Passion for Dance

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 …

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…

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 bera…

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” …

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, a…

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 danc…

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…

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 hypermo…

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 midd…

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 d…

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…

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 o…

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…

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 conn…

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 d…

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 togethe…

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 …

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 te…

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 …

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 …