More Than Dance

Another word off the "NO NO" list: "I'm Sorry". This is the word that can turn into apologizing for your existence. I see people using this word to hide , to not be seen or even to seem agreeable and polite.  In this episode just like in other episodes we talk about what we can say instead: thank you! Thank you for your patience. Thank you for holding space. Taking up spac...

This episode is about rejection and how, as a dancer, you actually get better at moving through it.  Rejection comes up a lot. You go for things, you don’t always get them, and sometimes it can feel like it’s happening all the time. And especially as a beginner dancer the whole class experience can feel like a bunch of rejections.  I share a bit about my college experience auditioning for clubs, p...

This episode is about thinking bigger and realizing that the options you see aren’t the only ones that exist. Sometimes we only ask for what we know is available to us. And anything outside of that doesn’t even cross our mind… so we don’t ask for it. I share a story from when I was younger about Britney Spears. I asked for the CD. That’s what I knew existed. It never even occurred to me that I cou...

This episode is all about endurance. I tell the story about when I first learned about the difference between endurance and cardio.  Endurance is: ⭐️ finding strength inside the movement ⭐️ being able to breathe through it ⭐️ staying present even when it gets hard We often treat dance endurance like cardio… constant movement, pushing through, trying not to stop. When you change the way you see...

In this episode, we talk about finding your personal control inside dance class so you can stop fighting the process and start enjoying it. You get to decide: ⭐️ how open you want to be ⭐️ how curious you’re willing to stay ⭐️ whether you allow yourself to mess up ⭐️ if today is a learning day or a performing day ⭐️ if you bring excitement with you… or fear ⭐️ whether you take difficulty per...

Make the most out of your learning experience by selecting the best teacher. We brief on the dance rollercoaster. The only way to get better is to go on the rollercoaster and its best if you have the best support around you.  It feels vulnerable to learn and we want to learn so much, but sometimes we just want to learn faster than our capabilities.  Great teachers do this: providing a safe space f...

Have you ever left class feeling amazing and like you understood something so well and then you go to the next class to try and apply that same knowledge only to realize that it felt stuck. We are not the same dancer every day and our bodies are always changing too! Sometimes you have those aha moments where everything makes sense, and it’s tempting to hold onto them and try to recreate them in th...

This episode is about hard skills vs soft skills and how practicing both is the key to becoming a better dancer! Hard skills are the obvious ones: Choreography, turns, technique… they’re exact, measurable, you know when you hit them or you don’t. Soft skills are different and not as easy to point out; you feel them: body awareness, musicality, transitions, spatial awareness, confidence, focus, ada...

In this episode, I introduce four different types of schedules we can move through during different seasons of our lives and energy instead of forcing ourselves to live inside one rigid routine. Humans fluctuate and so should our schedules. Our energy changes. Our focus changes. Our capacity changes.  We break down the four schedules: ⭐️ The On-It Schedule: when you feel clear, focused, disciplin...

In this episode, we talk about learning how to trust your body instead of overthinking every movement . When you challenge your body and give it the opportunity to respond, it often rises to the occasion faster than your mind expects. When the brain takes over and starts analyzing every step, every detail, and every possibility, it can actually block you from doing something your body is fully cap...

Grief isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it doesn’t come with a clear loss, a ceremony, or a moment where everyone agrees something ended. Sometimes it shows up quietly through big life changes like moving, starting a new job, shifting relationships, or realizing your identity is evolving. In this episode, we talk about the sneaky kind of grief. The grief of the life you thought you were going to hav...

The mirror in dance class can bring up a lot. Sometimes we look at our reflection and the first thought is, “I hate how I look.” The mirror stops being a tool and starts feeling like a judge. In this episode, we talk about changing your relationship with the mirror. Longevity in dance is a goal, and part of that longevity is learning how to exist in your body with more comfort and curiosity, not c...

