You know who you are. You’re mum to a dancer. But you’re not one of “those” mums who is pushy and rude and wants your… Read More
What would you do if you could fail?
We often ask the question: “If it were impossible to fail, what would you do?” I have used it myself in working with dancers to… Read More
How to perform well under pressure
Believe in Yourself. It might sound a bit airy-fairy, the kind of thing you’d expect to hear sung about in some tacky pop song. You… Read More
On competition, fear and getting your joy back
First of all, thanks to those of you who completed my little survey the other week… you were all really honest, which I value so… Read More
![12 Tips to Survive Nutcracker Season [with Printable Countdown]](https://stageminded.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/origin_5298442954-120x120-c-default.jpg)
12 Tips to Survive Nutcracker Season [with Printable Countdown]
It’s that time of year again… Nutcracker season (cue imaginary Overture playing its merry little tune in your head).
It’s the time of year when Ballet companies stocking-stuff their schedules as full as is humanly possible with this wonderfully magical ballet. Nutcracker is an almost universal holiday staple, punctuating the ballet year, strung like fairy lights all across the December calendar.
Right now, right the way around this globe of ours, Spanish, Chinese and Arabian roles are being rehearsed. Studios are wafting with dancing candy canes, waltzing flowers and spinning sugar plums.
[pullquote position=”right”]Like an unofficial rite of passage, Nutcracker season initiates new company members into the heart of life as a dancer.[/pullquote]
…Perhaps this is your first year and you are spending the best part of the silly season sitting on the sidelines, learning the places of 5 different snow flakes and your heart might just melt if you could be on stage yourself in this beautiful ballet…
…Perhaps you are a seasoned Nutcracker-er, juggling so many different roles in so many different casts that you can’t even remember if you’re dancing the Rat King or the Snow Queen tonight…
…Or maybe, you have cracked one-too-many a nut and have had all the magic drained out, so that it just feels like you’re going through the motions evening after matinee, day after day, year after year…
So how do you keep on keeping on in the relentless repetition of Nutcracker season?
I’m so glad you asked 😉
Here are 12 tips to help get you through!
What if you’re already enough?
So many dancers focus so much of their energy on all of the ways they are not yet enough:
I’m not good enough, flexible enough, strong enough…
I can’t get my legs high enough, my turns fast enough, I can’t balance for long enough
[pullquote position=”right”]Focussing on what you’re not is one of the most effective ways to not get where you want to go and not make the improvements you want to make.[/pullquote]
What if you focussed on the ways you are enough instead?
How would that affect your confidence?
Your willingness to try new things?
![What the ballet world really needs [on World Ballet Day]](https://stageminded.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/world-ballet-day-live-120x120-c-default.jpg)
What the ballet world really needs [on World Ballet Day]
Today is the first ever World Ballet Day!
Today, five of the worlds top ballet companies are taking the world behind-the-scenes for a live-streamed window into their studios and the work of their brilliant dancers and staff.
I’m looking forward to the glimpses I’ll get of that rare blend of focus, fun and fragility in these beautiful people, the similarities and differences in the ballet world the world over and the stirring of the memories and stories and experiences I hold in my own heart being part of this world of ballet.
In my work now as a counsellor and performance psychology teacher, I get to see another very personal side of the behind-the-scenes dancer. I have the very humbling privilege of walking with dancers in their real-life-streaming realities – sometimes tears stream, sometimes it’s untapped thoughts and feelings, at other times life begins to stream again after burnout, injury and loss.
In holding the hopes and hearts of these precious dancers closely, here are my three biggest dreams for the Ballet World today…