Episodes

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

One of the most accessible mental skills that makes a real impact on your growth as a dancer is goal setting, but I've seen goal setting fail when it's not done well. While a method like SMART goals can be commonly used, I have a better way. This new...

This short episode is the DANCER BONUS to Episode 160: The Achievement Mindset Speaking directly to the dancers out there, Dr. Chelsea shares the importance of setting goals for yourself, why it matters so much, and the good things than can...

Goal setting isn't just about saying something you want to achieve, writing it on a sticky note, and then going for it. That's why a lot of goal setting falls apart. We mean well and we set some big goal, and then somehow it never happens. How you...

At the end of every dance season, there comes a time to say goodbye. Every year, as both a teacher and a coach, I watch young men and women I've grown close to graduate and move on to the next phase of their life. Whether it's at banquets or...

Any dancer dreaming of a professional career is most likely working hard in the studio and honing their skills to be the strongest dancer they can be, but in the professional dance world, talent is only 20% of the equation. There are a lot of other...

Do you have much experience with dance outside of your own culture? Since it's International Dance Day, I want to take today's episode to focus on dance as a source of heritage and identity and how it can truly connect us across our different...