Passion for Dance

Summary: If you've ever talked to your dancers about taking the floor with a confident mindset or using visualization before a competition, you probably understand the importance of mental skills training. But do you have any beliefs about mental toughness that are holding you back from your personal best? In my experience, there are four major myths that keep coaches from implementing mental toughness training with their team, even when they know it will be the difference in the team's success.

In today's episode, I'll be discussing these four myths about mental toughness that I've heard around the internet, on social media, when I talk to dance educators, and in workshops that may keep teachers from training their dancers in mental skills. I don't want anything holding you back, so let's make sure these four false beliefs aren't getting in your way.

Episode Resourcees: https://chelseapierotti.com/118

Goal Setting Resource: https://chelseapierotti.com/goals

I was working with a group of dancers recently, and after our discussion about competition mindset, two dancers came up to me and asked, "What do I do if I'm standing backstage about to go on and the negative thoughts are just going crazy? How do I stop it?" Negative self-talk is probably one of the biggest issues that dancers talk to me about. Most dancers understand what negative self-talk is and how it's not helpful, but they can't always stop it from happening.

In today's quick-tip episode, I'm gonna give you one tool to stop the backstage negativity spiral. We'll discuss how to handle backstage nerves, helpful and unhelpful self-talk, taking control of your mind and body, and how to reverse unhelpful thoughts. I'll share a few examples of unhelpful thoughts and walk you through how to reverse them. I hope this gives you a new idea to test out!

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com117

Leave a message for Dr Chelsea: https://chelseapierotti.com/message

I think we would all love a hack for peak performance, wouldn't we? Peak performance is when you are able to perform at your personal best to reach your full potential. Think of it like reaching your full potential. All of that work you've done in class, all the long practices and drilling routines is worth it, and you perform your personal best when it counts. When you're under pressure, you hit it. While there is no hack for reaching peak performance, if you understand what helps you achieve peak performance, like where it comes from, you can improve your chances of making it happen.

In today's episode, I'll be talking about the concept of peak performance. I'll explain a type of peak performance called clutch state and what to do to help make that clutch performance more likely, that way you can take control and reach your personal best onstage. We'll discuss the six things that lead up to a clutch state, and if you spend time working on these six things, you will be a clutch performer.

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/116

Leave a voice note for the show: https://chelseapierotti.com/message

Summary: Do you have dance moms and dance dads at your studio or school that drive you completely crazy? I know crazy sport parents can be super challenging, and I've heard coaches say things like, "I love everything about teaching dance except the parents."

In today's episode, we'll be talking all about dance parents with my guest, Dr. Megan Babkes-Stellino. Megan is actually my academic mentor. She was my advisor when I was getting my PhD, and she was the one who encouraged me to research with dancers, which was still relatively new at the time. So much of my love and knowledge for sport psychology came from Megan, and I'm really excited to share her with you. Megan is an expert on sport parents. She has this incredible way of helping us understand where parents are coming from, but also give the coaches and the teachers some practical advice on how to develop positive relationships where those dance parents respect you as the coach but can stay firmly in their lane as the parent.

In the episode, Dr. Megan and I talk about how you can change your parent handbooks for the better, how parents often believe that winning and fun are the same thing, and they also believe that effort can only be seen through trophies and public recognition. Of course, we know better. As you'll hear, we had so much to share that this will actually be part one, and we'll come back with part two soon.

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/115

Summary: Do your dancers have the growth mindset it takes to really push themselves to improve? In today's episode, I'll be talking with the one and only Katie Groven of Dancer-Fitness.com about all things mental and physical flexibility for dancers. Katie was one of the first guests on the show way back in episode ten, and we both believe in challenging our dancers to be the best they can be while giving them the tools they need to achieve it.

In this conversation, Katie and I talk about the idea of getting comfortable being uncomfortable, because if you want to see growth, both in your physical skills and in your mental toughness, you have to learn to push your own boundaries. We also share theories for why dancers might cheat and roll out of dance warm-up stretches and what you can do about it, and stick around for the end where we share advice for how to challenge your dancers, both mentally and physically, so they learn to dig deep and really put in the work for themselves.

