Taylee - ASOHH ch 13

Taylee. Summary: Stage fright is a reality that all performers must face. It presents itself differently to each person, thus making it that much harder to address each symptom. One thing that does seem to be the same across the board is the fact that when we try to stifle the nervous actions of our body, we only increase them, or contain them only to appear later on when we're not able to focus on harnessing them. If you try to make yourself nervous, however, it seems almost impossible! When the body is reacting in what we perceive to be a negative way, it is actually the body's attempt to rise to the occasion.

Key Concepts: Trying to avoid nerves only increases them; to conquer nerves we need to confront them.

Key Terms: Nervousness. Semi-quaver.

Making Connections: After we watched that TED talk, I noticed that when I was trying to think of my nerves as a positive reaction of my body, they got stronger and more intense! I really appreciated the part of the chapter when she tells you to locate where there is tension! That was the missing piece to my puzzle of how to use my nervous energy (now extra, nervous energy) into something productive.