Overcoming Stage Fright

For performing artists such as dancers, musicians, actors, and singers, the stage is often experienced as both sanctuary and battleground. It is a place of deep aliveness, expression, and connection, and also one where vulnerability is fully exposed. In those moments before stepping into the light, familiar sensations may arise: a racing heart, a tightening chest, trembling limbs, or a flood of intrusive thoughts. These experiences can feel disorienting, particularly when they appear to threaten years of disciplined training and artistic devotion.

Performance anxiety, often referred to as stage fright, is not an indication of fragility, nor is it a failure of preparation. Rather, it reflects a deeply human response to situations that matter. When understood through the lens of performance psychology, nervousness can be reframed as meaningful activation, a signal that the task ahead is significant and emotionally charged. As composer and performer Lin-Manuel Miranda has noted, nervous energy can be harnessed and directed rather than fought, becoming a source of propulsion rather than paralysis (Miranda, 2016).