Stage Fright

Stage fright: do you get it?

While I apparently project an image of confidence and self-assertiveness to my peers (according to the Johari Window, something I may start another thread on in the future), I get nervous as all get out when I have to speak or perform in front of others. Speaking is the worst - no matter how many times I practice, I feel like I stammer, turn pink and blotchy, and my voice gradually gets tighter and tighter as I go.

I have a big performance coming up Friday night, and I'm getting more and more nervous about it! I have practiced this routine for months, but I still feel like it could use some polishing, and that's partly because I'm working with a partner who wasn't able to make many practices to work on our floor sequence. I'm confident that I can do my piece on the corde lisse (rope - it's an aerial performance), but I'm afraid that a) it won't look as good as it does in my head, 2) I'll have some sort of costume malfunction, 3) I'll fall off the stage during our floorwork sequence, or 4) I'll hit my head on the stage during one of my big drops. EEEEEEK! The event will have thousands of people, and we're in a headlining role compared to our last performance at the same venue in May. We don't go on stage until 11:30 pm, and, honestly, that's about an hour after my normal bedtime.

Have you ever experienced stage fright? Do you find that it's justified - does your performance live up to your expectations? Have you ever completely blanked in front of people?

Part of me is afraid to ask these questions, because I hope your bad experiences don't start running through my head as worst case scenarios for Friday!

 

People used to tell me to imagine everyone in the audience sitting in their underwear. I can't say that ever really helped me.

One thing I've caught myself doing on numerous performance occasions is ticking off a mental checklist of challenge passages as I approach them in a piece and get beyond them with success. I know that kind of zoomed-in perspective detracts from my sense of comfort and control with the music overall, but it's difficult not to do, especially with pieces I know I haven't prepared well.

As I'm performing much less these days, I find myself feeling less stage fright. It's always been most pronounced for solo performances and, to a lesser extent, chamber music performances. Nowadays walking out on stage to play with my local orchestra has become almost routine, which saddens me a little—much of the excitement and challenge of performing this music is certainly gone when I don't feel any reason to be nervous about playing it.

I remember two occasions performing solo with an orchestra, standing back stage getting ready to walk out and play. Taking that first step beyond the curtain felt like I was jumping off a cliff. I don't think I'd ever been both so nervous and so exhilarated before in my life, and I don't know that I've felt quite the same way since. Fortunately both performances turned out very well.

You'll rock the house, PonyPotato. Just let it happen.

 

I grew up taking dance classes which called for recitals and other performances - The Nutcracker every Christmas, for instance (multiple performances for that one) - and it did become kind of rote for me after a while. I don't remember ever feeling nervous.

Getting up in front of people to talk is quite another thing, though. It makes me very nervous. Particularly during the time that I am sitting there waiting for my turn. Once I get about 10 minutes into it, though, I will usually calm down and do fairly well. I practice a lot.

 

i've done lots of sound performances. at first, i was really nervous. but i got used to it. i think almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong at one point or another---watching a pickup bounce off a modified instrument during a sound check and discovering that it broke when it hit the floor, instrument failures, monitor failure (couldn't hear what we were doing), lack of monitors, blanking on parts, missing cues, too loud, too soft, wholesale logistical breakdown, blinding spotlights in my eyes, a hangover, a 40 degree temperature drop in two hours at an outdoor performance.

in a way these things make you brave. and when they happen, you carry on, i think. after a few years, my worry became that i'd fall down on the way to the piano. then one day i did. strangely, the gig was fine.

hit your mark and trust yourself.

 

Only two things I can say when it comes to dealing with stage fright:

1. Practice. A lot. By yourself, in front of a friend (or group of friends), family, classmates, colleagues, whatever. Do it.

2. One thing I picked up from my Muay Thai coach. Don't look people in their eyes. Look just above their heads, or the top of their heads without making much eye contact. Do work some occasional eye contact into it, though.

 

I would always get nervous just before going on stage, but having practiced enough, I always found that once I was on stage the nerves faded away.

 

It all depends on the context. I hate public speaking, I'll do what I need to do; but I hate it.

I enjoyed performing in band, probably because there were others on stage with me. Judo matches were inbetween. I was always nervous until the match started, then totally focused on my opponent.

 

I may have had a mild case of stage fright in the past, but it wasn't enough to stop me from some bad decisions.
Like performing Jingle Bells in the 6th grade on my trombone while a classmate played the flute. We were in church on stage, the whole congregation there listening to us murder JB with the odd combo of a flute and trombone.
Why did no one tell us this was a bad idea?

 

Yes and no. It comes in waves.

I don't know if you've ever seen Butter, (great movie if you haven't. It's on Netflix!) but this scene sums up what I do and what I have done since I was a kid. I think of the worst possible things that could happen, and then realize that I can get my shit together.

 

Every time I see the title of this thread, I can't help but think of the following line from one of my favorite songs:

My dick—locked in a cage, right?
Your dick suffers from stage fright

It's a decent visual.

/threadjack