Dance; Better.

Today I spoke with Christopher Hampson. Aside from his notable credits as a dancer and choreographer with companies like English National Ballet, Christopher joined Scottish Ballet as Artistic Director in 2012 and was appointed CEO/Artistic Director in 2015. The Company has performed across the world, and Christopher has brought some of the most sought-after dance creators to work with Scottish Ballet, while also developing in-house talent. Christopher is on the Boards of Central School of Ballet and Ballet Black.

In this episode, we chatted about many aspects of the ballet world where change must happen. From issues with artistic leadership, power dynamics in a ballet company, diversity in ballet, to helping dancers retire, this conversation was one for the books.

To connect with Scottish Ballet:

https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/

IG: @scottishballet

Facebook @scottishballet

Christopher’s response piece to the Guardian article mentioned in the show: https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/articles/does-ballet-have-a-race-problem

Christopher’s Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FjeP9_YmiU

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).

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Dance; Better Podcast @dancebetterpodcast

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

...and don't forget to check out our sponsor, Minding the Gap at www.wearemindingthegap.org

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, we’d love to hear from you!

Today I spoke with Jenny Accettura, a Registered Dietitian and founder of Centre Stage Nutrition.  With a 17 year history in dance that included ballet, contemporary and Scottish dancing, she understands the unique challenges that dancers face in fuelling for performance with unrealistic body image expectations.  Her passion is helping aspiring, professional, and retired dancers fuel for optimal performance and build a healthy relationship with food through 1:1 counseling and nutrition workshops.

To connect with Jenny, you can find her

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 me on Instagram! @dancebetterpodcast

Don’t forget to check out the show’s sponsor, Minding the Gap at www.wearemindingthegap.org

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 the show more searchable, and will make it more accessible to more people...plus, I’d love to hear from you!

Today I spoke with the brilliant Alice Aschwanden, the owner of En Pointe Consulting, a career and mindset coaching business for dancers. Alice is a ballet geek who tried, and failed, to put away her pointe shoes.

She danced professionally with Alberta Ballet and Zurich Ballet, and after a successful career went on to university to complete a Bachelor of Arts (psychology) and a Master of Social Work (counseling). She taught ballet, pilates, and barre, and worked in the education sector, before pivoting to her dream role- a mindset and career coach for dancers.

She works 1:1 and in small groups with aspiring and professional ballet dancers, and even with parents of young dancers, helping them to gain the courage, confidence, and clarity to thrive, both inside and outside of the studio.

To connect with Alice, follow her on IG @enpointeconsulting or go to her website: www.enpointe.org

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]

Check out our sponsor, Minding the Gap here

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 my good friend and fellow teacher, Olivia Cianciulli. Olivia has danced with the Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Charlottesville Ballet, and The Louisville Ballet. Olivia has trained in both the United States and abroad while working with many notable ballet instructors from around the world. She currently serves as an instructor at the former Pennsylvania Ballet, now Philadelphia Ballet, as well as Wayne Ballet… and she is the mom to two beautiful kids and wife of another former dancer, now pianist, Joe Cianciulli.

We spoke about the ins and outs of retirement, mental health, and how she came back to ballet through a discovered love of teaching.

To connect with Olivia, check out her IG @oliviahcianciulli_dance

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, we’d love to hear from you!

Today I had the pleasure of having back my podcast bestie, Courtney along with Ola Tarnowski to talk about the ballet company reimagined. Ola is an Indianapolis-based professional ballet dancer, theatre performer, dance educator, and Pilates instructor. She co-founded Ballet Initiative, a dance collective, which focuses on providing a safe, inclusive, artist-forward environment for local professional dancers.

You can connect with Ballet INitiative

www.balletinitiative.org

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is personal experiences 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 Mental Health America. 

Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Minding The Gap. You can learn more about their services here: www.wearemindingthegap.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, we’d love to hear from you!

Welcome to Season 2 Everyone! So happy to be back and learning with all of you!

In today's episode, I spoke with two representatives from Dancers Connect.de Dominic Hodal and Shai Ottolenghi. Dancers Connect De is a neutral and informal platform aimed at professional dancers in permanently employed ensembles as well as the independent dance scene in Germany, but open for all.

Their mission is to create safe spaces for communication and discussion, promote education and information sharing, advocate for the dancers perspective and encourage artists to actively participate in all aspects of their art form and society, and to take action towards more fair and supportive working structures for artists is an inspirational and aspirational one. Their organization is an inspiring story, and an important one in the global inclusivity and fair work conversation in dance.

To follow and connect with Dancers Connect De, follow them...

Instagram: @dancersconnect.de

Please remember that I am not a mental health professional, and anything you hear me say on the show is based on personal experiences 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 Mental Health America www.mhanational.org

Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Minding The Gap. You can learn more about their services here: www.wearemindingthegap.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, we’d love to hear from you!

Today Sarah and Courtney spoke with Zachary Whittenburg about many areas of ballet culture: hiring practices, company structure, inclusivity, and how all of that ties into the mental health of dancers.

Zac spent ten years as a professional dancer followed by a freelance career including performance, teaching, and choreographic work with many prominent companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, BJM Danse Montréal, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre, now Charlotte Ballet. Zac is a regular contributor to Dance Magazine, a panelist and guest speaker, and tweets @trailerpilot about contemporary culture, politics, and the performing arts.

Founding board secretary for the Chicago Dance History Project, he serves on the artistic advisory council for High Concept Labs, and consults on a variety of programs for artist support and equitable funding in the cultural sector. As associate director of marketing and communication at Hubbard Street, he represented the company on the Chicago Dancemakers Forum consortium. As communications and engagement director at Arts Alliance Illinois, he helped promote the value of the arts and give voice to a creative state.

You can follow Zac at

@trailerpilot

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trailerpilot/

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trailerpilot

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/trailerpilot

Please remember that Sarah and Courtney are mental health professionals, and anything you hear them say are experiences from their lives 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

Courtney @courtulrich

Sarah @techballet

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, we’d love to hear from you!

Sarah and Courtney spoke with Alea Brown about her experience as a pre-professional student. She brings a fresh perspective on the challenges of being a pre-professional dancer in the era of COVID, college auditions, and everything in between. Alea is a 17-year-old high school senior and pre-professional dancer with the Colorado Ballet Society. She plans to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts this fall to continue her training in classical ballet.

To follow Alea's college journey, follow her at: @Alea.YunCai.Brown

To check out her jewelry business, please visit her website at

and on Instagram at @joyfulcloudsdesigns

To follow Colorado Ballet Society, please visit their website at

Please remember that Sarah and Courtney are mental health professionals, and anything you hear them say are experiences from their lives 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

Courtney @courtulrich

Sarah @techballet

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, we’d love to hear from you!

 Today Sarah and Courtney spoke with Dr. Christina Donaldson. Christina serves as an Advisory Panel Member for Youth Protection Advocates in Dance (YPAD), an organization dedicated to building empowered dance communities and keeping kids healthy and safe in all dance environments. Christina is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in California an Adjunct Faculty member at Antioch University, and a guest lecturer at various Universities and Community Colleges on the topic of eating disorders. Recently, she co-founded Soul Meets Body, a self-esteem workshop for dancers.

Today we spoke with Christina about the work being done with YPAD, and how to identify, navigate, and change the spectrum of abusive studio culture.

To connect with Christina and YPAD:

Christina's IG: @dancin.dr.t

Please remember that Sarah and Courtney are mental health professionals, and any of the things you hear them say are experiences from their lives 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

Courtney @courtulrich

Sarah @techballet

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, we’d love to hear from you!