My First Belly Dance Show - How to Calm My Nerves?

First, pictured all of the New Moon Belly Dance Ensemble dancers, guests, and Jill Parker and the Fox Glove Sweethearts. Second Picture, the Bedouin Dancers (the first dance number): back row- Sarah, Basha,Regina, front row-Laura, April (me), Debra

I was more nervous in the days leading up to my bellydance performance then I was on the actual day.

By then I knew the choreography and I had practiced every day without fail and I even went through the steps in my mind as I slept. Some of the other dancers said they listened to the song and went through the steps in their minds as they drove in their cars. I could not do that without crashing I am sure! I e-mailed everyone asking what I could do to manage my nerves. Some said to use lavender. Brilliant! I have so much lavender already because I inhale natural lavendar for headaches. The day of the show I went to my jewelry studio for 4 hours (short day) then I went home, practiced the routine once flawlessly, then plugged in the diffuser and filled it with Lavender essential oil (Young Living). I watched it mist and hiss, I lay down for 20 minutes and slept for about 10 minutes, I think. With a lavender aroma filled room and bathroom, I got up and took a shower, got dressed, ate a small cheese sandwhich on wheat bread, drank water, and put on tons of make up. Apparently, not enough. They added more to my eyes when I got to Angelica's Bistro. Some of the other things people said to do to to calm my nerves:

Our fearless leader, Malia: Try to find my space of "Calm" and "Silence" before you dance.

Practice finding that space everytime you run through the dance in class and at home. That way you are conditioning yourself and you are comfortable with this routine when it's performance time.
Deep Breathe.

She said so much more... as did others... to be continued!