Dance; Better.

Today I spoke with Josh Spell, licensed social worker. He danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet & Kansas City Ballet. He currently works with dancers around the country centering on dance from a holistic perspective and offering a variety of mental health tools.

Today, I finally talk about THE topic, eating disorders. I mention in the interview, that I kind of feel like I have been putting it off, honestly. I’m not sure why, but when I have been putting something off and check in with myself, it is usually because of some deeper reason. In this case, it's my own struggle with disordered eating. I finally felt ready to broach the subject, and Josh did not disappoint.

He specializes in the treatment and prevention of eating disorders and has created a specially designed protocol he is currently implementing with the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He gives some great practical advice for teachers, directors, and parents of dancers on how and when to communicate with dancers who may be struggling.

This was such an informative conversation full of great advice for teachers, directors, and parents, and I can’t wait for you to listen!

To connect with Josh:

Website:

https://flexiblemindcounseling.org/

Instagram:

@spellbound20

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on my personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use any of the content to diagnose you or anyone else of any mental or health condition.

If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow the pod on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!)

And don't forget to check out the show sponsor, @we.are.minding, or at www.wearemindingthegap.org

Today’s episode is a truly uplifting example of how dance institutions can bring in programming to facilitate the development of excellence in dance, without compromising dancers’ mental health. In fact, they can work to improve the dancers’ quality of life!

I spoke with Sarah Gonzales, the Pre-Professional Education Program Director at Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts. At Keshet, their vision is, “To celebrate the art of dance and be a welcoming home for the intersection of the arts, artists, and audience; actuating a flourishing environment for empowered individuals, nurtured communities, and sustained equity.” Not only is this their vision, but it is manifested in an amazing program full of mentorship, excellence, and love.

My hope, or at least one of them anyway, for the future of ballet, would be for all dance institutions to adopt similar visions and facilitate happy, healthy, well-rounded dancers.

To connect with Keshet:

Website: http://www.keshetarts.org/

Instagram: @keshetdanceco

Facebook: @KeshetArts

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on my personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use any of the content to diagnose you or anyone else of any mental or health condition.

If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow the pod on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!)

And don't forget to check out the show sponsor, @we.are.minding, or at www.wearemindingthegap.org

Hello dancers! Today I am doing something a little different. I had on the pod my good friend Olivia Cinculli. (you might remember her from season 2, episode 3, where she spoke about her own retirement journey, mental health, and becoming a mom). Olivia and I share our experiences with ballet on TV and in movies. How we feel about them, share about how they’ve affected us, and ask some pretty big questions about how they affect the ballet culture and how audiences view dancers because of them.

Also, before we get started, when we are talking about male and female genders and depicted roles, we explore the bulk of TV shows and movies in mainstream media. Unfortunately, these explore mostly cis-gendered roles, so that is the primary context of our conversation today.

This episode may have some topics that may not be suitable for all ages or that may be triggering for some. Parental discretion is advised. There is mention of abuse, drug use, and eating disorders.

There is a lot of ballet-related content out there, and our discussion cannot cover all of it, but we’ve done some homework, and I think this will be an entertaining discussion.

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on my personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use any of the content to diagnose you or anyone else of any mental or health condition.

Follow Olivia on IG @oliviahcianciulli_dance

If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow the pod on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!)

And don't forget to check out the show sponsor, @we.are.minding, or at www.wearemindingthegap.org

We have all heard that dancers need “tough love” to succeed in an oftentimes harsh environment. With everything we’ve learned this season about dancers’ resilience (see episode 8 for more!) I am starting to question a lot of practices that, I will admit, have used in the classroom. But what does tough love mean, really? Where’s the line? What works and what doesn’t from a psychological standpoint? What damage can be done along the way?

In this episode, I sat down with Jo-Anne La Flèche, the resident psychologist at L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec to uncover just how positive tough love can give dancers of all ages exactly what they need.

Jo-Anne is also the Co-President of Healthy Dancer Canada. To find their resources, follow them on IG  @healthydancer_canada or on their website, https://www.healthydancercanada.org/

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on my personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use any of the content to diagnose yourself or anyone else of any mental or health condition.

If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow the pod on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!)

Autonomy. Did you know that this is one of the forces behind motivation, passion, and even burnout? Having autonomy helps you feel most... yourself. It helps to grow your intrinsic (inner) motivation. It is what makes you feel whole in the moment and encourages you to keep going, even when things get difficult.

