Hubby and I have been dragooned into doing a 1-min highlight in one of the numbers in our Xmas show, and as the time approaches I'm getting increasingly nervous. (Scared out of my tiny mind is more like it... So's he, but he won't admit it. Good for him - I wish I could ignore it like he seems to!).

Any hints on how to manage this? I really don't want to make a complete fool of myself in front of a poor long-suffering public who have not paid to watch a train wreck

Help!

Hi aussie

Just keep busy before hand, there will be plenty of things that they will want you to do like helping the kids get dressed and putting make-up on them, then before you go on dont forget to do your various stretches and warm-up excercises, our rink curtains off a small section of ice so you can just paddle around before hand.

You will be fine, I did my first solo the Christmas before last, and believe me the public think anything on skates is brilliant, they even cheered and whistled at me doing single jumps and my horrible spiral, you just have to sell it and look as though you are enjoying yourself, just as you would do in competition.

Let us know how you got on

Best of Luck
Samba

Thanks Samba - I loved your comment about "just as you would do in competition": they would be the competitions I'm too chicken to enter!! (bok bok bok) As for single jumps - what single jumps? I always say that the only way I leave the ice is with 3 strong men and a winch...

Fortunately, it's not a solo per se (that really would be ripping off the paying punters) - it's merely a highlight piece while the rest of the skaters in that piece skate around. Mind you, that's little comfort. My only hope is that the audience will watch the others...

I doubt you will be blending into the back-ground if you are the centre piece but at least you have a partner, so you can support each other, believe me whatever you do they will enjoy it and for you it will be gone in a flash and you will be wanting to do it again. If you can perform in a Christmas show then competition is a doddle and no you wont make a fool of yourself.

Samba

just remember that these people WANT to see you, and if you mess up, more than likely they're on your side, so if you just skate for yourself and show how much you love it then everything will go fine.
good luck

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dont eat me

Aussie: How very exciting to be selected as the center! The organizers must have some confidence in your abilities through watching you or you would have never been selected! Hugs to you for pushing through the anxiety and accepting the spotlight! I agree that for something like that you might try to detach from the anxiety emotionally and just allow the joy of skating to take over. The more practiced and comfortable you are with the piece the easier it will be for your body to take on the NIKE ad..."Just Do It!"

Congrats on you and DH being selected!

I totally agree with what DallasSkater says. When I did a competition a few weeks ago, on the day I totally stopped worrying about it and just told myself 'I'm doing what I love doing and what's more, I'm getting the chance to skate on the rink all by myself in a nice dress - so I'm just going to enjoy it' - and it kinda paid off. While I was skating I imagined I was just having a mess-around session with my skating friends and hence smiled the whole time.

A director of a show I was in once said 'If worse comes to the worst and you mess something up, as long as you mess it up with a bit of panache nobody will notice' - and I believe this is true.

S xxx

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

I make rules for myself prior to competition in order to eliminate the nerves. I have a certain deadline, about two weeks before a competition I'm not allowed to think about it AT ALL ! I'm only allowed to start thinging about it, again, when I take the warm-up ice, and the minute I step on the ice I can't think about it, because now I have a job to do. It works really nicely like a charm for me, and totally "short circutes" the nerves. I came up with this method several years ago, because the nerves were so bad that I was almost getting sick from the whole thing. The bottom line, though, is you have to really follow your own rules, and not cheat! Now when I step out on the ice I look like this , and no longer like this

Thanks dallas! Although I strongly suspect that we were "selected" because the piece requires adults in love (not 9-year-olds ), and the coach's only other adult dancers (who are preparing to test Novice standard track and can therefore really dance) had to pull out with a leg injury ... The theme of the piece is West Side Story, and fortunately, there is more than one highlight. (There'd better be!)

Welcome to the vicarious pleasure adult pair - my wife and I seem to have evolved into that position at our rink. Enjoy it if you can, its funny when you find you have more to talk about with the 12 yo skaters than their parents!

First piece of advice for myself and wife (you too if you need it ) Don't forget to breath. I get so I have to choreograph breathing into the darned programs as nothing is natural once the music starts.

I also think that it helps to talk to each other while skating (wife says "be quiet" right about now LOL.

Silly stuff - "the more you overact it, the less stupid it looks" was one of the best pieces of advice I got from one of our coaches who never says more than a few words.

Don't overstretch and over warm up because of all your nerves.

Figure out what your stomach can handle when nervous.

Good Luck
Lyle

I agree, the people who are there to watch are there because they have a loved one in the show...they are all rooting for everyone to skate well! It's a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that the audience is a postive, receptive one full of mothers, fathers, grandma's and grandpa's, aunts, uncles, etc... all there because they WANT to be there! When you look at it that way, it makes it easier-they aren't strangers at all! No different than the people who sit along the boards or in the lobby during regular practice/skate sessions, just more of them.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Remember, too, that it's all a bit of fun. Go out there and have fun, no matter how badly you think you're going to skate. After all, if you have fun out there, chances are that the audience are going to have fun watching you.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

In that respect, we're lucky because the rink is in the middle of a large shopping mall, and the food court windows overlook the ice, so we're used to being "seen" in that sense...(and used to being being laughed at through the glass when he drops me for the 200th time! Note it's never "I fell" - it's always "he dropped me" - even when he was at the other end of the rink when my rear hit the ice )

But of course - what else would it be???

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Here are the three things that have always helped me keep it together when I have perform in front of an audience or judges:

1. Technique cue words for everything in my program (to be practiced in every run-through for as long as possible before the actual performance). This keeps my mind focused on what I'm doing at that second, rather than on distracting or fearful thoughts. It also tells my body what to do, even when my knees decide to go on strike!

2. Keep my legs warm and moving before stepping onto the ice, so that my knees don't stiffen up so much when I get out there (refer to #1).

3. Deep, slow breathing while I wait to take the ice. Pranic breathing has been proven to short-circuit the fight-or-flight response (which is what makes my knees stiffen up and my soul leave my body as soon as I get into my starting position!)

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Iv not had a lot of time to read this but on the subject of entertaining ..
That's the key word.." Entertain" I skated in shows for about 10 years all over the world, and in competition I do exactly what I did in shows. Relax have fun and entertain.. The more you relax and smile when you get on the ice the more your public will see you as a confident and entertaining skater..

Many skaters take the ice in competition with this serious look of worry on there face and try and calm there nerves.. Thats OK.
But for me I like to take to the ice with a blaze.. Grab peoples attention when you step on the ice, Your confidence will grow and you will feel comfortable with your ability to perform no matter what your level.... Remember the perpose of a performance is to do just that " Perform" make your Audience remember you... I wish you the best.... your Aussie in America

Ross