I will start first by asking if anyone has advice, suggests, or ideas about how to deal with your nerves when dancing in front of judges? I don't compete, but through Arthur Murray I partcipate in events where a judges comes in to critique your dancing. I enjoy dancing and want to continue to learn, and I feel this is a good way to do it. But no matter what I do, I shake so bad during the first freestyle. My nerves calm down after that, but it is so bad that sometimes I can't concentrate too well on the first one.
Also, I just finished one of these events and my nerves were worse than they have been before. This along with other things that happened have wound up making me feel discouraged. The studio owner mentioned that is called the point of saturation and everyone goes through it. Anyone have any advice how to deal when discouragement comes? I am not the best, but I know I am not the worst dancer either. I have a bad habit of not feeling confident if all eyes are on me. I feel better and more relaxed during practice sessions at the studio where more than five couples are on the floor.
Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks and happy dancing.

If you intend to continue to compete, you should look into 2 books:

Dance to your Maximum -- available at www.danceplaza.com

Pyschology of Dance -- available thru Amazono or other online

Hello! Here are some things that work for me:

1. When you have a performance, instead of thinking about people watching you and judging you, think about the music and the enjoyment of the dance. Try to focus on the moment and what you are doing…something you enjoy, rather than thinking “everyone is watching me”.
2. Do some things to control your physical reaction before the performance. Slow your breathing down; inhale to a slow count of 5 and then exhale to a slow count of 5. Do this several times. Close your eyes while you do this and in your head, think “I know this dance and I'm going to go out there and do it well”. This is a small form of meditation…you are thinking positive thoughts while you are slowing down your breathing.
3. Put the performance in perspective. In the whole course of your life, it's just a few minutes. And if you mess up…so what? What's the worse thing that could happen if you mess up? So you miss a few steps in a dance…it's not the end of the world. And if you watch carefully, almost everyone messes up performances. You just recover and keep going.
4. Have faith in yourself. You have the courage to get up and perform…you've proven that by doing it. People appreciate that and they may not even notice that you are nervous or have made a mistake if it happens. In addition, you enjoy dancing. You have everything it takes to perform; you just need to believe it!
5. Remember that almost everyone gets nervous…even the pros! In time you can learn to use your nerves in the performance. It's hard to explain but sometime you can use the extra energy from the nerves and the energy from the audience to make the performance better. You learn to take risks…like really going for a move for example, because you have this extra energy. This is when performing becomes really fun…and one of the reasons so many of us keep doing it…in spite of feeling nervous and stressed beforehand.

Best wishes to you! Don't be discouraged by this…I have seen professional dancers and other musicians struggle with nerves. So you are in good company!

Thanks for the insights. I will have to keep your suggestions in mind Rumba Girl. Actually one of the stresses was that I had worked on a Rumba routine for two months or so to perform at this event. A couple days before, I found out the instructor I worked on the routine with would not be at the event. I knew my nerves would be there, but it was discouraging to work on something just to have it fall through. I was doing it to prove to myself that I could, despite the nerves. I will keep my mind open and we will see what happens next time. I am still open to other ideas and comments as well. :)

I'm sorry that your instructor bailed out on you 2 days before an event. That certainly does not help you if you have a nerve problem and is also not a nice thing to do! Maybe you should look into finding another teacher who you could depend on for events.

Good luck!

The instructor bailing out didn't help with my nerves, but I can honestly say it was all more emotional. The week was crappy anyway, then I find out my routine instructor is not coming through. I believe I would have been more nervous, but there is a possiblity that concentrating on the moves would have forced me to use the nerves to get through the dance. Now I have no idea, and I feel a bit more skeptical about committing to a routine again. I love the routine we worked on and would still like to perform it, but there are still the questions. A lot of my reasons for working on it and deciding to do it were to overcome my inhibitions.

A very famous coach who has also written a book. Suggests that it is useless worry about anything that you have no control over, the floor. the music, somebody you know who is watching
Most important of all. Don't say look at me. Say look at what I can do.'There is a difference.