Cultivating Optimism as a Teenage Competitive Dancer

201 Optimism

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Passion for Dance. I'm your host, Dr. Chelsea, and my mission is to create happier, more successful dancers through positive mental skills. And today I wanna talk about finding the joy in dance. Again, I'm seeing a trend in the teenage competitive dancers that I work with where they are pretty pessimistic about competition season or their own technique, or their ability to reach their dreams.

There's this loss of optimism that honestly has me a little worried. Optimism is essential for competitive success and mental resilience. Dance is hard and we need to be able to take a positive point of view. Most of the time, we need to believe we are capable of learning that new skill or making our dream come true or getting that job we're hoping for.

Without optimism, it's too hard to stay focused in class and give your best effort. You have to believe in yourself and your ability to learn and grow. Being optimistic means believing the best possible outcome will happen even if it feels unlikely right now. [00:01:00] So I ask, are you optimistic about competition this weekend?

Are you optimistic about your future as a dancer? If you don't always see the positive side or find yourself stuck more often in stress and anxious feelings, let's talk about cultivating optimism as a teenage competitive dancer.

Welcome to passion for dance. I'm Dr. Chelsea, a former professional dancer, turned sports psychologist. And this podcast is for everyone in the dance industry who wants to learn actionable strategies and new mindsets.

I know what it feels like to push through the pain, take on all the criticism, and do whatever it takes to make sure the show will go on. But I also know that we understand more about mental health and resilience than ever before, and it's time to change the industry for the better. This podcast is for all of us to connect, learn, and share our passion for dance with the world. 

I want to set a clear expectation for what I mean by optimism. It's not just about being positive. There is such a thing as toxic positivity. That's [00:02:00] not what I'm advocating for here. Optimism is about being resilient and adaptable. it's having the confidence to bounce back from setbacks, and that's the part I think dancers could benefit from.

It's the view that even when you do make a mistake, even when you have a bad class or don't score well, a competition, you believe that good things are still possible. You believe that you're capable of handling the challenge, you're ready to put in the work. And the positive rewards, both internal and external are in your future.

Studies show that optimistic athletes tend to perform better under pressure as well, so that's why we wanna strive for the skill of cultivating optimism. It's a lot more enjoyable to train with that sense of positivity and it'll help your competitive results as well.

I worked with a dancer once after a terrible injury. She tore her ACL and missed the national championships her junior year, and that meant after surgery and rehab. She had the chance to be back for her senior year, but only if she believed it was possible. At first, the [00:03:00] injury was understandably devastating.

She was worried about never being the same dancer again. She was stressed about the timeline and missing her chance to perform as a senior. But we were able to cultivate some optimism in our time together. She came to see the injury as an opportunity for personal growth, and she intentionally focused on her own journey and not what her teammates were working on.

She became more resilient during rehab and truly believed she'd be back at the same level of excellence she felt before the injury. Now, of course it wasn't always joyful. There were some hard days, but the overall optimism allowed her to adapt after those hard days. Allowed her to use mental tools to focus on the positive possibilities so that she could thrive and experience a stunning final performance at her senior nationals.

So let's talk about how to do that. But before I dig into strategies to build optimism, I wanna be clear about the difference between optimism and toxic positivity. Realistic optimism [00:04:00] is recognizing challenges while still believing in your ability to overcome them. For instance, a dancer might acknowledge that they struggled with their choreography today, or had a hard time with a turn sequence, but they stay hopeful that consistent practice will help them get there. Toxic positivity, on the other hand, is telling yourself, eh, everything's fine. I'm a great dancer. Despite feeling stressed or frustrated, you're trying to fake it.

What I'm advocating for is that you don't wanna ignore real challenges or pretend like it doesn't take real work. Instead, two things can be true. You are a great dancer and you need more practice and will be able to get those turns with time and effort. Another example of the difference is after a poor performance or something you're disappointed in, a dancer who's leaning into toxic positivity would say, it's totally fine. I'm great. Judges don't know what they're looking at. Where a dancer focused on optimism recognizes the truth of why it was probably a poor performance, but still sees a positive future. [00:05:00] They might say, I didn't do well in my last performance. I'm disappointed, but I'm learning from it and I will improve next time. Optimism acknowledges the challenge, but instills a belief that growth and positive results are possible. 

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If you are a competitive dancer, optimism will help you at competition as well in two really important ways. It helps you stay focused and energized, and it helps you handle disappointment and pressure.

When dancers approach competitions with an optimistic mindset, they are more likely to keep energy up during those really long weekends and maintain focus throughout a routine rather than letting one mistake cause them to lose momentum. We've all had the experience of that one mistake distracting your thoughts on stage, and that distraction causing a cascade of other mistakes.

Learning to be optimistic helps guide your thoughts even within a few seconds of a mistake, if you believe you can handle setbacks, that includes a challenge on stage. So if a dancer falls out of her turns, but has practiced having an optimistic mindset, it'll show up on stage. [00:07:00] Right after the mistake, there's the quick thought. I've got this, and two counts later, she's back in the routine, present in the moment. That of course, leads to that stronger overall performance than if she'd let her mind spiral after a mistake. 

Optimism also helps you handle disappointment, which is a part of any dancer's journey. Competitions can be stressful and things don't always go as planned. Optimism helps dancers reframe disappointment into a learning experience. Say a dancer receives feedback after a competition about an area of improvement.

