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From:  Greypins@a...
Greypins@a...
Date:  Sat Apr 14, 2001  1:16 am
Subject:  stage fright was: a bunch of other stuff


i used to do a lot of meditative preperations for performance. as i
progressed in my meditative states, my stage nerves got worse and worse.
finally, it occured to me that i was making things worse by making the
contrast more extreme. after that insight, i began preparing for
performances by doing some aerobic exercise and lots of silly behavior;
playing tag with fellow cast members, doing cart-wheels until i saw stars,
etc. when i would walk onstage, i'd get a little kick that was an extension
of what i had been doing ( all some sort of playing ) instead of a total
shock to my system i had experienced previously.

what i have concluded is that the extra activity not only prepared me
for the jolt of being onstage, it blew off some of the excess energy i had in
anticipation of performing. there were times where i wasn't particularly
thrilled about performing and the same preperation helped 'fire me up' for
something i hadn't been in the mood for.

i did have one very hyper student who tried the same preperation to no
avail ( too young to run out of energy, i guess ). i suggested
beta-blockers for her just to see what being calmer was like. although, it
was a stretch at first, at least she had an idea of what she was aiming for.
the last time i saw her perform, she was unusually poised ( especially for
her ).

mike

emusic.com