When competition results don’t match what you saw on stage, here’s why it happens and how to win anyway.

In this episode, Cara breaks down one of the most frustrating moments for dance teachers and studio owners: when competition results don’t align with what was performed. Instead of reacting emotionally or placing blame, Cara walks listeners through the real mechanics of judging, the human limitations behind the table, and the systems that influence scores. This conversation reframes competition results as data, not definitions, and gives educators a grounded way to support dancers while still pushing technical growth.

Cara talked about:

• How subjectivity and objectivity collide in dance competition judging.
• The reality that judges are human, making hundreds of decisions across long, exhausting days.
• How category size, performance order, and visual comparison affect scoring.
• Why two qualified judges can score the same routine very differently.
• How competition scoring systems and alignment methods impact final placements.
• Why scores are often the least accurate measure of dancer development.

Key Takeaways & Teaching Tips:

• Shift focus from placements to written critiques and audio feedback.
• Look for patterns across adjudications, not one-off comments.
• Choose specific technical priorities instead of reacting to every note.
• Reinforce strengths mentioned by judges, not just corrections.
• Keep competition conversations calm, factual, and growth-focused.
• Use technique class to address issues, not rehearsals.
• Help dancers understand that competition is information, not identity.

At the end of the day, competitions are a snapshot, not the full picture. Scores don’t define your dancers, your teaching, or your studio’s success. When judges get it wrong, the real work is helping dancers stay confident, curious, and committed to growth. Use competition as a tool, not a verdict, and keep your focus where it belongs: strong technique, healthy mindset, and long-term development.

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

In this episode, Cara dives into one of the most important, and most overlooked, foundations of a successful dance studio: positive studio culture. From teachers and dancers to parents and staff, Cara explains how culture is created through daily behavior, language, and leadership. She also addresses how to recognize toxic patterns early and why protecting your studio’s culture is essential for long-term growth, trust, and impact.

This episode is especially relevant for dance studio owners, dance teachers, and leaders navigating competition season, when stress, exhaustion, and pressure can easily expose cracks in studio culture.

Cara talked about:

• Why studio culture starts with leadership behavior, not rules or policies.
• How unaddressed negativity spreads quickly and affects dancers, teachers, and families.
• The responsibility studio owners have to protect the culture, even when it’s uncomfortable.
• Why dancers mirror what they see from teachers and leadership.
• The difference between constructive feedback and toxic criticism.

Key Tips:

• Model the behavior you expect at all times.
  Address issues early before they become patterns.
• Stay approachable and present with dancers and families.
• Protect your studio vision, even when it requires hard conversations.

This episode is a powerful reminder that positive culture is leadership in action. When culture is protected, everything else, technique, teamwork, confidence, and community, grows more freely and authentically.

If you want help strengthening your studio leadership, teaching strategy, and long-term impact, explore Total Technique Academy at: therelativemotionexperience.com/technique

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

Competition season is here, and with long weekends, travel, pressure, and high expectations, it can either elevate your dancers or completely drain them. In this episode, Cara breaks down how to crush competitive season with intention by supporting dancers physically, mentally, and emotionally, without burning out your students or your staff.

This episode is packed with competition season strategy for dance studios, injury prevention in dancers, mental performance coaching, and smart scheduling for teachers, giving studio owners and educators a clear roadmap for navigating the busiest time of year with confidence and clarity.

Cara talked about:

• Why competition season must be approached with strategy, not survival mode.
• How overloading dancers physically during competition season leads to burnout and injury.
• The importance of separating technique class from rehearsal time.
• Why technique, not more choreography, is what actually improves competition performance.
• How emotional support is just as critical as physical training during long competition weekends.
• The role studio owners play in supporting teachers through the busiest season of the year.
• How studio culture during competition season directly affects dancer confidence and resilience.

Tips for Crushing Competitive Season:

• Schedule recovery-based classes after competition weekends.
• Use competition adjudications to guide technique goals, not punish mistakes.
• Teach dancers competition and convention etiquette so they feel prepared and confident.
• Build in rest and realistic expectations to prevent mental and physical overload.
• Check in with dancers before and after performances to support mindset and confidence.
• Support teachers with clear communication and appreciation, especially during peak weeks.
• Focus on long-term dancer development, not just short-term placements.

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

A simple framework that changes how dancers, teachers, and leaders approach an entire year — mentally and physically.

In this episode, Cara breaks down The ABCs of a New Year, a powerful mindset and movement framework designed for dance teachers, studio owners, and dancers who want real growth — not burnout. Instead of “new year, new you,” Cara focuses on refining what already works, strengthening belief, and aligning training with how the body actually functions. This episode blends dance mindset training, movement alignment strategy, and intentional technique development to help you step into the year with clarity, confidence, and direction.

