Dance Teacher Pep Talk

In today’s episode, Amanda dives into the concept of achievement, and where we weigh certain aspects of our life as more of a success or less.  When we think of achievement, sometimes we think of it as something tangible or something you can check off on a box, but have we ever looked at the feeling received from something as an achievement? Can it be an achievement to feel proud that we have come...

In today’s episode I had the honor of interviewing an inspiration of mine, Tara Iacobucci!  Tara is a dance educator, dancer, adjudicator, mentor, choreographer, and more! Her home base is as the creative director of the award-winning dance companies at The Talent Factory in Rhode Island, where many of her students have gone on to accept prestigious scholarships at such places as Marymount Manhatt...

Today's bonus episode was inspired by an amazing spark I felt after subbing some Modern classes last week and I knew I just had to share! It reminded me that changing it up from time to time can be a spark for ourselves and a breath of fresh air for our students. Feeling stuck with the same warm-up, the same playlist, the same drills? Change it up for the day! What can we do that feels differe...

Welcome back to another episode of Dance Teacher Pep Talk and this episode being the first of the month is geared towards how we can make this February the best February that we can! Theming with the energy of Valentine’s Day, the question I asked at the start of this month is, “how can you show yourself more love this month?” And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how important of a...

In today's episode, Amanda dives into ways that she has found to love cleaning over the years, and that wasn't always the case. Cleaning a lot of the time was a daunting task and one that felt repetitive and lacking of passion. In order to flip that mentality, Amanda shares what has worked best for her over the years including tools and tips and a shifted outlook about what the cleaning pr...

In today’s episode, I have a conversation with a former student of mine, Sadie Guthrie, to discuss her journey in dance so far. Sadie has forged a unique path for herself, and something that I’ve always admired about her is that she is authentically true to her heart. Sadie discusses how she has found herself in her dancing and art over the years from studio life, to being a member of the first in...

I’m so excited to be back and sharing on the podcast! I hope you all had a restful holiday break. I know I personally am feeling rejuvenated and ready to go with so much content, deep topics, incredible guest interviews planned, and more to share on Dance Teacher Pep Talk podcast! Today’s episode connects to a way we might look at creating our 2024 intentions specific to the dance teaching we do,...

Today’s episode is the final Dance Teacher Pep Talk episode of 2023! First of all, I want to thank you so very much for your support and listens to this podcast. I start off reflecting on my journey this far with the podcast, and I am just so filled up by all that this is and all that this will be. I am truly grateful to you all.  In going after my dreams and thoughts, I want to ask you, where are...

At a time when Amanda felt stuck in a rut in her Ballet classes, she went back to the root of what made Ballet so special to her. What was it that inspired her most? Moved her most about the art form? And the answer to that was live performance! Seeing the direct result of the hard work that we do day in and day out of our Ballet classes over the years in a beautiful spectacle of art on stage was...

While Amanda was planning for classes tonight she thought, wow I need to get this on the podcast ASAP, in case someone else out there could use this idea for tonight! Check out this short bonus clip for an idea that you can implement in your classes tonight and keep in the spirit of this special season! Thanks for listening everyone! <3 Amanda

This can be SUCH a magical season and it can be so special when we share that magic and excitement in our classroom. In today's episode, Amanda discusses what makes December so special to her and how she brings this into her teaching and classroom experience. There are so many important holidays in the month of December, and of all of those holidays, there tends to be a common theme of light....

Today’s episode is a deeper one, and one that may seem a little heavier during this happy and magical season. The reality is, no matter how much we love what we do, we are going to face difficult situations and emotions in our professional lives as dance teachers, and of course also in our personal lives. The holiday season, as beautiful as it is, can bring out emotions that are tougher at times t...

Today's episode started coming together as a means to warm us as the weather begins to get colder. But, as I began preparing, I realized a huge other aspect to this meditation episode that I reflect on in this episode. Emotionally, we sometimes feel a complete change of temperature when faced with difficult situations. The phrases "turns your blood cold" or "makes my blood boil&...

