December 10, 2019
4 min read
You can have the best lesson plans, use great imagery, have to dopest combos, but if your spending most of your time putting out fires in your classroom are you really teaching?
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December 05, 2019
6 min read
Dance is truly amazing and unique in that we are both artists and athletes. We can express things through movement that words just won’t do justice. But it can also wreak havoc on our mental health. We are expected to be free-thinking, creative, and expressive artists while also possessing the discipline, diligence, and grit of professional athletes. It can be a breeding ground for comparison, insecurities, and perfectionism.
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December 03, 2019
3 min read
The term ‘assistant’ is used in a lot of facets in dance these days. There are teachers who have assistants (myself being one of them), there are convention assistants, there are dancers who get called out in class or up on stage, but who aren’t actually assisting, but then they kind of function as assistants… there is a lot of disparity in how someone gets the job title, and what the expectation of them is.
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November 29, 2019
3 min read 1 Comment
I spent many years feeling like a failure, I was embarrassed and thought I wasn’t smart enough. That was until I learned about learning styles. You see there are 7 learning styles, 7 ways people process information, and the problem is we usually teach from the learning style that we are most comfortable with, but being aware of the various ways to deliver instruction, meeting all learners in your class, will not only help you feel successful, but help your students feel nurtured, and grow.
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November 26, 2019
5 min read
Warm-up should be an integral part of every dancers’ routine, but often we don’t know what a warm-up should look like or why it’s important. This month we dive into the RAMP protocol, and how it can help us maximize performance every day.
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November 21, 2019
2 min read
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November 19, 2019
3 min read
It's all too common for dancers to seek help for an injury and hear those five little words that a dancer never wants to hear, "You need to sit out." Advising dancers that they must stop dancing is possibly one of the worst things you can tell a dancer. Then why is that one of the most common answers dancers receive? In our opinion, the person who gives that answer as the only option doesn't fully understand how dancers work.
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November 14, 2019
3 min read 3 Comments
I am super passionate when it comes to all of YOU. I love to dance so much. It truly is the best art form and sport on the planet. However, I also get saddened when I see high caliber, super talented dancers not treating their bodies properly. My goal with this blog is to get YOU excited about taking care of YOU. We each have this amazing beautiful temple, but sadly we just don’t feed and fuel it correctly. My favorite quote I heard someone say one day is, “If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live”.
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November 12, 2019
3 min read 7 Comments
I spent years fighting this uphill battle, but one day I asked myself - “Why is it so important that my students be on the same level as their peers? What are my students getting out of being taught skills out of their range? Why do I define “amazing” by what others can do?” And then it hit me, I was an ego-driven dance teacher. I wanted nothing but the best for my students, but I was measuring success by what other students in other programs were able to do, not focusing on my students and their needs.
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November 07, 2019
3 min read
Whether you’re a dancer who’s ready to stop comparing herself and start feeling confident, a teacher who wants to regain her passion for teaching and stop feeling so burnt out, or a parent who wants to help… you’re in the right place.
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November 05, 2019
3 min read
Dance is comprised of so many little parts… each of which has its own importance and value to what it is as a whole. With my contribution to the Apolla Blog, we’re going to be diving into subsets of our current ‘culture’ – education, training, performing, goings-ones, etc. I cannot wait to get our conversation started!
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October 22, 2019
2 min read 2 Comments
Once a month, I will dive into evidence-based research and explain it for every dancer and teacher, with the aim of increasing the health and well-being of the whole dancer. My goal within these posts is to integrate dance science into the studio, increase career longevity for teachers and students—no matter their end goals in dance—improve performance, and support the entire dancer’s health without compromising the artistry.
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