The value of mental imagery in improving performance has been supported by considerable research and accounts by many dancers. Dance Imagery refers to repeatedly imagining a dance performance with the goal of improving specific technical and artistic skills. Ideally, it involves reproducing the total sensory and physical experience of actual performance including visual, auditory, tactile, and muscular sensations. Thus, Dance Imagery is more than just “mental” rehearsal. Imagery can be used to enhance psychological, emotional, and technical skills. Because Dance Imagery is a broad topic, it will be addressed in two parts.

This post will show dancers how to develop a Dance Imagery program to suit their personal needs. The next post will look at various factors that affect how well Dance Imagery will work and provide hints on what to work on and how to get the most out of imagery. As in the past, an example will be used to help illustrate the program.

1. Goal-setting – Prior to beginning the imagery sessions, two issues must be addressed: (a) Define the problem – Dancers need to specify what problem areas they want to focus on in the Dance Imagery. During the Summer of 1986, we developed an Dance Imagery program for a talented young dancer (we shall call her Susan) in order to deal with two areas: Lack of self-confidence and inconsistency in her dancing. Throughout her career she was her own worst enemy, always having self-doubts and making negative self-statements. It was so bad that she would, for example, think about making a mistake while waiting for her cue. Also, she made far more errors while performing than her ability dictated and lacked consistency from performance to performance and (b) Imagery goal – Her goal was to become more self-confident and truly believe she could dance at a high level consistently.
2. Anxiety hierarchy – Dancers can make a list of practice and performance situations in order of the amount of anxiety they provoke. For example, the least anxious situation for Susan was rehearsing alone in her company’s studio. and the most anxious, performing solo in a large production. In between these extremes should be situations of increasing difficulty and stress. Dancers should be sure that their anxiety hierarchy is consistent with their ability. For example, if a dancer is still an apprentice, he or she should imagine performing at a beginning level.
3. Step-by-step progression – Dancers should begin their imagery at the least anxious step and rehearse the desired skills until they feel good at that level, then move on to the next step. They should not advance to a higher level until they have mastered the skill at the present level. For example, Susan made sure she was confident and consistent in her imagery rehearsing

alone in her company’s studio before she imagined herself rehearsing with the company in the theater. Dancers’ goal will be realized when they can perform their imagery goal at the highest, most stressful level.

4. Dance Imagery sessions – Dance Imagery sessions should be done in a quiet, comfortable place where they will not be disturbed. Dancers should do the imagery sessions immediately after the relaxation exercises described in the earlier article. When people are relaxed, they are more open and suggestible to change. Imagery should be done at least three times a week for 10-15 minutes (the more, the better).
5. Self-talk – As was discussed in an earlier article, dancers should always think positively. Particularly when working on a self-confidence and anxiety, negative self-talk, which comes from old attitudes, can push its way into the imagery. So dancers should control their self-talk, always keeping it positive. Early on, negative self-talk would pop into Susan’s head out of habit. But with considerable effort and concentration, she gradually replaced the negative with the positive. She was retraining her beliefs and self-statements in a constructive direction.
6. Rewind the film – Imagery is like a film running through a person’s head. If, for example, when working on a technical skill, dancers make a mistake, they should rewind the film and repeat it until they do it correctly. They should not let the error go by because then they are reinforcing the old, incorrect images they are trying to change. These types of mistakes in imagery should be expected because these habits may have been ingrained for years. When beginning imagery, people sometimes lack control over their images. For example, Susan initially had little control over her images. She could not perform four techniques without making an error in her imagery. This problem reflected her basic lack of self-confidence in my dancing ability. However, with practice, she gradually learned to control her images and showed improvement in her imagined performances. After two months of a regular imagery program, Susan was confident and consistent in her imagery.

How did Susan perform the following year? On a psychological level, she felt more self-confident. She no longer had negative thoughts and prior to performing she was positive and enthusiastic. She knew that she would perform well. Her instructors and choreographers noticed a significant change in her performances. She was dancing with more confidence, authority, and skill.

Though other factors such as increased physical development and maturity may have contributed to her improvement, Susan believed that the imagery program was the primary reason for her success. It has since become an integral part of her training regimen.

Finally, Dance Imagery is not just mental. It is an actual physical experience that can produce real psychological and physiological changes. Dancers should make Dance Imagery a regular part of their dance program. It should be routine. Like any form of training, Dance Imagery requires commitment and effort. Mental imagery is not magic, so dancers should not expect miracles. But with time and effort, the potential for making psychological and physical gains can be dramatic and Dance Imagery can be a significant contributor to dancers’ success.