Wow! It is our 100th episode!

First of all, I want to thank you all so very much for being here. I am truly grateful for you, this space, the growth we have shared together, and I am so excited for what is to come.

In honor of celebrating the 100th episode, I spoke from my heart about thinking on how we can best celebrate our students and also how we can send them out into the world knowing and understanding how they can celebrate for themselves.

Let's be real--once we are adults, we aren't getting the trophies, and the good jobs, and the wow that was amazing, for every project and item we do. So where does that pride and validation come from? It comes from us! It comes from us realizing, wow, we did that.

And in order for our students to understand how to find that, I feel it is so important to model, practice, and exercise that concept together.

It starts with us!

I don't want my students to turn 36 and finally start understanding it.

My hope is that when they graduate, they walk on knowing that they can be proud of their accomplishments without outside validation--that what matters most comes from within.

In honor of the 100th episode, I have made my whole March Meditation Collection on my Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon FREE!

There are some beautiful resources this month including . . .

Spring Awaken: energy to start your day and your class

Nourish Yourself: checking in how we best nourish our bodies, minds, souls

Barre/Wall Body Scan: alignment centering to prepare for our class

A Walk In The Park: a guided meditative improv story for young students to explore, act, and work in their imaginations

World Dance Metta: a Loving-Kindness inspired meditation to extend our energy to ourselves, our peers, our studio, and the world of dance

How Are You Ready To Bloom?: a mini podcast episode honoring the growth you achieved over this winter to now share in the bloom of your performance

I hope you enjoy!

Thank you all again with all my heart!

Love, Amanda

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

I am beyond excited that in celebrating our NUMBER 1 most listened to episode . . .

Episode 27: Nutrition, Body Image, and How We Can Do Better in the Dance World with Kelsey Rigopoulos, RDN LDN

that I got to bring Kelsey back on the show!

This was truly an amazing conversation.

Whether you are a dancer, dance parent, parent in general, or someone wanting to get a beautifully supportive take on nutrition, this is the episode for you.

In today's episode, Kelsey shared her take on current trends such as Electrolytes, Energy Drinks, Protein Supplements, and more.

We also discussed nutrition for performance and competition weekends as well as language that we can use around food to make for the most encouraging environments.

I am so lucky to have Kelsey as a friend and so grateful that she gets to share her knowledge with all of you, because she is amazing!

Where we can find Kelsey . . .

https://kelseyrigopoulosrdn.com/

IG: @kelseyrigopoulosrdn

Thank you all so much for your listens!

Please check us out on Patreon and IG . . .

Our March Meditations are incredible--join the membership now!

Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon

@dancerteacherpeptalk

With love,

Amanda

In today's episode, we recap our 2nd most listened to episode:

Episode 3 Preparing The Tone/Preparing The Space

And when I re-listened to it, I felt all of the information was SO important that I just had to share it again.

So here it is along with some important announcements--the relaunch of Episode 3!

Episode 3 was originally a part of our "Back to Dance" series that I started the podcast off with, but this is a tried & true, come back to again and again episode.

I hope these ideas will help you to take a look at how you begin your class experience from how to we set-up the space, to how we welcome our students in.

I want to thank you all for your support and listens!

Make sure to follow us on IG @danceteacherpeptalk and on our new Patreon page where you can find all the details about the Meditation Collection that you can use in your classroom or for your personal use today!

The February Collection is truly amazing!

For those of you with competition students, the February Freebie is a must listen to as a pre-performance practice that my dancers absolutely love!

⁠⁠⁠⁠Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon⁠

Also, make sure to check-in next week for an AMAZING SURPRISE!

In today's episode, we recap our 3rd most listened to episode:

Episode 2: Setting Your Mind & Soul Up For Success

Like last week's episode, this is one of the core essentials of Dance Teacher Pep Talk and this was one of my favorite episodes!

It was originally a part of our "Back to Dance" series that I started the podcast off with, but this is a tried & true, come back to again and again episode.

A lot has changed for me since first recording Episode 2 so I was very excited to bring some fresh information to today's episode with how I prepare for my days and nights as a dance teacher.

Truly, it starts with us!

Our classes are a reflection of the energy that we put into ourselves and this episode is a great reminder of that.

I hope these ideas will help you to take a look at how you prepare your mind & soul up for success before heading into the studio.

I want to thank you all for your support and listens!

Make sure to follow us on IG @danceteacherpeptalk and on our new Patreon page where you can find all the details about the Meditation Collection that you can use in your classroom or for your personal use today!

The February Collection is truly amazing!

For those of you with competition students, the February Freebie is a must listen to as a pre-performance practice that my dancers absolutely love!

⁠⁠⁠Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon⁠

In today's episode, we recap our 4th most listened to episode:

Episode 4: Syllabus Building & Lesson Planning

This is truly what I would consider one of the Core Four to listen to from the Dance Teacher Pep Talk podcast.

