Performance anxiety experiences of elite dancers
Imogen Walker, MSc, PhD Candidate
Sanna Nordin, PhD
Laban
Anxiety occurs when there is a perceived imbalance between the demands placed
upon a person and their ability to meet those demands. Anxiety can manifest in
cognitive (e.g. worrying) and somatic (e.g. ‘butterflies’) symptoms and can be
interpreted as facilitating (positive) or debilitating (negative) towards performance1.
Sport research has found that athletes who interpret their anxiety as facilitative are
more likely to feel in control of their anxiety, and will not feel that it has a negative
impact upon their performance. Athletes who interpret their anxiety as debilitative are
more likely to experience the opposite2.
While anxiety is common in the performing arts, little is known about the anxiety
experiences of dancers. Therefore, this study investigated the symptom types,
intensity and interpretation of anxiety in professional dancers.
Method
Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the base of an elite ballet company with
eight corps de ballet members, two soloists and five principals. The interviews were
recorded and transcribed, after which qualitative analysis was conducted: meaning
units were created from the text and formed into hierarchical trees (Figure 1).
Results
Anxiety nature
Dancers experienced both cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety. However,
these symptoms varied in intensity depending upon the situation. For example,
dancers were more anxious on first night performances than they were later on in a
show’s run. Indeed, corps de ballet dancers sometimes had self-activation problems
late in show’s run.
Interpretation
Dancers recognised that a certain amount of anxiety could be helpful towards
performance, for example in enabling dancers to feel physically ready to go onstage.
Cognitive anxiety was collectively interpreted as debilitative:
“The psychological stuff I think is obviously more damaging - envisaging yourself
falling over, or forgetting the steps.”
Somatic anxiety was interpreted by some dancers as facilitative, in helping with
stamina and energy, and debilitative by others, in that it could make dancers feel out
of control of their bodies.
Causes
Causes of anxiety related to interpersonal factors, (such as dancers feeling the need to
prove themselves), feeling out of control (such as under-rehearsal) and situations.
Although performance situations were of the most interest in this study, dancers also
mentioned class and rehearsals:
“I get really, really nervous actually in rehearsals sometimes more than the show,
because you don't have the lights and the set and the costumes that protect you.”
Furthermore, while dancers reported that their anxiety dissipated once onstage in
actual performance, during rehearsals it was more likely that the anxiety would
remain for the whole rehearsal. In rehearsals, dancers could see the faces of those
watching them, whereas on stage, this was less likely.
Anxiety effects
Anxiety effects could be both physical and psychological. Physical effects related to
bodily control, injury and lacking sufficient stamina. Psychological effects related to
either concentration disruption, or too much concentration: some dancers felt that
over-concentrating could be detrimental to performance.
Preventing or handling anxiety
Principal dancers tended to struggle the most to cope with their anxiety. Through
experience, most dancers had discovered strategies to help them to prevent anxiety.
These included preparation, rehearsal, social support, onstage experience and selfconfidence:
“If you have a certain confidence, even if you have anxiety you'll be strong, but then if
you haven't got the confidence in yourself and you are anxious, you find it more
difficult to go through with it.”
Dancers also had ways of handling anxiety once it had occurred. A thorough warm-up
and deep breathing were used to combat somatic anxiety, and self-talk and imagery
helped to reduce cognitive anxiety.
Changes over career
Dancers reported that, in general, their anxiety had got worse over time. As children,
dancers enjoyed performing and found it exciting. As they became more selfconscious during adolescence, anxiety tended to be experienced, sometimes relating
to frequent exposure to exams or performances, or negative teaching practices. An
increase in anxiety was evident in the transition from corps de ballet dancer to soloist
to principal:
“The minute you achieve the great roles, then you start to worry about how good
you're doing it; if you were better than the soloist before.”
Indeed, principal dancers tended to experience greater anxiety intensity than corps de
ballet members, perhaps because of the increased pressure that accompanies more
challenging roles. Furthermore, corps de ballet dancers perform as part of a group and
are thus less likely to be watched individually during a ballet.
Summary
Overall, most dancers recognised that a degree of anxiety could be helpful towards
performance, but cognitive anxiety was collectively interpreted as debilitative.
Principals experienced greater performance anxiety than corps de ballet members,
who in turn sometimes experienced self-activation problems. A lack of control
seemed important in both anxiety onset and interpretation, thus intervention strategies
for enhancing dancers’ feelings of control are implicated.
The study in full is currently in press with the Journal of Dance Medicine and
Science.
Bibliography
1. Martens R, Vealey RS, Burton D. Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics, 1990.
2. Jones G, Hanton S. (2001). Pre-competitive feeling states and directional
anxiety interpretations. J Sports Sci 2001;19:385-395.
Performance
Anxiety
Nature
Symptom type and intensity
Interpretations
Facilitative, debilitative
Causes
Interpersonal, situations, feeling out of
control
Effects
Physical, psychological
Preventing anxiety
Strategies, how learned strategies
Changes over career
Changes with age; corps-principal
Figure 1: Dancers’ anxiety experiences.