In this episode, I talk about how to move through setbacks without turning them into something bigger than they are. Whether it’s illness, injury, or something unexpected like a snowstorm throwing off your routine, the real work is learning how to respond without judging yourself. We don’t always control what happens  we can control how we come back. This episode is your reminder to stay grounded,...

Have you ever felt stuck? Like everything you are doing you are either really challenged and nothing is going smoothly, or your off? I introduce a concept that changed everything for me: the rule of thirds. Growth gets to live in three spaces: ⭐️ one where you’re killing it (your flow state) ⭐️ one where you’re working on it (your practice state) ⭐️ one where you feel challenged (your reset sta...

Reflection is one of the most powerful tools we as humans have access to. And its important to know how to use it because our brain plays tricks on us.  Our brain can train ourselves to forget things and we might remmeber it a different way.  As a dancer we have the opportunity to have immediate feedback through our experience in dance: 1. knowing if and when something felt wrong 2. our class and...

Big change rarely starts big. In this episode, I talk about rebuilding momentum through the smallest possible steps and how lowering the bar actually helped me move forward again after returning to the gym following physical therapy. My only rule was to show up. No pressure to complete a full workout. No expectation to do everything perfectly. Even one exercise counted as a "day at the gym&qu...

This episode is all about picking one thing and how that single shift can completely change your experience in class. Overwhelm feels like you’re trying to fix too many things at once. I talk about how I approach class the same way I approach my word of the year: one focus creates clarity. It can be fun to think about dance like a science lab. We experiment, we repeat, we observe, and we learn. Wh...

In this episode, I break down the three sneaky things that pull you out of the moment in dance: expectations, judgment, and comparison. We talk about them separately and how they feed each other in one big mental loop. ✨ Expectations: Walking into class expecting a breakthrough every single time. Expecting to “get it” immediately. Expecting to feel amazing. And when that doesn’t happen? The spira...

In this episode, I talk about two very different ways people approach learning. I love using the imagery of a giant pool: Do you walk down the stairs slowly, letting yourself adjust? Or do you dive headfirst and get it all over with? Some of us are coddlers. We like structure, validation, reassurance, and time. We want to feel ready before we fully immerse ourselves. Some of us are divers. We jump...

This episode is about what happens when you overthink something so much that you don’t do it at all and how to break that pattern once and for all. I share one of my favorite phrases: Get the F there.  Thinking isn’t the problem, thinking instead of doing is. I talk about my gym story and how I’m building consistency by doing exercises I’d normally overthink, trusting that I’ll adapt and figure it...

This episode is all about the power of “yes, and” and asking yourself one simple question: Are you saying yes enough in your life? I talk about how so many opportunities pass us by because we’re closed, tired, overwhelmed, guarded, or stuck in our ego. We say “I wish I could” instead of “yes, and how could I?” We explore “yes, and” through dance, improv, contact improv, and real life  where moveme...

This episode is about presence, perfection, and learning how to actually enjoy your life while you’re living it. I share a story from a really epic night where performance team was part of something amazing. The execution was incredible, everything flowed, and the event itself was unreal. I was so focused on analyzing it, critiquing it, and thinking about how everything could be “better,” that I d...

Feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean you’re behind. It usually means you care, you’re thinking ahead, and you’re holding too much in your head at once. In this episode, I talk honestly about what’s been overwhelming me lately and why overwhelm often shows up when we’re future-focused, growing, and trying to become something new. I break down how our brains pile everything together, what needs to happe...

There’s a phase of growth that feels uncomfortable enough to make you question everything, and most people quit here because they don’t understand what’s happening. Dance teaches this perfectly When something is being rebuilt, it looks chaotic in the middle. Foundations crack. Pieces are removed. The space becomes unusable for a moment. And if you don’t know that this is part of the process, you’l...

In this episode, we talk about stage presence, what it actually is, why it matters, and how to build more of it. I start with a moment I’ll never forget: watching a dancer perform like she did not want to be there. She did not know the skills of stage presence and it showed. There are times when endurance is the thing you need to train. And then there are times when presence is the missing piece....