Performance Anxiety for Dancers
Performance Anxiety for Dancers and Performers explores how the symptoms of Performance Anxiety can affect the way dancers think, feel, behave and perform. Learning how to recognise and manage these symptoms helps dancers perform at their highest level, from the studio to the stage.
A five-hour online course for dancers, dance teachers and dance professionals
Performance Anxiety for Dancers
Recognise performance anxiety, understand how it can affect dancers and develop practical ways of responding.
£30 | 5 hours CPD | Online, anytime learning
Explore the science and lived experience of performance anxiety in classes, rehearsals, auditions, examinations and performance with Dr Peter Lovatt
What you'll learn
- Develop a clear working definition of performance anxiety.
- Recognise cognitive, physical and behavioural or social responses associated with performance anxiety.
- Examine research involving ballet dancers, ballroom dancers and other performers.
- Practise evidence-informed techniques, including progressive muscle relaxation.
- Understand who may experience performance anxiety and the situations in which it can arise.
- Explore how heightened arousal can sometimes hinder performance and sometimes be channelled constructively.
- Reflect on your own performance-related responses without judgement.
- Consider how to choose and apply appropriate strategies while recognising when specialist support may be needed.
This course includes:
- Five hours of self-paced CPD learning
- Pause & Reflect Activities
- Energising dance breaks
- An end-of-course multiple-choice quiz
- Short video lectures with Dr Peter Lovatt
- Active Learning Exercises
- Suggested reading and learning resources
- CPD Certificate
Course content
Section 1: Understanding Performance Anxiety
Start with a clear definition of performance anxiety and consider who experiences it, when it may appear and why the same response can affect people in different ways.
Section 2: Recognising the Responses
Explore the main groups of responses associated with performance anxiety. Learn to notice changes in thoughts, feelings, the body, behaviour and interaction that may influence preparation and performance.
Section 3: What Does the Research Tell Us?
Examine research involving ballet dancers, ballroom dancers, pianists and other performers. This section helps you distinguish evidence from assumption and think critically about individual differences.
Section 4: Reflecting on Your Experience
Use a guided Pause & Reflect activity to identify your own patterns, triggers and responses. The purpose is to build awareness and create a more useful starting point for action.
Section 5: Managing Performance Anxiety
Explore a range of approaches for responding to performance anxiety. You will consider how and when different strategies may help and practise progressive muscle relaxation through an Active Learning Exercise.
Section 6: Summary and Knowledge Check
Review the course’s central ideas, consolidate your personal learning and complete the end-of-course multiple-choice quiz.
Requirements
No prerequisites required
Description
Performance anxiety can affect thinking, feeling, physical sensations, behaviour and performance. It may appear in classes, rehearsals, auditions, examinations or on stage, and the experience can differ greatly from one dancer to another.
This five-hour, self-paced course offers an accessible introduction to the psychology of performance anxiety. You will learn to recognise common responses, consider how anxiety may hinder or sometimes energise performance, and explore what research with dancers and other performers can tell us.
Short video lectures are combined with suggested reading, a Pause & Reflect Activity, Active Learning Exercises and Dance Breaks. You will have opportunities to relate the evidence to your own experience and practise approaches such as progressive muscle relaxation.
The course is educational and does not replace personalised medical or psychological care. It will help you develop a clearer understanding of performance anxiety, a more compassionate way of interpreting it and a practical starting point for choosing appropriate support or strategies. Successful completion of the final quiz leads to a five-hour CPD Certificate of Completion.
Who is the course for?
- Dancers in training preparing for classes, assessments, auditions or performance.
- Professional and independent dancers who want to understand performance-related responses.
- Dance teachers seeking a more informed and supportive approach to performance anxiety.
- Performers from other disciplines who find the subject relevant to their practice.
- Anyone interested in the psychology of performing under pressure.
Course Content
Welcome to Performance Anxiety
About Instructor
Course Includes
- 24 Lessons
- 1 Quiz
- Course Certificate
