Episodes

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

I feel like in the dance industry we use the word passion to mean your performance on the floor, to be believable, and truly go for it. But honestly, it’s a lot more than that. If you have a passion for dance, I have some important news for you to...