Deep shaky breath
Feeling hot and cold at the same time
Listening for the cue
It’s all most time to take the stage
Deep shaky breath
Moving taking step after step
Constricted in a costume
Lungs not being able to expand
Deep shaky breath
Running to change for the next dance
Listening to the other's breath
Waiting for the final note
Deep shaky breath
Taking the bow for the final time
Watching the others get their chance
Knowing that all we every wanted to do was dance.
Deep shaky breath is a poem writing from the perspective a dancer getting ready to preform, learning what is is like to truly be back stage and to see what the dance goes through in their brain.
Many dancers feel like they can never truly catch their breath throughout their performance, there are many shallow sharp breaths that the dancer takes, until they take their time off stage they can’t usually catch their breath.
There are so many times that dancer will take a bow for their final time doing the show and they will see that even though it is hard for them to breath and to catch their breaths the dancing was the only thing that really wanted to do.
As a dancer who has had these experiences, I was writing from the experience of the first time I was going on stage for the Nutcracker. There are so many things that go through your mind when you are backstage, and while the nerves start to grow you notice that your breathing gets shaky. All the thoughts of what if I fall, what if I miss a step, what if its not perfect, and what if I forget everything. While it is truly impossible to forget everything you can freeze but those deep shaky breaths are what starts the whole process.
Deep shaky breaths is also meant to help give more insight into the dancer's brain about how they are feeling and what they are thinking, I truly believe that most dancers will have a small amount of anxiety before going on stage. The rush of adrenaline is what pushes us to take these steps and to continue dancing on stage. When we walk off stage and come down off our adrenaline high we have these deep shaky breaths that over take us, and it all comes back when we step back on stage to take the final bow.
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