Dance competition day. Rushes of adrenaline. New and familiar faces. The thrill of the stage. The day of the show can be one of the most fun, yet most stressful days of the season. Make it more fun than stressful by being prepared! Here are five things to help you enjoy it!

1. Eat, Sleep, Repeat

It’s extremely important to eat right and get enough sleep before a competition (and all the time, for that matter).

See Related Article: How To Take Care Of Your Body As A Dancer

Don’t skip a meal because you’ll probably be tired and not have enough energy for rehearsal or a performance.

And SLEEP. I don’t mean that crappy five hour nap, I mean REALLY SLEEP.

See Related Article: How To Keep The Best Physical Condition When You Don’t Have Rehearsals

2. Practice To Make Perfect

My directors always say, “You practice at home and you rehearse in the studio”.

Basically, there is no time to waste.

You should dedicate time outside the studio to your set.

If you don’t fully understand a move, review it at home so when you go back to the studio you'll have it down, and the focus can instead be on your performance and chemistry with the team.

See Related Article: 7 Easy Ways To Kill It On Stage

3. Make The Most Of Tech Time

DO NOT TAKE TECH FOR GRANTED.

You have to pretend like it's the actual performance.

Get used to the stage and try to imagine that the audience is right in front of you.

Regardless if there are 10 or 0 teams watching your tech, perform as if every single seat was filled.

See Related Article: How You Can Get Rid Of Your Stage Fright

4. Winning Isn’t Everything

My team means a hell of a lot more to me than any trophy ever will.

I believe that the winners are the ones who dance for each other.

The love we feel for one another is bigger, and better than any trophy.

Just don't lose track of that in the heat of competition day, yeah?

See Related Article: Want To Know Why A Dance Project Is So Unique?

5. Calm Those Nerves!

IT’S OKAY TO BE NERVOUS!!!

But take deep breaths and remember that things will turn out great – because you worked hard for it.

Trust yourself and your team!

See Related Article: How To Dance With More Confidence

Use this performance to show that you are better than what you were yesterday, that you are better than you were at last year's competition.

See Related Article: How To Survive Being An Alumnus Of A Dance Team

What else do you think is important to keep in mind before competition day? Leave a comment below to add to this list! This article was written by Alyssa De Guzman and originally published on January 2, 2015.