Dancing... Good and bad.

[cessna152towser]

I'd agree with the suggestion you should dance as though no one is watching.
That way there is less pressure to be step perfect so you will be less stressed and will look happier. A happy looking dancer is more likely to achieve the empathy of the audience.

[MartinGrenoble]

I... A happy looking dancer is more likely to achieve the empathy of the audience.

Yes, indeed.
Unfortunately, the RSCDS has become so insistent on steps and technique, that putting on a show does become stressful, with the result that you see teams with expressionless faces executing the movements like machines. If you are not enjoying your dancing (and experssing something through the dance) how can you expect the audience to enjoy it.
The RSCDS often insist on standard dances, which are just too dull and repetitive for the onlooker. If no-one choregraphs the traditional figures into something worth watching, it is not surprising that we cannot get the audience interested.

I have often taken part, performing for an audience, but always told the dancers to relax and dance as they would in any friendly get-together. SCD is a social activity not a theatrical act or a spectator sport, and should be seen as such.

The success of Riverdance-style Irish dance shows is well deserved, but it has put Scottish in the shade, as country dances just cannot work up the excitement of Irish sep-dancing, climaxing with the pefect synchronized finish.

It must be very frustrating for you if your audiences walk out, and I'm sure I'd lose what little enthusiasm I have for demonstrations. Don't get me wrong; there's no-one keener than I am on social dancing -- even after 50 years! -- but demos, that's a different matter.

Martin