What It’s Like to Dance in Front of 5,000 Cheering People

And how to feel like it even if you’re not a performer

The thrilling cocktail of tension and excitement makes my limbs tremble like an old tree in the wind.

I’m familiar with this feeling. Every performer knows it intimately. It’s an old friend who comes to visit before most of the live shows. No matter if we dance for a group of seniors to brighten up their day in the retirement home, or if we perform at a big concert; I am always nervous.

But today is different. You don’t dance for 5,000 people often. Maybe if they quietly watched the show, I would feel calmer.

But it’s a pandemonium out there. People jump around, sing and vehemently applaud every move on the stage.

Many of those 5,000 roaring spectators are dancers themselves, they support their peers. Is it why the group before us receives thunderous applause?

We are all nervous yet eager to leap on the podium. I can see it in the faces of my friends. The excitement is palpable.

Dance Is Life, Life Is a Dance

I danced in the folklore ensemble for almost twenty years. I danced at many big festivals but also in empty city squares. I performed in several countries, but also tiny villages in the middle of nowhere.

Dancing taught me many invaluable lessons that will stay with me forever. I summarized them in this article:

By the way, the flying creature in a thumbnail is me.

My favorite venue was one of the biggest folklore festivals in the world. When you pass through Strážnice, a small village in Southern Moravia in the Czech Republic, you wouldn’t tell that each June thousands of folklore enthusiasts flood this picturesque area.

The festival takes place in a charming park which is basically an open-air museum. Several amphitheaters host the official performances, but the music flows from every corner of the park, especially at night.

People sing and dance everywhere.

Several times I participated at the Strážnice Festival as a performer, but countless times I enjoyed the performances of others as a visitor.

The Thrill in the Stands

Once you step onto the stage, it’s easy to get yourself carried away by all the cheering people. You might even think they applaud you specifically.

But that would be a misunderstanding.

Apart from the choreographies of solo dancers showing their craft, spectators don’t applaud the individual. They support the collective effort of your group. They are aware of those hundreds of hours that lead to this moment on stage. They applaud your perseverance.

They applaud the love you cultivated for your craft because they see it glowing from every move and expression. But they also applaud themselves because spectators and performers form an organic and create an unforgettable atmosphere.

Everybody plays their part in the show.

Everyday issues perish in this climate. People cherish this rare moment.

Although you dance the choreography for the umpteenth time, it feels like a premier. In fact, it is premier and dernier at the same time since this moment will never happen again.

The Joy on the Podium

The joy pulsates through the veins of everybody on the stage. It makes every step a little more refined, every expression more convincing.

While swirling around the stage with my dancing partner in unison, I realize the essence of being a performing artist.

Those thousands of people could be anywhere else. But they are here. Euphoric. Same as the dancers, who feel like they were born for this moment on the podium.

This is the ultimate joy both for the performers and spectators. The whole place feels like a love reactor. It generates love for the art, love for the community, love for those thousands of beaming faces.

Love for life.

How to Feel Like It Without Being a Performer?

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.” — George Bernard Shaw

I’ve been contemplating how to replicate this feeling and find joy even in mundane things.

How to feel like dancing in front of 5,000 cheering people even if you’re not a performer?

The truth is you can’t replicate these magic moments. You can’t just command yourself to enter the perpetual state of bliss whenever you like it.

If you could, anything extraordinary would immediately turn ordinary. If you could experience the thrill by reaching out your arm, you would no longer cherish it. You wouldn’t even appreciate it.

But you can evoke the satisfaction such moments bring you.

Evoke, not replicate. How?

By being part of something bigger than yourself.

Bigger in Ideal

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.” — Herman Melville

As a performer, I always felt I was part of something bigger than me. The art we created together was more than just the sum of our parts. It was bigger not in scale but an ideal. It transcended all of us.

I believe this is the essence of pure joy and fulfillment; find your tribe and bind your purpose with it.

It doesn't have to be a massive project with the potential to change the world. You just need people who vibrate on the same frequency. People who strive toward a common goal and together they work on achieving it. In the process, they also work on themselves.

You can join a group of friends who voluntarily pick up the trash in the forest on the river bank. All of you could chill at home, but you decided to collect empty cans and plastic bags. You support the environment and learn an important lesson of humility and gratitude.

Countless activities have the power to invite joy and a sense of fulfillment into our lives. Some of them are grandiose, others are humbler.

But they share this quality.

They allow us to transcend the boundaries of ourselves. They tie us to each other.

Closing Thoughts

Put some time, effort, and energy into enterprises that don’t bring you financial reward but bind you to your peers.

Become a part of the community of like-minded souls and the joy will follow you like a personal aura.

Then, you can evoke the feeling even in mundane moments.