Fear Of Dancing And The Dance Floor
Author: Kevin Shwe

I have many a crazy friend. Some would say that I was the
craziest of them all. It does not matter. Some of them I know
through dancing, some of them I don't. You want to know
something crazy? Whether they're my friends that dance for a
living or my friends who can't dance at all, they both have a
fear of dancing. It seems that this crazy fear is something a
lot of people have in common.

They even have a name for it now. Yes there's a name for
practically every condition out there, even people who need to
switch the lights on and off seventy times while humming every
note of 'We Will Rock You' on every off switch before they
leave a room! If every one of these conditions is accurate,
every single one of us on this planet is crazy and has at least
a hundred different conditions. And you guessed it, there's a
frightening name for the fear of dancing, it's
called…chorophobia.

Now I don't know about you and your friends, but I'm in no rush
to send mine to the doctor's yet…at least not for this reason! I
typed in 'fear of dancing' into Google the other day and lo and
behold, there were 2, 240, 000 websites that mention this.
That's a lot of chorophobiacs! There are hypnotherapists
offering services to cure this, it is actually something that
affects people's lives.

Well let me tell you, I've been through this journey from start
to finish. From sitting in the most comfortable chair in the
world in every single room I graced where people were
dancing…to being totally comfortable just dancing out of the
blue on any London street. I have a dancer friend who also does
gymnastics, who has no problem doing a back flip in the middle
of his walking and then start dancing as if it's as easy as
1-2-3, all while people are walking towards him from the
opposite direction (credit to Scotty P Maurice).

So what's the story? How do you get rid of the fear? Well there
are basically two ways:

1. Just dance as best as you can and have fun, irrespective of
what other people think and whether you look good or not.

2. Learn to dance well, and then as you build competence, your
confidence will grow.

Two paths to the same destination. Of course if you choose
number 2, number 1 will start to follow and you won't care what
other people think if you know you're good!

You've all seen the first type, they're dancing, you're
wondering what the hell they're doing but they seem to be
having fun and that's all that matters. I'm sure you've also
seen the second type, those really good dancers and thought to
yourself, "Well duh, if I could dance like that, I wouldn't be
scared at all."

Well you want to know something? A lot of those really good
dancers are actually deep down scared as well. Time and time
again I have seen extremely talented dancers, get ultra nervous
and worried right before an audition or performance. They start
doubting themselves and become blind to their own capabilities,
convincing themselves they can't remember dance choreographies
and routines. And I'm talking about dancers most people would
die to be as good as!

When I saw this happening, that's when it struck me - it's just
a biology thing. It's your body's fight or flight response where
you suddenly get that rush of adrenaline shoot up your body,
jolting into every one of your nerves and making your knees
become weak at the prospect of what's to come. It could be damn
good…or it could be damn nothing. And at those last moments
what's more real to you is how you could turn into nothing, the
lowest of the low, the bottom of the pit and everything that
could go wrong.

It could take a huge paradigm shift, a whole new shift in the
way you look at life in general to erase your fear by the first
method I mentioned above. In fact for some people they never
achieve this shift. Carly Simon is an extremely talented
musician who is known to suffer from stage fright (she used to
have her bottom spanked because the physical pain helped rid
her of the stage fright). If she did not have the competence or
desire, she would probably have never got on stage.

But if you choose the second route (i.e. to build competence
instead) it is a much more gradual experience where you
desensitize yourself to the whole notion of dancing. When you
have a problem, it's usually a good idea to actually put
yourself in a situation where you'll be forced to deal with
that situation and become used to it (rather than becoming used
to thinking about it and talking yourself out of it).

Once you actually go to a couple of dance classes, it won't be
a big deal any more. Sure, you might still get a little nervous
if you are a beginner or not familiar with the style, but you'll
put yourself in there, the fear won't do nothing to stop you. So
go ahead and dance, because there's always a new chorophobiac
just waiting to take your place around the corner (probably
sitting in a chair).

About The Author: Kevin KS runs the Hip Dance Moves Courses.
Teaching students funky moves that are ideal for all settings,
in just 10 weeks he can transform a complete non-dancer into a
confident dancer with the funkiest demeanour. Check his website
http://www.hipdancemoves.com for information.