Thanks. Everything you said makes perfect sense! And you're right that it's too expensive a hobby not to have fun! :)

I had a good set of lessons this week and it does feel like my muscles are finally getting it. Less than a month to go before comp so I hope I can continue on a good footing!

Thanks again!

That's so exciting! Make sure you practice in your costume if you're wearing one, and in different locations such as different rooms in your house or studio. You can become so accustomed to seeing the same walls and floors that when you're in a different venue, it can be disorienting. Just visualize yourself doing your thing and breathe. The most important thing is to just breathe. Listen to the music and just go for it. Don't take it too seriously. Hopefully you're in it for the long haul and just enjoy yourself. Trust your instructor, but more importantly, trust yourself. You got this!!

To add to what Ladydance said, you will not only plateau, but you will suddenly find you get *worse* at something you thought you knew. This is normal as your brain and body integrate new information. You can only progress so much based on what you were able to do. Practicing means you improve, so you're now able to do more... sometimes that means rebuilding technique that you already knew from the bottom up. This is normal. Enjoy the process.

As to nerves for competition.. Well, you are probably dancing because you enjoy it. It's fun. I hope? So, it's a competition. Dance because you love it! At the end of the day, not only will you have enjoyed dancing, but you're a competitive dancer!! You already surpassed all the people who ever stayed in their chairs. Results, well, win or lose, a) strive to improve, and b) there will always be someone better, if not in this category then the next! So b) is not worth worrying about unless you are an elite athlete and this is your life... and even they are doing it because they enjoy the process! Focus on a). So what if you came in 4th instead of second. Did you dance better than the last time you performed? Only you know that. That is your real goal. Competition is just a way of forcing us to work on that.

"You already surpassed all the people who ever stayed in their chairs."--prak. Absolutely right. I get a lot of enjoyment out of hearing people (nondancers, usually, but not exclusively) say "Oh, you look so good." I remember what one of my favorite instructors said frequently: "Yes, those are the steps. But it's not how I would do them." Laugh. Have a good time and enjoy competing.

I may not have made it clear that I get a lot of enjoyment ... BECAUSE of what my instructor used to say.

Well, this is it! Competition this week!!

My strategy is to look good (I have two high-end custom dresses, overkill for my newcomer category but this was something I could control plus I love sparkles) and try to enjoy. I have discovered that in my lessons when I do something wrong that I thought I understood, it shakes my confidence and often the rest of the lesson is not good. I have been working on interrupting that cycle.

Thank you all for your advice and support!

Best of luck to you -- let us know how it turns out!

Thanks, Seraphina!

Looking good is very important and so much fun! Good luck!

Everybody makes mistakes. How you recover from them matters a lot (Remember Al Pacino's line in "Scent of a Woman": “No mistakes in the tango, darling, not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on.”).

Best of luck. Enjoy it.