Passion for Dance

 I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of dancers all over the world, and I hear from each of them about the heavy load they experience as dancers. There's pressure to perform. We never feel like we have enough time to get everything done. There's performance anxiety and burnout. But it doesn't have to be that way. Reframing stress can lead to a better performance as well as more mental resilience...

If you are a dance teacher who has ever struggled to get your students to go full out when they're learning, or if you've been saying the same cue, like, "Pull up," and they don't get it, today's guest is here to share a different approach with a lot of tangible ideas to try in your next class. My guest today is Jennifer Bonfill, the Artistic Director of The Wooden Floor. She spent 13 years as a p...

The best performers in the world didn't get to where they are through magic, nor did they get there overnight. The best path to your personal best is to focus on those small, daily habits that add up to consistent growth. Psychological research has taught us that there are three of these daily key habits to focus on. In today's episode, I'll share the three daily habits of top-performing dancers t...

What kind of dancer will make it in New York City? Do passionate dancers get taken advantage of in the professional world? Today's episode is a conversation with Dr. Ruth Horowitz, a sociologist who specifically studied recent dancers. She interviewed over 80 professionals at various levels of their career and found some really interesting results about passion, how dancers create a career by piec...

It takes a lot of positive mental skills to learn how to focus on small improvements every day and not give up when you don't feel like you're making the progress you want. Many dancers focus on getting the turns, learning choreography quickly, scoring well in their solo, but they don't focus on how to make those things happen. You don't have to make huge strides every day in order to achieve thos...

When it comes to a focused mindset, I'll admit that I'm one of those psychologists who talks about the benefit of intention. I personally always set a word for the year that serves as my overarching intention, and I often set daily intentions when I sit down to work, but I want to bring this into the dance studio. Being able to clearly focus and be drilled in with an intention will have a big, pos...

Many coaches today struggle with accountability on their teams or in the studio. We want dancers who do the hard work and follow through with their promises. Truly accountable dancers own up to their mistakes and do what they say they're going to do even when no one's watching. It's all about being accountable to each other, and the best leaders know how to do that. Today's episode is for dancers!...

I often hear from dancers they say some pretty mean things to themselves they'd never say out loud or to a friend. For some reason, it's so easy for us to get caught in negative spirals where we berate ourselves for a mistake or convince ourselves we're not good enough, and sometimes that little voice is not always so encouraging, and telling yourself, "I've got this," and basically talking yourse...

Do you use the cues to "pull up" or "point your toes"? Those are common cues teachers use in the dance world. One mental skill I talk about is attention and learning how to take a cue like "pull up" and translate that to a helpful action on your body. I know some dancers hear your cue and then nothing happens, but my guest today has some great insights to help us understand what dance teachers sho...

I see so many frustrated dance teachers talking about how it feels harder and harder to get dancers to be fully committed to their teams and their studios. We want our dancers to be 100% committed, and anything less is frustrating. However, there's this growing phenomenon called conditional commitment, which basically means, "I'm committed but only under certain circumstances," and yes, that is ve...

Have you ever wanted to ask a mental performance coach what to do in a certain situation? Do you have a dancer who's getting overly anxious before competition, or you're not sure how to get your dancers to be fully committed? I want to be a resource for you - the place you can come to ask questions and receive concrete advice. This episode is all about common misconceptions and questions I get abo...

One thing that separates good dancers from great dancers is their ability to believe in themselves. It's true for students, teachers, and professionals. When you're pursuing any dream at any stage of life, there is so much power in believing in yourself. But that's a lot easier to say than to actually do. It's hard to translate that into real progress. In today's episode, I'll be sharing about hav...

Are you a flexible dancer or have easily hyperextended joints? Dancers with hypermobile joints might love the ability to show off tricks and skills as a dancer, but is it dangerous to be that hypermobile? I've been wanting to talk to a medical professional about hypermobile joints in dancers, so my guest today, a dancer turned doctor, is here to explain it all! Dr. Linda Bluestein is renowned for...

For many teams, be it school teams or studios, we are entering a new season. Wouldn't it be great if we could establish strong, positive cultures from the beginning? When an athlete quits in the middle of the season, it usually causes drama, stress, and a lot of extra work. Generally speaking, as coaches and teachers, we strive to create a culture of team commitment where athletes stay invested al...

We often label our dancers without even meaning to do it, even if it's only in our heads and we never say it out loud. You know who your solid turner is, who is lazy, who has style, and who you can depend on to know the counts. As we get to know our dancers, we inadvertently label them. We have a lot of power over our dancers' journeys, and we carry a lot of influence on them, so let's make sure w...

Time management can be hard for all of us, dancers and coaches included, and we often beat ourselves up when we can't do it well. My guest today taught me the time-management strategy I use every day, so I had to bring her on to share it with all of you because it's not just another app or a planner; it's an amazing stress-reduction tool. Today's guest is Kelly Nolan. She's a former attorney, now...

If you are of a certain age in this dance industry, like me, you probably had to run laps when you were late to practice or would be kicked out of ballet if you crossed your arms in class. For many of us, we grew up with coaches and directors who used physical punishment for bad behavior and mistakes. It was the norm. It's what many of us were used to. If you're currently using any type of physica...

Do your dancers struggle with face-to-face conversations or have a hard time handling their emotions? If you're like most dance educators I've talked to, having real, face-to-face conversations, that are productive but still kind and provide real benefit, is exceedingly challenging. Our dancers are used to communicating behind a screen. It's hurting their relationships, and I also think it's hurti...

Whether you're a coach at a school or teach in a studio setting, your dancers likely need to build a tight-knit team if they're going to be successful this season. Traditionally, people think of connecting socially when they want dancers to be close, but there are actually four types of team building, and social connection's only one way to build that tight-knit group. In today's episode, I'll be...

Did you know there's a formula for creating a high-performance environment? Successful dancers know how to perform at their best, but that happens when you practice at your best. Being a successful dancer starts in rehearsal. It's about creating that high performance environment in every class, every cleaning rehearsal your dancers attend. Then, of course, it's up to them to do the work. In today'...

If you hire choreographers for your dance team, you'll definitely want to listen to today's episode for some really helpful insights into that coach-choreographer relationship and how to work together to create championship-winning routines. Today's guest is Nicholas Kade Clement of NKC Choreography. After his own professional career, Nick started choreographing for dance teams all over the countr...

This episode is a continued conversation about team leadership. Last week's episode was all about identifying a truly committed team leader and how to help the whole team be more committed. There is an entire spectrum of commitment, and it's very important that any team leader is one of the top two tiers. So if you missed that and are considering a formal team leadership this year, go back to epis...

I'm hearing coaches and studio owners tell me every day how commitment levels are different and how dancers don't seem as committed as they used to. Then you add the need to have leadership on our teams, either formal or not, and if most of your senior-level dancers aren't committed, now what do you do? In this episode, I'm going to share the idea of a Commitment Continuum. I'll break down the six...

It's really challenging to teach resilience and confidence and motivation if the team culture is awful. Maybe you've been a part of some incredible cultures as a dancer, or maybe you've been part of some really bad ones. Either way, culture is the foundation that all other mental skills need to thrive. Whether you're at a studio or a school team or an all-star gym, the culture of that group can ma...

While I'm on a mission to create happier, more successful dancers through positive mental skills, I'm also someone who loves to be inspired by dancers who are living their dreams and are also honest about the hard work it takes to get there. My guests in today's episode are here to do just that and pull back the curtain on their journey from studio to competitive college team to the Radio City Roc...