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As Europe faces another lockdown, dancers ask: “

As Europe faces another lockdown, dancers ask: “How will I get through this again?!” Here are my best tips from supporting dancers in Melbourne where we’ve spent 173 days of 2020 in 2 lockdowns (& still counting🙉)
1️⃣The 2nd lockdown is harder than the first... yes, your home studio is ready, the transition will be smoother, you can learn from 1st lockdown... BUT, none of the positive-hopeful-sweet-talk will matter after a few days or weeks. Not saying it to discourage you but to prepare you. Without the adrenaline & hype of the 1st time, and with full-awareness of the challenge you are facing now, lockdown 2.0 is simply harder mentally and emotionally, so be ready for that and realistic in your expectations of yourself.
2️⃣The routine and outlets that helped you survive your 1st lockdown might not quite cut it, 2nd time around. The novelty of doing dance classes in your kitchen will wear off pretty quick, as may baking sourdough or binge-watching Netflix or whatever your outlets were before. If they’re still working, great! But if they get stale you’ll need to switch tactics. So, creative ones, be prepared to continually innovate novel ways of keeping yourself occupied, laughing, somewhat inspired, sane and partially positive (see point 1 about realistic expectations)
3️⃣One of the hardest things for dancers I’ve seen is navigating the paradox of having perfectionistic expectations of how you “should” be training & coping, while at the same time experiencing a huge dip in motivation due to restrictions and having 0% willpower to live up to these expectations. Like all good dancers, you’ll try to “push through” this, which will dry up your motivation even more and leave you frustrated and feeling like a failure... Long story short: the best thing you can possibly do during lockdown 2.0 is learn to be kinder to yourself (and perhaps work through any beliefs that being kind is somehow ‘soft’ or ‘weak’ that might get in the way of you embracing this resilient approach).
4️⃣Lockdown 2.0 is harder on all levels. Allow yourself time to grieve the losses that Covid has left you with. It’s ok if you feel bad, sad, mad & it’s ok to talk to someone to help you process

👉WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 👈 I’ve been suppo

👉WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 👈 I’ve been supporting dancers for almost 10 years now and I STILL hear too many of the same stories and the same struggles.
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This partly has to do with people’s family history, personality and experiences but it also has to do with the environment. 45% of professional performing artists experience moderate to severe anxiety. That’s 10x higher than the general population.
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Why is that?
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Perhaps it has to do with what we call “other-oriented perfectionism” (where you direct perfectionist expectations onto others e.g. teachers to students) which keeps dancers trapped in a cycle of performance pressure, failure and shame.
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We also don’t give dancers much freedom to be individuals, especially female dancers, who’s job during training seems to be to fit the physical and technical mould as closely as possible in order to be successful in finding work (hello anxiety right there!) only to suddenly be expected to be fully expressive and individual as soon as they’re professionals...🤔
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But there’s also little autonomy or freedom of choice generally in life for dancers... they often miss family birthdays and celebrations, social life with non-dancers because of their commitment to dance. There is pressure to eat a certain way, look after their bodies, keep their hair a certain length, don’t get tan lines, don’t do anything fun that might injure you...
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Honestly, this all breeds anxiety. So who’s with me in changing the culture? 🙋🏼‍♀️
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#worldmentalhealthday #balletdancerlife #changetheculture

It’s National Pain Week and it’s time to rethi

It’s National Pain Week and it’s time to rethink performers’ injuries & pain experiences 🤔
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We often look at performers’ injuries from a very Physical perspective: this injury is due to over-work, poor technique, lack of strength etc.
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And this is PART of the story...
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But not the WHOLE story — take over-work injuries for example. The reason performers get over-work injuries might have to do with the beliefs they have: “No pain, no gain” “Pulling back is a sign of weakness” and the culture they’re in, “if I stop now, X will take my spot” “My teacher will think I’m lazy”
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Technically, it’s called the biopsychosocial model and we need to keep all 3 factors in mind.
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The psychosocial factors that can be part of the cause of injuries can also be part of why they persist... which happens in around 1 in 4 cases.
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An over-worker is more likely to return to a full workload too early, if they are in a culture that sees injuries as weaknesses they will also have added stress and fear, which increase pain and prohibit healing.
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So if we want to avoid injury and reduce pain, we need to start looking at the beliefs and context that gets in the way JUST as much as we need to focus on calf rises and toe push-ups!
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We need to teach performers how to work at their “safe edge” rather than go the boom/bust route or play it safe when they feel@discomfort in their bodies.
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And we need to take performers’ fears seriously, help them find new perspectives and confidence to care for and to feel safe in their bodies.
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😘 📷 @s.ballone.photography #npw2020

First LEAP OVERSEAS Webinar is a wrap!! So many *v

First LEAP OVERSEAS Webinar is a wrap!! So many *vital* tips for making the move successfully! We had fun! 🌏...And, it’s not too late to join us, the recording of our first webinar will be available for 2 weeks and you can join live for the rest! 💃🏻🕺#linkinbio #leapoverseas #empoweringdancers #comeflywithme

First LEAP 🌏 webinar is on tomorrow 25th July a

First LEAP 🌏 webinar is on tomorrow 25th July at 4pm AEST!! #linkinbio Join us! ☺️
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We’ll be looking at the L in LEAP: Living Overseas and making sure you’re on top of all the logistics and avoid all the roadblocks we commonly see when dancers move overseas:
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🧳 What to do before you leave so you’re prepared: body, mind and suitcase
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🧳 Practical tips for getting set up in your new home (including 10 common pitfalls to avoid)
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@ausdancersoverseas and I can’t wait to work with you if you’re planning to move overseas soon (or recently moved) to pursue your career in dance!
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Join us for one webinar for AU$79, or all 4 for $197. Register today at the link in my bio 👈💃🏻

Preparing for LEAP OVERSEAS‼️ Starting THIS Sa

Preparing for LEAP OVERSEAS‼️ Starting THIS Saturday (link in bio) and I’ve been reading through my diary from when I first moved to the Hamburg Ballet School when I was myself only a young aspiring dancer...🙈⠀
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All the uncertainty comes flooding back:⠀
✍️ being completely new in a new place with a new language ‘with no common thread’⠀
✍️ making such efforts to make new friends and adapt to new teaching styles (I think I found my centre!!!🤣)⠀
✍️ wondering whether I had made the right choice and if I wasn’t just wasting my time and maybe even my life???⠀
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Ah, to have the perspective of time, hindsight (and many years of experience working with other dancers in similarly fragile-feeling transitions) to now be able to say, “Yes, it’s worth it!” and “No, you’re not wasting your life” and “Yes, you’ll get there”⠀
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But I also have to admit, there was a lot I wish I knew and understood better and had been better prepared for...⠀
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There is a lot that can really make or break dancers moving overseas and there are some important keys to adjusting well that can make all the difference.⠀
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So if you’re preparing to move away from home to pursue your dance career, @ausdancersoverseas and I would love you to join us this Saturday for our first webinar on making the LEAP overseas... and landing beautifully! 😊 #linkinbio

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