Passion for Dance

It's summer, which for me as a mental performance consultant means busy season! Lots of dance studios and coaches want to focus on mental skills training in the summer, which is great. It's our "off-season" or as I like to say, "improvement season". So in today's episode, I want to address a question I get a lot… when should I teach my dancers about mental skills? It's a great question, so let's t...

Summer is often a time of vacations and relaxing, but also, intensives and summer camps, and usually whole love of planning! If you are someone like me who loves a good planner, color codes everything and enjoys mapping out your season, I'm excited to share my planning process with you. And if you are NOT a planner, I encourage you to stick around. While it may not come as naturally as it does for...

We know that being a dance coach with a positive impact is more than teaching dance skills and helping your dancers perform well and achieve competitive success. But how? What are the coaching strategies that actually help you teach your dancers those important life skills? How do you challenge them and help your dancers achieve mental strength and perseverance while also supporting their mental h...

In this episode, I talk about the need for a little tough love in coaching. I'm not telling you to be mean and rude, but there is a time and place when it is our job to challenge our dancers. It's a common misconception that positive coaching means going easy on them, but that's not true.  This episode explains how to give your dancers some tough love when they need it, because I know sometimes it...

Today's episode features two special guests, who are both professionally accomplished and exceptional dance educators.  As I say in the episode, sometimes you just click with people right away because you are grounded in the same philosophy and approach to life, which is why I clicked so quickly with Joe and Michelle. In today's conversation, we talk about our passion for dance and teaching, why w...

Coaching and teaching dance is hard, it's really rewarding, but hard. It's easy to feel beat down sometimes. When your dancers aren't listening, when the parents are pushing every last button, when your hardworking dancers aren't seeing the competitive success you wish for them… it can feel so defeating. So today I want to share a short message for you in the hopes it might help on those harder da...

This episode is a continuation of last week where I talked about 3 of the key qualities to look for in a captain. If you choose to have formal leaders, I believe choosing a captain is one of the first and sometimes more difficult decisions you make at the beginning of the season. But once the appointment is made, your work has just begun. Developing leadership skills is an ongoing process, every d...

If you choose to have captains or formal leaders of any kind on your team, that choice can shape your entire season. And I believe the choice of who makes a good dance team leader has nothing to do with dance technique! When you are thinking about who will make the best leaders, there are 3 key characteristics to look for. And this isn't just me talking from experience, although that's always in t...

I feel like many of us are having a hard time lately. There's a lot of burnout, overwhelm, and negativity. And I get it! There are so many reasons why our work is hard right now. But you aren't alone. And sometimes we all need a little pick-me-up and reassurance that we're on the right track. Over my years of coaching, I've definitely had some dark moments. Times when I felt like I was completely...

Have your dancers ever experienced success at competition, and then started to back off on the hard work that got them there and act like they can coast through the rest of the season? This phenomenon of slacking off after success is not something we talk about often in the dance industry, but I think it's important to address. How do you stay motivated after competitive success? I've got 3 tips t...

Positive team culture doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen without a lot of effort and intentional team building. But in today's episode, I want to share the 4 step process of how to go from a group to a team. And spoiler alert… it includes conflict. You have to go through the storm to come out the other side. So here are the 4 steps to go from a new group that just came together, to a...

Have you ever thought about using your dance experience and education to do something other than teaching dance? Now, if you are a dance educator out there who loves what you do, I'm certainly not the one to tell you to leave. But, I have a guest today who opened my eyes to what is possible for dancers who might be ready to break the mold. I invite you to listen in today with an open mind, and may...

We all want dancers who are hard working. Dancers who show up and stay focused during class, Dancers who put in 100% effort even if the teacher isn't looking. But how do you create an environment where classes and practices are full of that type of dedication? In this episode, I share 3 things dance educators can do to encourage hard-working and self-motivated dancers. _____________ Mentioned in T...

Today is the Passion for Dance Podcast's birthday! One year ago, I started this journey, and because I launched the show on my actual birthday, it's also my birthday! So, to celebrate one year and 50 episodes of the show, I figured it was time to share a little more about my own story and some moments in my dance life that shaped who I am today, and why I do this work. I'm getting a little more pe...

What if we were "Like a Boy?" Would you treat us differently if we were male athletes? The LSU Tiger Girls had a clear and powerful message in their recent hip hop routine, the choreography was top-notch, and the dancers are so talented. But have you ever wondered what it felt like to coach the team through this journey? I wanted to celebrate the person behind the team. The one who, along with her...

Do you know the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist? My guests this week are both, and the distinction is an important one becuase it means they have the education and training, plus the dance background to go with it, so they can support you and your dancers' nutrition needs.  I have Melissa and Yasi from MY Dance Nutrition on the show today, and we purposely wanted to record and ge...

Today's guests are Pro Dance Team Coaches and Founders of the Cultivate Code, Sabrina, and Amira. These women have a wealth of knowledge about dancing in the NBA or NFL and I think a lot of our conversation translates to high school and college teams as well. We talk about mentoring professional dancers and why it's so different, giving honest feedback as a coach at any level, the importance of co...

Making a genuine connection with each of your dancers can be really challenging, but it's so important as a teacher or coach that we try and connect with our dancers. I'll be the first to admit that this doesn't come easily, or rather some relationships are easier than others. Over the years there are dancers where there was an instant and easy connection, and others that took a lot longer. So in...

Why do we compete? If you have dancers who take on big national championships every year, why? Have they lost track of why? Throughout my consulting career, I've had the privilege to travel to a few different national dance team championships, as a mental skills consultant or a judge, and sometimes as a spectator who simply loves watching dance competitions. On the way home from one such event rec...

Do you think that being a professional dancer is out of your reach? I definitely thought so as a young dancer, but my guest today taught me a lot about chasing your dreams through being yourself. Joining me today is Sonja McCord, a professional dancer, a marketing expert, and CEO of her own incredible company. Sonja is a classically trained dancer who has performed with  Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,...

I don't set New Year's resolutions, even though I'm a big fan of goal setting. And there's a good reason I don't set one big goal for the year. Because in order to have effective goal setting all year, it's important to have an overarching focus and reason for those goals. I need a sense of purpose first. Sure, it's good to figure out what you want to change and set goals to make that change happe...

I am a firm believer that we should not have to coach alone on an island. And if I've learned lessons along the way, I'm going to share those lessons with anyone who's interested in learning. Plus, I'm invested in my own learning as well. And today I want to take you behind the scenes a bit and share some of the great lessons and resources being shared inside the membership. I talked with 4 member...

Mental skills are how you get the most out of your physical skills, and it helps ensure your dancers peak at the right time, and compete at their highest ability. Whatever physical skills you have trained are what you see on the competition floor. See, confidence is just one aspect of mental skills training, but it's an important one. And while every coach wants athletes to have mental skills like...

Recently I had the chance to sit down with Bri from Apolla Performance and professional dancer Chelsie Hightower, who you might recognize from So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. Chelsie and I found each other when a mutual friend connected us because she knew I would resonate with the mission behind Chelsie's clothing line. Inside Out works to produce dancewear that encourages...

Recently I had the chance to sit down with Bri from Apolla Performance and professional dancer Chelsie Hightower, who you might recognize from So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. Chelsie and I found each other when a mutual friend connected us because she knew I would resonate with the mission behind Chelsie's clothing line. Inside Out works to produce dancewear that encourages...