Judges suggest stronger performance quality in your face, or that you focus on staying grounded in the routine Instead of feeling discouraged, an optimistic dancer will see the feedback as an opportunity to grow and get better for the next performance. 

I worked with a team a few summers ago who specifically asked for help letting go after a disappointment. The year before, they had two routines in a state championship final, but after the first routine didn't go as well as they hoped, they all struggled to let it go, and it hurt their second routine. [00:08:00] So we focused on purposely cultivating optimism together. They learned to come off stage, focused on what went well, and if there is a mistake, you have to let it go and compete again.

So we focused on repeating affirmations like I'm prepared and visualizing a beautiful second routine, focusing on what's in your control, coming up and releasing the performance that just happened. That optimistic mindset served them well and the next year they had two of their best routines.

Okay, let's make sure we talk about practical strategies to cultivate optimism as a dancer. First, it starts with self-awareness. Dancers have to learn to recognize negative thoughts when they come in because those negative thoughts will come in. It's not about learning to suppress those thoughts or trying to be someone who never has a negative mindset that's not real.

Instead, dancers can be aware of a negative thought, like, oh, I'm not good enough, or, I'm gonna mess this up but then use that awareness so they can respond intentionally before those negative thoughts take over. [00:09:00] So, for example, if a dancer feels discouraged during rehearsals, after not landing their turns consistently, instead of spiraling into frustration, they can step back, breathe, and reframe.

I can improve this with practice. Keep going. I've got it. 

And that's the second step. After becoming aware of your negative thoughts, it's reframing a setback as an opportunity. For instance, if a dancer doesn't perform well at an audition, they can see it as a learning experience. What went well today and what can I work on for next time?

If you completely blank out on choreography at an audition, you will likely have some negative thoughts. If you do, you can intentionally respond differently. Okay. I didn't nail it this time, but I can practice the choreography more. I can remember to take my deep breaths so I'm more calm and confident at the next audition.

Similarly, using positive self-talk and affirmations can help you cultivate more optimism in your training using positive self-talk. Like saying, I'm strong, I'm [00:10:00] prepared. I will be my best today. It can help counteract negative thoughts and boost confidence. So don't sit in the negative spiral. You don't have to stay there.

Notice if you're feeling nervous about an upcoming competition and specifically use an affirmation like, I trust my training. I know I can handle this challenge. 

Another great tool is visualization. Dancers can use mental imagery before and during practice to see yourself having a flawless performance, one where you execute exactly as you hope with confidence and poise, and this type of visualization can prime your brain for success.

I've also talked before about the value of expressing gratitude, creating more optimistic view of your dance training, and that's another great reason to work on gratitude. Practice gratitude for your body, your talent, your dance opportunities in front of you. Recognize progress, even the small steps, and you can shift your focus from what's lacking to what you've already achieved and believe will come in the future.

And finally, surround yourself with positivity. [00:11:00] The team environment greatly influences a dancer's mindset. So do your part as a dancer to cultivate a supportive, optimistic atmosphere where dancers cheer each other on. They celebrate each other's growth. Be supportive of the success around you. Offer encouragement and highlight other dancers wins. A room of optimistic and positive dancers will all see greater growth and joy in rehearsals. 

And before I wrap this up, I wanna acknowledge the role of self-compassion. Dancers are often more supportive and compassionate towards others than they are towards themselves.

I hear from dancers all the time who encourage their teammates and show great positivity towards others, but struggle to take that same compassion inward. Dancers when you don't perform perfectly, be kind. Striving for perfection should never be the goal. The idea is to strive for your personal best today.

If you don't have what you think is a great performance, don't be too hard on yourself. Instead of thinking, I'm terrible, you might say, that wasn't my best today, but I'll keep working [00:12:00] on it. If you find yourself struggling to be optimistic about your own technique or how you've learned choreography today, think about what you would say to a friend who came to you with the same complaint.

Whatever you would say to help pick up that teammate, help them feel better, turn that back to you. You deserve the same positive feedback and optimistic view. 

So remember dancers that optimism is a skill that can be learned and nurtured, but you have to decide if that's important to you. Cultivating optimism will help you find more joy in the long rehearsals, handle your disappointments, and have stronger performances on stage.

Practice small steps to shift your mindset by noticing a negative thought and choosing to respond differently. Acknowledging the truth of what happened, but expressing the belief that you can and will improve and have a great performance. 

Dancers, I'd love to hear from you and talk about how you've found optimism, challenging, or helpful as you work towards your goals. Send me a voice message at passion for dance podcast.com. Let me know how being [00:13:00] optimistic has helped you, or if you're willing to be more vulnerable, share a time when you weren't optimistic and could use some help to turn it around. I'd love to help. Thank you for listening, dancers, stay optimistic and keep sharing your passion for dance with the world.

Thank you for listening to Passion for Dance. You can find all episode resources at passionfordancepodcast. com. And be sure to follow me on Instagram for more high performance tips at doctor. chelsea. parati. That's P I E R O T T I. This podcast is for passionate dancers and dance educators who are ready to change our industry by creating happier, more successful dancers.

I'm Dr. Chelsea, and keep sharing your passion for dance with the world.