Letter to a panicking friend,

It takes time until it starts looking like something. Don't let the way it looks in the beginning frighten you.
Keep generating as much material as possible as well as compositional ideas, tools and strategies. Don't give notes to what you see and try to delay having an opinion about the outcome as long as you can.
Give the dancers tasks that allow you to sit and watch and do nothing for long periods. Look without trying to find the answer. just look. then, you will notice immediately the few interesting things that are happening.
Don't think of the time you have - I know its hard, but you have to work as if you have one year to do it.
Trust the dancers and what they do instinctively. 
Until the very end, dont give any corrections about movement to anyone. You can do that in the end if necesary.
Try to spot what are the new things they offer you, stuff you don’t know, even if its very different from what you are used to or what you expected.
Don't be afraid to do things you already did and use ideas you already used somewhere else - this is usually the best place to start. it will anyway change a lot during the process so you dont have to worry about repeating yourself. it often looks like a stupid school thingy at the beginning. If you stay calm and make room for the dancers, it will morph into something else very fast.
And remember, it's a game:)