Today’s episode is such an important one and I feel should be shared among all dance educators! This episode is a great one too even if you aren’t a dance educator, but are looking to hear more on overall wellness.  Today I sit down with my good friend and Registered Dietician, Kelsey Rigopoulos, RDN, LDN. Kelsey has been a practicing Dietician since 2015 and her passion and love for all things nu...

In past episodes, Amanda has shared that outside of dance, she LOVES reading! She thought it would be such a special episode to share some books that she has grown from in life and as a dance teacher specifically for the podcast!  Today we dive into 5 Books to change your dance teaching life and we feel this will be an episode style that will for sure be repeated in the future because it was SO di...

Today’s episode is one of our monthly goal/theme/check-in style episodes, and this month’s theme is all about Gratitude.  Amanda shares about how to really make gratitude a practice and not just something we think of every now and then, but how can we use it and feel it daily.  This is a great time of year to reflect on what we are most grateful for and to look back on our journey from then to now...

Happy Halloween! Today’s episode may seem unrelated to Dance, but it is something that Amanda is so passionate about. Amanda has used the knowledge she has gained from today’s topics in so many avenues of her life and career. For Halloween, we thought it would be fun to share about it all with you! Today’s episode is all about Astrology & Human Design. During Amanda’s burnout, she went on a bi...

Today’s episode is a deep dive into all things self-doubt. It came as a suggested topic in our @danceteacherpeptalk DMs and we are so grateful for this suggestion as we know self-doubt is something that can effect all of us and can really pull us down to places we never foresee in our dance teaching. Amanda has broken up today’s content into 3 sections . . . *Self-doubt in choreography *Self-doubt...

Today’s episode is so special because it is not only our first interview episode, but Amanda sits down and has an amazing conversation with her lifelong mentor and one of her greatest friends, the incredibly talented, Jennie Membrino-Nano! Jennie received her BFA in Dance from the University of The Arts with a specialization in Modern. Jennie has been teaching & choreographing in the New Engla...

Today’s episode is all about Halloween and fun activities we can bring into our dance classroom spaces this season! Going off of Tuesday’s warm-up episode, we begin hinting to a special Halloween Station Circuit warm-up that will be available on our @danceteacherpeptalk Instagram Wednesday October 25th so make sure to check back! This circuit of stations includes cardio, strength, and stretch exer...

In today’s episode, Amanda shares her outlook and view on warm-ups and includes some of her most tried and true ways of changing it up from time to time.  “By engaging in a warm-up before each dance activity, dancers will be able to optimize the work done in class, rehearsal or performance, working safely and efficiently.” Andrea Kozai for IADMS https://iadms.org/media/3598/iadms-resource-paper-th...

How often do we take the time to stop and think about where the skills training and the dancing that we are doing in our classes could lead our students in their futures? In today’s episode, Amanda dives into Part 2 of a two-part series about introducing Careers in Dance with our dancers. One of the biggest gaps Amanda found in her education and support growing up in the public school system was h...

How often do we take the time to stop and think about where the skills training and the dancing that we are doing in our classes could lead our students in their futures? In today’s episode, Amanda dives into Part 1 of a two-part series about introducing Careers in Dance with our dancers. One of the biggest gaps Amanda found in her education and support growing up in the public school system was h...

In today's episode, Amanda shares one of her favorite exercises of all time and it is all based on the concept of an improv combination. This combination though has a specific structure to it to help the dancers stay in sequence and that structure is, the alphabet! There are SO many ways that you can use this exercise and endless benefits to doing this activity in any style of dance class. Gui...

To celebrate a new month, Amanda dives deep into not only how we can make October a beautiful month for us, but also how we can make the entire Fall season a special time for us and our students. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the weather starts to get cooler, things begin to change in nature, and there is so much beauty and inspiration everywhere, if only we take the time to look! Amanda shares...