Cara and Kate talked about:

Mental ABCs (Mindset & Leadership)

• Attitude — how energy, perspective, and emotional tone shape class culture and personal growth
• Belief — building trust in yourself and learning how to bridge belief gaps for your dancers
• Curiosity — replacing frustration and judgment with questions that unlock faster learning

Physical ABCs (Movement & Technique)

• Alignment — why proper alignment is the foundation of safe, efficient technique
• Breath — how breathing supports control, transitions, and performance quality
• Clarity — moving beyond “knowing steps” to executing movement with intention and precision

If you’re a dance teacher, studio owner, or serious dancer, this episode reframes dance technique training, mental performance skills, and audition readiness through a lens that’s sustainable and effective. The ABC framework gives you a shared language you can immediately apply in class, rehearsals, conventions, and auditions, creating stronger dancers and healthier training environments.

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

As the year comes to a close, Cara shares a simple but powerful framework to help teachers, studio owners, and creatives move forward with purpose. This episode focuses on reflection without regret, celebrating progress without pressure, and preparing intentionally for the year ahead. Instead of rushing into new goals, Cara guides listeners through the mindset shifts and planning strategies that create sustainable growth and meaningful momentum.

This episode is rich in goal-setting strategy, teacher mindset, studio owner reflection, intentional planning, and year-end preparation, making it highly relevant for educators looking to reset and refocus

Cara talked about:

• Activation through gratitude as the foundation for mindset, clarity, and forward momentum.
• Reframing unmet goals as learning opportunities that still move you closer to success.
• Celebration as a leadership responsibility, not something to rush past.
• Preparing for the new year with intention, focusing on how you want to feel, not just what you want to achieve.
• Identifying patterns and gaps to guide smarter goals and strategy.
• Choosing a word for the year to anchor decisions, growth, and perspective.
• Becoming a positive impact for others through presence, awareness, and small intentional actions.

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

In this episode, Cara breaks down one of the biggest teaching blind spots in the dance industry: correcting symptoms instead of strategy. As studio owners and dance teachers move toward a new year, this conversation challenges how we diagnose technique issues and why symptom-based corrections keep dancers stuck in the same patterns.

Through real studio examples, Cara explains why symptom vs. strategy in teaching technique matters more than ever, and how learning to diagnose alignment, muscular imbalance, and root causes can dramatically accelerate dancer progress. This episode is essential listening for educators who want smarter training, better results, and more effective use of limited class time.

This description intentionally emphasizes symptom vs. strategy in teaching technique multiple times, alongside supporting keywords such as dance technique strategy, diagnosing technique issues, alignment-based teaching, injury prevention in dance, and teacher training for dance educators.

Cara talked about:

• The difference between symptom-based teaching and strategy-based teaching
• Why “stop gripping your quads” doesn’t work
• Understanding root cause vs visible correction
• A real studio example: knees that won’t straighten
• How teachers unintentionally waste class time
• Symptom corrections dancers hear every day
• Why alignment-based strategy solves symptoms naturally
• The danger of repeating the same corrections year after year
• How teachers can sharpen their diagnostic eye
• Ending the year with intention

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

In this episode, Cara breaks down why alignment over everything isn’t just a philosophy — it’s the fastest path to real technique growth. She challenges the belief that moving faster, adding more layers, or piling on props creates better dancers. Instead, Cara explains how prioritizing alignment, slowing down, and simplifying movement leads to stronger technique, safer training, and faster breakthroughs.

This episode dives deep into dance alignment, proper placement, pelvic alignment, intentional training, and injury-preventive dance technique, giving dance teachers and studio owners a clear framework for building dancers correctly from the inside out.

Cara talked about:

• Why “alignment over everything” must come before speed, tricks, or difficulty
• Why slowing down is a teaching superpower
• The hidden cost of pushing through misalignment
• Pelvic alignment as the foundation of all technique
• Cueing smarter, not louder
• Gripping vs. functional muscle engagement
• Using props strategically — not as crutches
• Why slow control exposes real technique
• The slow → strong → powerful training formula
• How teachers can maximize limited class time

This episode is a must-listen for dance teachers, studio owners, and serious dancers who want better results without burnout, injury, or wasted training time. If you’re ready to stop chasing speed and start building dancers who move with control, clarity, and confidence — this episode will change how you teach.

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

In this episode, Cara introduces the transformative concept of the vertical learning ladder — a framework that helps teachers, dancers, and studio owners shift from comfortable, parallel learning to elevated, intentional vertical learning. Instead of repeating the same level of knowledge year after year, the vertical learning ladder unlocks growth, mastery, and deeper understanding in technique, strategy, and teaching.

Cara breaks down the four knowledge blocks, explains why parallel learning leads to plateaus, and reveals how the vertical learning ladder dramatically accelerates progress for both dancers and educators. This conversation is filled with practical insight, strategic clarity, and aha-moments to help you uplevel your work in the studio and beyond.

