When I recollect the best performances I’ve seen, and my favourite dancers, the critical element is never technique.

I love the dancers who are not only smiling, but their smiles are present, relaxed and engaging. A vacuous smile won’t do. Neither will smiling past the audience. My favourite dancers are focused on the here and now. They put everything they have into their moves, no matter how simple the move, and that degree of focus is an irresistible draw to the audience. That focus makes the dancer so present in the moment, their smiles are fluid and reflect an emotional give and take with the audience.

Here are some quick thoughts on how to cultivate that ‘focused and present’ mindset in order to be a more engaging performer.

Accept the Present Moment

Sometimes we tune out our surroundings because they’re making us nervous and we worry that we’ll perform poorly if we’re distracted by all that stimulus. I find the opposite is true. When we’re nervous and trying to tune out our surroundings, we spend more energy on denial and have less energy for our performance. In zen terms, acceptance is your best tool for mastery.

When your mind is nervous, it will practice a hyper-awareness. In nature, this helps tremendously in a fight-or-flight situation. The more details you have, the better able you are to use them in planning your attack or escape.

Surrendering to your mind’s inclination to take it all in will give you a better spacial awareness while dancing, and will serve to calm the nerves.

Accept Your Present Move

Another trap that will make your performance seem emotionally empty is allowing yourself to start judging the adequacy of or  over-thinking your dance. Losing yourself in the dance that you’re performing will endow your performance with energy and emotion. But worrying instead about your next moves and second-guessing your last moves will sap the energy from your current moves. If you can’t give your full attention to this hip-work or that flourish, why should the audience?

So, when you feel your attention wander, try narrowing your focus to the present moment, the present move, the present beat. If, like me, you tend to obsess and plan, remind yourself that the purpose of your dance is to be directed by the music. Not the other way around. Planning the next three moves is not truly interpreting the music. Let go and let the music determine your moves. And whatever comes to you, accept it as good enough and give everything to it.

Accept Your Emotions

Fighting with fear will sap your focus. Try acknowledging the fear, and then everything that comes with it.

If you’re feeling anxious, it’s because the stakes are high and you’re worrying about what could go wrong.

But if the stakes are high, doesn’t that also mean that rather than going wrong, this performance could go very, very right?

Don’t hold your excitement in check, thinking you need to pay homage to fear first. Fear and excitement are inseparable. Your performance is a big opportunity to show them what you can do. It should be exciting. So let yourself be excited (and a little bit scared).