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/114

Summary: When we think our dancers are being lazy or don't care, we tend to yell for full out and push for more energy because we assume the dancers aren't giving us their full effort. But what actually is effort? How do you know what someone else's 100% effort actually looks like?

Today's episode was inspired by Coach Alaina who sent me a voice note that really got me thinking. In the episode, we'll talk about effort, what full out really means, and how to help your dancers give more effort in practice. We'll also dive into answering what's really going on when your dancers appear to be lacking effort. If you have a topic you want to hear discussed on the show, please leave me a voice note at https://chelseapierotti.com/message!

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/113

Summary: Healthy communication with our dancers starts with us dance coaches and teachers. We're the role models for how we want to communicate in our programs and our studios and our teams. We establish the rules and expectations for how to talk to each other and what healthy communication looks like. Good communication can improve motivation, can help dancers be more resilient, and can put them in the right mindset to persevere and have fun.

In today's episode, we're diving into the importance of effective communication, which is a huge topic both in its complexity and importance. I'll be talking about effective communication strategies and will give you seven distinct ways to communicate effectively from coach to athlete or teacher to dancer. As I always say, your language matters, so how you communicate to your dancers can make a huge impact in their lives.

Check out resources for this episode and more at https://chelseapierotti.com/112

Today's episode is an epic collaboration of six dance specialists and dance business owners. It's a re-release of an episode of my friend Jeanne's podcast, The Feis Fit Podcast. We all got together to record for her show, and she graciously gave me permission to release the episode here as well!

In this episode, you'll hear from Jeanne and I plus two other personal trainers you may know, Kendall and Katie, plus nutritionist Jenny, and Nina, an athletic trainer. We'll be talking about the best parts of our time as dancers, the biggest challenges, the life lessons we learned from dance. For those of you who are dance educators, I think you'll really like the part where we talk about what we would have changed about our own dance education, knowing what we know now about training, nutrition, dance science, dance medicine, and mental health.

Hearing how each of us approach this question differently was really interesting and definitely makes me rethink education in our industry right now. Even though we don't explicitly talk about it, listening back to this, I think it is really interesting how each of the six of us have created a career based in the dance industry and now have thriving businesses that allow us to use our expertise and continue to work with dancers through our dance science jobs.

Find out more on the episode resource page: https://chelseapierotti.com/111

Summary: Today's episode is part three of a three-part series on team building. In the first two episodes of the series, we talked about the two different types of cohesion that your dancers are striving for, and we covered the four different factors that influence your ability to bond and be aware of those important factors you may not be able to change but are still impacting your dancers' ability to form a strong connection.

In this episode, I'll be covering five specific strategies you can use to increase cohesion. I hope hearing more about the different types of cohesion and different aspects of a team that influence cohesion is all helpful to set the stage, but I also know sometimes we just need the practical advice, so if you're looking for a more practical approach, this episode is all for you!

If you'd like more specifics on exactly the kinds of team building activities you can play to create a united team, I have a free download that'll help with that. I know many of us are always looking for new and different ideas, so this download has 15 different team bonding games you can use with your dancers. If you'd like to see team bonding benefits play out with your dancers, go to www.chelseapierotti.com/110 to get your download.

Summary: Establishing cohesion and unity among a group of dancers is an ongoing process, and anyone who's been a teacher or a coach for more than one year will probably tell you every group is different. One big reason why each group is different is because there are four factors that influence your ability to create a cohesive group, and those factors will change with every group of dancers.

Today's episode is part two of a three-part series on team building. In this episode, I'll explain those four factors and help you understand what it takes to create a cohesive team. I'll also answer the question of why some groups have an easier time working together and getting along compared to others. We know a more cohesive group of dancers is bound to be happier and more successful when they're on stage, plus it's a lot more fun to teach and coach a group of dancers who are one solid unit.

If you'd like more specifics on exactly the kinds of team building activities you can play to create a united team, I have a free download that'll help with that. I know many of us are always looking for new and different ideas, so this download has 15 different team bonding games you can use with your dancers. If you'd like to see team bonding benefits play out with your dancers, go to www.chelseapierotti.com/109 to get your download!