Cara talked about:

• What the vertical learning ladder actually is
• The four blocks of knowledge
• Parallel learning vs. vertical learning for dance teachers
• Why dancers also need the vertical learning ladder
• How Relative Motion structures true vertical training
• The “I didn’t even know I didn’t know it” breakthrough zone
• Why outside perspective accelerates vertical learning
• How coaching, community, and mentorship keep you in levels 3 and 4
• How Total Technique Academy is built on the vertical learning ladder
• Encouragement to step into your next level

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

In this empowering episode, Cara opens up a deeply needed conversation about overcoming imposter syndrome in the dance world, as dancers, teachers, and studio owners. She shares the mindset shifts, practical reflections, and real-life examples that help us break out of comparison, step into our next level, and move forward with confidence. Through personal stories, reframed beliefs, and grounded reminders, this episode gives you the tools to recognize imposter syndrome, overcome it, and reconnect with your purpose.

This episode uses essential keywords such as overcoming imposter syndrome, comparison in dance, confidence for dancers, growth mindset for teachers, and next-level leadership, making these show notes searchable, strategic, and aligned with what listeners are actively looking for.

Cara and Kate talked about:

• Why overcoming imposter syndrome begins with self-awareness - How comparison distorts your progress and convinces you you're “not ready” — when you actually are.
• The ‘refillable glass’ mindset shift - Inspired by Jasmine Star, Cara explains why it doesn’t matter if your glass feels half full or half empty — what matters is that you have a glass and it’s refillable.
• Seeing your value as a teacher or dancer - Why you’re farther ahead than you think — and how your experience can serve someone who is learning from you.
• Why auditions are powerful practice opportunities - How overcoming imposter syndrome in auditions builds confidence, resiliency, and readiness for future opportunities.
• The difference between discomfort and unreadiness - Understanding when you're genuinely not ready vs. when you’re simply stepping out of your comfort zone.
• Rewriting negative soundtracks - Tools from John Acuff’s Soundtracks to help you identify and replace limiting beliefs that fuel imposter syndrome.
• Failing fast vs. feeling like a failure - Why failure is part of growth — and how reframing failure helps you overcome imposter syndrome more quickly.
• Giving without expectation - How encouraging others, sharing knowledge, and supporting your community strengthens your confidence and reduces comparison.
• Practices to refill your glass - Affirmations, continuing education, community, gratitude, and small habits that rebuild confidence and clarity.
• Daily reminders for overcoming imposter syndrome - How to catch negative thoughts, rewrite your internal dialogue, and step back into alignment with your goals.

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion

In this episode, Cara breaks down the real behaviors that make a dancer desirable vs. unhirable in class, auditions, and professional environments. After teaching across studios and conventions nationwide, she’s sharing the patterns she sees over and over again, the habits that make dancers stand out and the mistakes that cost them opportunities. This episode gives teachers and dancers a clear strategy to transform class behavior, improve professionalism, and become more desirable to choreographers, casting directors, and educators.

This description intentionally includes the episode’s main keyword — desirable vs unhirable — multiple times, along with supporting keywords like dance audition strategy, hireable dancers, classroom professionalism, and dance industry expectations to improve search performance and visibility.

Cara talked about:

• The real meaning of “desirable vs unhirable” - How teachers and choreographers instantly identify hireable dancers based on focus, work ethic, and professionalism.
• Why planting yourself in the front can backfire - The difference between a desirable dancer who works 110% and an unhirable dancer who distracts, chats, or checks out.
• Details = desirability -  How ignoring choreography, changing steps, and altering timing signals unhirable habits, and how honoring details elevates your hireability.
• The ensemble mindset - Why desirable dancers blend, match, and hold musicality, and how this directly affects casting decisions in the dance industry.
• Forgetting vs changing choreography - How pushing through a mental blank builds hireability, while altering choreography communicates the opposite.
• Giving 110% energy — even when insecure - Why full-out effort leads to faster improvement, deeper confidence, and stronger audition presence.
• The power of listening the first time - One of the most valuable professional habits in dance: responding immediately to direction.
• Professional respect as a hireable skill - How thanking your teacher, being aware of class structure, and showing gratitude makes you more desirable across conventions, studios, and audition rooms.
• Building a hireable reputation long before the audition - The small, consistent actions that make teachers remember you, recommend you, and open doors to unexpected opportunities.

If you're ready to elevate your dancers’ professionalism, improve class culture, and step into the desirable vs unhirable conversation with strategy and confidence, this episode is your roadmap.

For deeper training on technique, alignment, and strategic coaching for dancers, join the Total Technique Academy waitlist: therelativemotionexperience.com/technique

—
Connect with us! 🎧

Relative Motion: https://www.instagram.com/relativemotiondance/
Youtube Relative Motion: https://www.youtube.com/@relative_motion