It was originally a part of our "Back to Dance" series that I started the podcast off with, but this is a tried & true, come back to again and again episode.

In my reflection, I brought some fresh takes about how I approached my syllabus and lesson planning after being in the dance teaching world for almost 20 years now.

I spoke on how I go about making a syllabus feel fresh and not stale. I talked about how I worked on approaching things differently in this dance year.

I hope these ideas will help bring a freshness to you as you work through your syllabus and map out your lessons in this season.

I want to thank you all for your support and listens!

Make sure to follow us on IG @danceteacherpeptalk and on our new Patreon page where you can find all the details about the Meditation Collection that you can use in your classroom or for your personal use today!

⁠⁠Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon⁠

In today's episode, we recap our 5th most listened to episode:

Episode 37: Guiding Dancers with Open Energy & Heart--A Conversation with Tara Iacobucci

This is a must listen!

Tara's episode is such a beautiful one--from the topics that she brings up to the passion that comes through in how she shares . . . this was truly a monumental episode for me on Dance Teacher Pep Talk.

In today's episode, I recap on what Tara taught me from our conversation and also reflected on changes and shifts of how I viewed teaching & choreography because of our discussion.

If you are looking for a breath of fresh air to your teaching and your philosophy, give this episode and episode 37 a listen.

You can also find podcast episodes with Tara on:

Making The Impact Podcast

Two Dance Moms Podcast

I want to thank you all for your support and listens!

Make sure to follow us on IG @danceteacherpeptalk and on our new Patreon page where you can find all the details about the Meditation Collection that you can use in your classroom or for your personal use today!

⁠Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon⁠

In today's episode, we recap our 6th most listened to episode:

Episode 55: Finding Success in the Dance Studio & in Life with Stephanie Kemp

If you haven't listened to that one--please do!!

Stephanie Kemp is not only a successful dance studio owner/teacher/choreographer, but (and I'm sure her students can say this too) a complete motivator and a total force!

I learned so much from my conversation with Stephanie and I share some of the biggest takeaways I had in this new episode.

Whether you are a studio owner or not, I feel there is so much that Stephanie teaches us in the original episode about how to live life fully and how to live in love and with love always.

If you would like to purchase her book, you can find it here:

Success Is Just The Beginning: 6 Timeless Lessons to Achieve More in Business, Love, and Legacy

I want to thank you all for your support and listens!

Make sure to follow us on IG @danceteacherpeptalk and on our new Patreon page where you can find all the details about the Meditation Collection that you can use in your classroom or for your personal use today!

Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon

In today's episode, we recap our 7th most listened to episode, "Live It, Love It, Leave It" with Kiera Letts

I absolutely loved revisiting this episode to be reminded of the energy, enthusiasm, and more that Kiera shared with us.

We touch upon everything from energy, to cleaning & technique, to preparation, and to of course, encouraging.

You can also listen to her here on Making The Impact Podcast:

Levels at Dance Competitions

A reminder to follow @danceteacherpeptalk for inspiration and @_evolvelove for encouraging pep talks for all.

Our January meditation package is launching soon! You won't want to miss out on this!

Thank you all for your support & listens,

<3 Amanda

I am so so excited to now be offering meditations for the dancer, dance teacher, dance parent, creative, and more on the brand new:

Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon Page

I share all the details in this episode, but there will be free and paid options for you to enjoy!

My hope is to build on the membership platform even further by offering newsletters, tips and tools, and more beyond the meditations, but for me as a dancer and human, meditation has been life changing, and I am ready to share all about that with you.

Thank you all for being here!

Please let me know if you have any questions by sending me a DM @danceteacherpeptalk on Instagram

In today's episode, we highlight our 8th most listened to episode, Episode 1, the Introduction to DTPT!

How perfectly aligned to fall on the first week back of a new year!

If you are new to the podcast, welcome! This is the perfect episode to hear about the mission of Dance Teacher Pep Talk and where I see it going. If you are a loyal listener, thank you for your support and listens! This podcast episode celebrates how far we have come and how far we are going.

I am beyond excited for 2026 with you all.

This is truly going to be a groundbreaking year for Dance Teacher Pep Talk, I can feel it!

To start, I am going to be offering monthly meditation packages for you to use! This is for dancers, for dance parents looking to help their dancer, for dance teachers to use for themselves, for dance teachers to use in their classrooms--truly for anyone wanting to receive the benefit of monthly themed meditations.

More information is coming really soon, but make sure to follow @danceteacherpeptalk on Instagram for all of the details.

This episode mentioned the following links in the show notes--

Episode 1: Intro to Dance Teacher Pep Talk

Episode 13: My Burnout Story

Thank you all so much for being here!

I cannot wait for this year with you all!

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

Are you looking for general pep talks and daily thoughts that don't pertain specifically to the dance world? Check out my new IG page where I share pep talks and questions to ponder for anyone looking for some love in their day.

IG: @_evolvelove

With love,

Amanda