human.
Most of this isn't going to help three days before a show. Look to the other posts for some good quick fix ideas. In the future, you can guarantee a good performance by writing one that can't be bad. When you go on stage to perform a well written act that has lots of safeguards, I can assure you that the butterflies will go away. That's when you, and the audience, will be able to sit back and actually enjoy the experience.
Steven Ragatz
The progressive method
[from the rec.juggling post:T7OF7.18063$S4.1692224@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net]
My favorite technique is the progressive accomodation method. This is very similar to operant conditioning, or the "dukey" method of animal training [-- go on, ask me], except that it all happens in _your_ head. First, you imagine something that you really do and really enjoy doing. Like juggling your favorite pattern, or nailing a difficult but very possible trick. Try to develop as complete an image and feeling of this as you can, without actually doing it. Practice calling up this image, until it comes quite naturally and you can do it quickly and easily.
The next part of the progressive method is to write down all the steps that lead up to getting on the stage and performing, from leaving home to walking on stage and doing your act. Fill in all the details, so that there are at least ten of fifteen steps involved. Now concentrate on the first one and try to imagine it really happening. Feeling a little queasy? If so, work back before that to some earlier step where you feel perfectly comfortable. Then, in your mind, go slowly forward until the usual symptoms begin to appear. The second they do, switch your imagery to the thing you practiced imagining earlier -- the feel-good image. Hold that until the palms are dry and the butterflies are settled. Then start again, in safe territory, and work toward the sweaty stuff. Don't push it, but stop when you begin to feel bad, and call up the good vibes. Do this two or three times a day, in a quiet setting where there are few distractions. After a while you should find that you can get farther, and "do" more steps before you need to switch images to your safety place. You can also try going straight to the first uneasy image and pushing it gently with the good image until it's smoothed out. Regularising your breathing will also help. Eventually, you can imagine yourself right up onto the stage, looking out at the audience, and doing your act.
Then do the same thing for real, using the good image to counter the bad feeling, and backing off every time you get the bad feeling, but actually leaving the house, driving to the performance venue, etc., just as you would for a real performance. When the real performace actually happens, you may still have some stage fright, but it should be much more manageable. If your act also contains that "good" image, when you get to it and actually do it on stage, you may find that stage fright never again troubles you as it first did. You may also find that you need to repeat the imagery process every once in a while, or adjust it to meet different situations that you find uncomfortable.
Some people can do this in a few sessions. Most take a few weeks or more of practice the first time (though much less time on repeat sessions). The important thing about the progressive method is that you deal with it by yourself, at a comfortable pace, in the place where the fear exists, which is of course, in your head. It's like learning a new juggling trick: label the elements, put them in order, rehearse them individually and sequentially, put it all together, you've got a new trick. So get yourself a new trick.
Now let's say you have stage fright, and you've read the progessive method and understand it, but somehow you never get around to doing it, and you still have stage fright. Obviously, there's something about having stage fright or being incapacitated by it that is more of a payoff for you than not having stage fright. Right? Otherwise, why wouldn't you do it? Again, this can be analyzed to death, or you can beat yourself over the head with it and humiliate yourself right in front of yourself and complain to all your friends about how hopeless you are, or -- and this is the biggy -- or you can just go ahead and ignore this also-irrational-feeling, and do it (the progressive method), and not like it, but do it anyway. It still works.
=Eric
Self-confidence and practice
[from the rec.juggling post:T7OF7.18063$S4.1692224@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net]
Stage Fright?
One more crutch.one more excuse!
Self-confidence is self-confidence. Either you have it, or you don't The only way you get it is from practice, preparation, experience and by learning to make decisions based on complete honesty with yourself and your abilities. This results in knowing what you can do perfectly in which conditions and what you can get away with based on how you feel, what's going on around you at the time and by knowing and clearly understanding your limits without overestimating your abilities!
Practice to perfect. to really perfect each and every move you perform without exception.so there is no doubt in your mind or body that you can do it over and over and over again, no matter what, without mistake. so there is no other way to do it other than perfectly... so that it takes a considerable and deliberate effort to do it less than perfectly . I'm talking about 100% sureness!
With complete self-confidence you can look into the front row of any theater and, no matter who is sitting there, take it as an opportunity, through command and control of your abilities, to anxiously show off your skill to the limit! When you know your limits you can push yourself to them at will! To not clearly understand your limits or knowingly push past them.. is a mistake.a mark of amateurism!
With complete self-confidence you can command each and every performance, never giving "stage fright" so much as a second thought! Complete self-confidence thoroughly overcomes any distraction, any adverse situation, any injury, adverse condition or kind of "fright." No matter what. no matter who is watching.or if NO ONE is watching. it shouldn't make any difference at all.. because YOU are watching.demanding your own perfection.. completely confident and expectant .. that your performance will be the absolute best it can be.. and that the people watching are just lucky to be there!
Dick Franco
Slowing down your performance
[from the rec.juggling post:3bdf6379.8525123@news.chello.nl]
Slow down before you have to be on stage, so take it as easy as you can. If you have to travel, leave earlier than you actually should. Make sure that you have enough time to prepare yourself after arriving at the venue. I always find it very helpful to mingle with the public for a while and taste the atmosphere.
Slow down during your show as well. Once you get the idea that you're not making any sense on stage or ar nervous in general, the most likely response is to add some more effort, in the hope of pleasing the audience after all, but you're more likely to make more mistakes in such a case. This leads to a rather vicious circle of building up stress and making a mess of your show. Make it your nature, to do the opposite: take a step back, as soon as you think you're loosing the audience.
Slow down on your fantasies of what can go wrong. So what? Worst thing that can happen, is the audience think you're a crap performer. So are they, since they're not on stage themselves. Most fellow performers have or should have respect for any others that at least dare trying to give a show. (All easier said than done, I know. I've left the stage with a big smile, but nearly crying as well. Not to mention leaving stage angry. Or with the convinction that I should have gone for my University degree after all. But at least there's an emotion to learn from. The most crap performances are the ones that don't evoke any emotion at all.)
Slow down on your pretences. If you're enter the stage with the idea that you're gonna make it, or that you should gonna make it, you're likely not to level your own expectations and the expectations that you may - unknowingly - evoke by your audience. You're just a performer, doing you're job. Only when it's done, it's time to decide it was a good one or not. (Ofcourse, I'm grossly overseeing the actual buzz you can have during a performance now, but alas...)
David
And finally ... the 7 p's
[from the rec.juggling post:t91G7.53127$Z2.808882@nnrp1.uunet.ca]
proper prior preparation prevents piss poor performance
nnn(nearly normal norman)