I spoke with the brilliant Dr. Sanna Nordin-Bates, a leading sports psychologist and lecturer in the dance field at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. Her research spans topics like creativity, disordered eating, and so many more. We sat down to chat about what autonomy is and how it can help dancers young and old. We cover everything from motivation, burnout, teaching ideas and so much more. 

To learn more about Sanna’s research, click here.

You can follow her on Twitter @DancePsychSanna

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Also, a special thanks to the show sponsor, Minding the Gap.

Follow us on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave the pod a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!) This helps to make our show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, I'd love to hear from you!

It is turning into a very nerdy November! Today I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Paula Thompson.

Paula is a Professor and dance coordinator in the Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Northridge. She is also a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a certified Sport Psychologist, and works in private practice in Tarzana, California. For over thirty years Paula Thomson has been a teacher at numerous international schools, most notably Julliard School of Music, Banff School of Fine Arts, University of Cape Town - South Africa, the University of Limerick in Ireland, Opera Works,  Stratford Shakespearean Festival, and the Canadian Opera Company.

Paula has an impressive body of research on several mental health topics for dancers. Today we spoke about how childhood and adult trauma can affect the rate of injuries, orthopedic surgeries, and recovery outcomes. It was fascinating and really sheds some light on why managing mental health is so important!

To learn more about Paula’s work, click here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paula-Thomson

To read her books, click here:

https://g.co/kgs/6b15cu

For the IADMS webinar on mental health for dancers, watch here:

https://iadms.org/our-programs/webinars/

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow us on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and find this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave me a review. (We might even read it on the next episode!) This helps to make our show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, we’d love to hear from you!

Time for a research update! Strap in because this is a super-sized episode! I just couldn’t cut any of these nuggets! Today I was able to speak with Minding the Gap‘s very own Kathleen Gaines to get a breakdown of the amazing mental health research being done at Point Park Univeristy. The results are in from the first round of research and boy let me tell ya...there were some shocking revelations.

We talk about everything from self-esteem, anxiety, depression, body-physique anxiety, resilience, and how dancers cope with it all! The research is fascinating, but even more so are the ways in which the school and teachers are making real changes in the classroom every day, and are seeing the dancers dance better!

It doesn’t have to take several generations to make a change! These are just a few small examples of easy changes schools and companies can make to make learning and working environments safer, happier, and healthier!

To connect with Minding the Gap you can visit the website at:

https://www.wearemindingthegap.org/

on IG @we.are.minding

On FB @wearemindingthegap

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow us on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and find this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave us a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!) This helps to make the show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, I'd love to hear from you!

Hello dancers! Just popping in to say hello. I have a couple of updates to share with you today and will be back next time with an incredible guest with some mind-blowing research. Cannot wait to share with you!

ALSO, Drop in the comments…

Thanks again to all of you for supporting me in this journey. I am so grateful for each and every one of your likes, messages, reviews, follows, and encouraging words!

As always. If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room.

If you are curious about finding mental health help, you can find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services. Just check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow me on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave us a review. (I might even read it on the next episode!) This helps to make our show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, we’d love to hear from you!

Today I spoke with Caitlin Sloan, who you may know on IG as the Brainy Ballerina! Caitlin is a dance educator and career mentor based in Madison, WI. Following a decade-long career dancing with companies including Ballet Tucson and Missouri Contemporary Ballet, she founded The Brainy Ballerina. The mission of The Brainy Ballerina is to empower aspiring dancers with the tools they need to succeed in a professional career both on and off the stage.

We spoke about how she has built a business around helping dancers navigate their careers, but also about how she has been able to implement these strategies into her own life. She also speaks candidly about her own struggle with mental health and how therapy changed her life.  From retirement, directorship, motherhood, and beyond, The Brainy Ballerina is definitely someone to follow.

To connect with Caitlin, visit her:

Website: https://www.thebrainyballerina.com

Etsy: Etsy.com/shop/thebrainyballerina

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/thebrainyballerina

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/thebrainyballerina

Pinterest: www.Pinterest.com/thebrainyballerina

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on personal experience and perspectives, and should not be considered medical advice. If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center, text MHA to 741741, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. To find a local MHA affiliate who can provide services, check out https://www.mhanational.org/

Theme music is, "A Journey" by Kevin Hartnell It has been edited and reproduced under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Follow us on Instagram!

Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

Send in your questions or episode suggestions to [email protected]

If you relate and found this episode helpful, please click follow/subscribe and leave us a review. (We might even read it on the next episode!) This helps to make our show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, I’d love to hear from you!