Preparing for a dance recital is taxing for everyone involved, but especially you — the performer! While you might be exercising and eating properly, it's critical to prioritize getting enough sleep. According to doctors at Spine Align, sleep is just as important as diet and exercise. If you’re of the mindset that you’ll “sleep when you are dead,” here are a few facts that just might change your mind.
The Importance of a Good Night's Sleep
Sleep is just as important as diet and exercise when it comes to preparing for a dance performance. Huffington Post reports that sleep helps to keep the proteins and cells of your immune system strong. Your immune system helps to ensure you remain healthy before and during your dance recital. Coming down with a last-minute illness could completely derail your big performance.
A Good Night's Rest Helps You Excel During Warm-Ups
Before your recital, you'll spend quite a bit of time warming up. Warming up is a key aspect of putting on a great performance. Missing out on these warm ups is likely to make your final performance look sloppy. Instead of this, it's best to show up for warm ups extremely well rested. In turn, you'll be able to have the mental power to remember each step of your performance. Having a rested body also ensures you're able to easily perform these steps. In addition, a good night's rest helps your muscles recover from any soreness incurred by the previous day’s workout.
How Fatigue Can Ruin Your Performance
When you don’t get enough sleep, you’re tired the next day — and sometimes the day after that, too. With everything you already have to worry about, fatigue is only going to make it worse. (And according to LiveScience, no, you can’t just make it better with more coffee.) In extreme situations, being too fatigued for too long can cause your body to give out completely — which means you'll stop dancing. Having this happen while on stage in front of a recital audience can feel devastating.
Getting enough sleep is crucially important to have a perfect dance performance. Sleep is just as important as diet and exercise in regards to preparing your body to dance. Continually receiving a good night's rest helps to ensure that both your body and mind are sharp. In turn, this helps to ensure that you're getting the most out of each practice. This allows you to give an amazing performance when the time finally comes for you to step onto the stage.