Passion for Dance

Whenever a dancer is competitively successful, we see lots of social media posts, public praise, and gratitude. And rightfully so. When a dancer comes out on top of the rankings the coach and dance teachers are usually a big reason why. We should celebrate and congratulate those dance educators on a successful event.   But what about when dancers don't have a great competition and they fall short...

This week we are going to focus on leadership specifically for high school and college dance teams. But if you don't have captains on your team or you're in the studio world don't leave me just yet. You probably have informal leaders at your studio or ballet company, and whether you call them captains or they are the appointed leaders of the group here are an important concept to remember:  A lead...

When I was dancing 20+ hours a week and basically living at the studio, I was always focused on improving my technique. All my energy went into getting stronger at the ballet barre, working flexibility, and trying to nail that hard across the floor combo in turns and leaps class. What I wasn't thinking about, was my mindset. I wish I could say I "got it" intuitively and knew how to harness the pow...

As a coach or a teacher, we've all been through the challenges that come with the end of the season. You've been training your competition routine for months, it's rounding to the end of the season and it's time to push through those last few big events, planning a recital, or getting ready for nationals, however, you end your year. For me, there were years where this transition into that last big...

As dance educators, we often have to make difficult, emotional decisions. It might be tryouts for a school team, or a studio making decisions about company level, who is in which routine… there are many times where we have to make decisions that we know will have a big emotional impact on the dancers we love. That can be a really heavy feeling! I know we all have different levels of emotional atta...

It's the first guest interview episode of the Passion for Dance Podcast, with Katie Groven of Dancer-Fitness.com! Katie is an ACSM certified personal trainer, holistic health coach, and two-time world champion dancer. She is the creator of dancer-fitness.com   an online exercise database designed to optimize dancer's skills with strength training. She has combined her 25 years of dance and her exp...

How do you become a confident dancer? Are some dancers just born as more confident people while others have to struggle with self-consciousness? The short of it is, yes some people are naturally more confident but no matter what, you can learn to be more confident. There are specific things you can do to train your brain to see the world differently and feel more confident every time you take the...

Many of us have seen the dancer who freezes when they try to do a hard skill. It could be a new hip hop trick, new jump, aerial, just about anything. But it's common when dancers are trying to learn a new challenging skill that they freeze up and absolutely can't do it. OR maybe it's a skill they've had before but something happens like they miss it during an important competition or they get inju...

Have you ever choked under pressure? Let the nerves get to you and ruin an audition or performance? What about as a director or coach, have you watched one of your dancers get so nervous that they freeze and you get that deer in headlights look? You know what I'm talking about, and it's devastating. In this episode, I share a very simple one-minute breathing exercise that will help you calm the ne...

Dance educators work for the love of dance. But it certainly helps if we have a group of dancers we adore and want to work with every day. This episode is a conversation about creating a positive culture and it will apply if you coach a school team, teach at a studio, own a studio, or really any situation where you are working with dancers or other dance educators. Team culture is what keeps us go...

As educators, we are trained in the skills of our sport. We know how to teach our athletes to clean up a routine, improve their turn technique, or achieve a new hip-hop trick. What we don't always understand is how to coach them to prepare for competition day. Or lately, how to coach through a pandemic. If you never talk to your dancers about mindset and spend time specifically training your athle...

Many of us choose to teach our dancers with the same disciplinary approach we grew up with and that often includes punishment when dancers don't follow the rules.  Why do we use punishment? Because it usually works and provides the desired short-term result. But is it the best thing for the long-term goals of your program and the psychological health of your dancers? In this episode, I want to let...

Let's talk about that terrible emotion ... disappointment. Disappointment is normal, and everyone goes through it, but it can be really hard to get over. There's probably something in your dance past that haunts you. I know I do have plenty of things I'm disappointed about over the years!   In this episode, I share the six steps to dealing with disappointment, the story of my own biggest disappoin...

Dancers train our whole lives for only a few minutes on stage. Just a few minutes under the stage lights, just one opportunity to show off what we've worked so hard on. And sometimes we leave the stage feeling like it wasn't enough. I want to make sure if your dancers leave the stage and feeling like they made a mistake, or wishing they had a chance to do it over again, that you'll know how to sup...

In this episode, we are going to talk about motivation. It's one of the biggest questions I get: How do we get our dancers to be more motivated in class?  Don't worry, I've got you covered... I'm going to tell you about the 3 basic needs behind motivation. If you can incorporate these 3 needs into your classes and practices, you'll be able to motivate everyone. Check out the full Show Notes, inclu...

Welcome to the Passion for Dance Podcast! I'm Dr. Chelsea, a former professional dancer and dance team coach turned sport psychologist. This podcast focuses on 4 main pillars, motivation, resilience, mindset, and community. Each week, you'll learn actionable strategies, mindsets, and tips, to teach your dancers more than good technique. We'll cover topics like confidence, grit, growth mindset, and...