Passion for Dance

Team Bonding Series Part 1

Summary: Did you know there are two types of team bonding? I know many coaches believe that if dancers spend time together, both in and out of practice, they will bond. However, if you're not strategic about this, your team bonding activities will stay very surface level. Unless you encourage your dancers to learn to truly trust each other, they won't be able to get in the trenches and work together when it matters most later in the season. So, this episode kicks off part one of a three-part series on team bonding!

In this first episode, I'll be talking about what team bonding really is, team bonding benefits, and I'll discuss how to build that strong social culture for your dancers. I'll also clarify the two different types of team bonding (social cohesion and task cohesion) so that you can ensure you're focusing on both as we head into the start of our new seasons.

If you'd like more specifics on exactly the kinds of games you can play, especially around task cohesion, 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. Go to www.chelseapierotti.com/108 to get it!

Summary: As a dancer, are you following someone else's dream or your own? Do you have dreams of becoming a famous professional ballet dancer? Who do you think you need to be in order to be successful in the dance industry?

My guest today is Susanne Puerschel, a former professional ballet dancer and founder of Pointe to Rise, an empowerment society and online business platform for ballerinas and other dancers. Susanne is passionate about moving beyond old beliefs and systems that no longer serve dancers and dance teachers and finding new and better ways of doing things. In this episode, we'll take a look at these questions and talk about breaking down some negative beliefs that are probably not serving you, and instead finding your path to your own dreams. We'll also be talking about the concepts of being a well-rounded dancer and a starving artist, as well as three mindset tools that are helping Susanne that might help you too.

Susanne shares so much wisdom for dancers and artists alike who have big dreams. If you're considering a professional ballet or dance career, or if you're the one helping others along the journey to their professional dance careers, I invite you to listen to this episode! "Anything is possible as long as you believe in it."

Episode Resources:

https://chelseapierotti.com/107

Summary: Whenever an event or a season is coming to a close, I like to think back and notice what went well, what didn't go so well, and what lessons have I learned. As I usually do around this time of year, I was recently reflecting on past seasons. I coached for about 15 years, and so, this time I actually decided to take my reflection all the way back and think about lessons I've learned throughout my time.

In this episode, I'll be sharing with you my top ten mistakes I made as a new coach. We'll dive into these coaching mistakes and talk about what coaches should do, what coaches should not do, and I'll share a few leadership mistake examples. I was a very seasoned coach before I learned to take my own advice, so I hope hearing about my worst coaching mistakes helps spark some ideas for you. If you'd like to share your own lessons learned as a dance educator, I'd love to hear from you and put them together into an episode where I can share teaching and coaching lessons learned! Leave a voice note of your biggest lesson as a dance educator here: www.chelseapierotti.com/message.

Resources:

Episode website: https://chelseapierotti.com/106

Summary: As teachers, studio owners, and coaches, we often don't get credit when things are going well. If our dancers are doing well at competition, they are praised, and rightfully so. If we have a recital that goes off without a hitch, teachers might be praised but the studio owner is rarely recognized outside of the studio.

I was recently working with a group of studio owners, and I heard from one of them how disheartening it can be when you're giving everything of yourself to your studio and no one seems to notice. That conversation inspired me to share a short message in today's episode about the importance of giving credit to others and how to deal with those negative emotions when you feel like no one notices how hard you're working, along with some leadership tips.

While I believe that passing on the compliment to others is a sign of a strong leader, a lot of times, many leaders also can afford to recognize they're allowed to take a compliment themselves, too. If you think this message might help another dance educator in your life, please share the episode with them. We could all use a little uplifting note now and then, so let's spread that message to other hardworking dance educators who need to hear it!

Resources:

This Episode's Website: http://www.chelseapierotti.com/105

Sign up to my Email List: www.chelseapierotti.com/email

Building team culture takes hard work. The question is, what must we do in order to actually build a positive team or studio culture with our dancers or how do we turn a negative team culture around?

In today's episode, I'll be interviewing Jennifer Koonce who has been coaching for over 25 years, is a sought-after judge and choreographer, and currently owns a very successful all-star studio in Virginia. In our conversation, Jen shares her perspective on setting boundaries and creating a positive culture in the studio, plus some great ideas about empowering her coaches and how they end practices with The Finisher to boost team morale. Jen also has some great advice on how her coaches and dancers discuss wins and losses in a way that the athletes stay humble but motivated, and stick around for the end for a great idea to incorporate into your end-of-year banquet. If you're looking to learn more about how to build positive team culture, how to turn a negative team into a positive team, and hear a few positive team culture examples, tune into this episode with Jen!

Resources

Episode website: https://chelseapierotti.com/104

Adrenaline Studio's Website: https://www.adrenalinestudionova.com/teachers

Do your dancers get lazy sometimes? Do you not know how to motivate athletes as a coach? If your dancers are lacking motivation, there is something you can do about it!

Welcome to Part Three of my Framework Series. In today's episode, we'll be focusing on the motivation pillar. We'll talk about the three ways you can inspire fierce motivation in your female athletes: team culture, rewards and punishments, and goal setting. These are all tactics for motivating athletes to improve their performance. We'll break down why giving 100 percent 365 days a year is not sustainable, and how to cultivate steady motivation. These three skills we discuss in this episode will help you in motivating lazy athletes when they are having a harder time, because as the coach, there are things in your control that can make a difference in how your dancers show up to classes and practices.

I know these skills are easier said than done, and I want to help you help your dancers learn these skills. If you'd like to learn more about my Mental Skills Workshops, please visit www.chelseapierotti.com/workshop, and you'll see more information on both in-person and virtual options!

Resources

Framework Visual on This Episode's Website: http://www.chelseapierotti.com/103

This episode is part two of the Positive Coaching Framework Series where we'll discuss how to be a dance coach who truly makes a lasting positive impact on your dancers.

If you've been teaching for a while, you might agree with me that today's dancers are different. While there are some positives, being challenged and pushed outside of their comfort zone is more often met with shutting down and closing up rather than rising to the challenge. Being able to rise up to that challenge, though, is a skill of resilience.

In today's episode, we take a look at the resilience pillar where we'll focus on the power of resilience, why resilience is important, and how to build resilience in students and dancers. There are three skills to creating this foundation of emotional resilience that I'll walk you through: learning about emotional strength, learning to respond (not react), and being comfortable with the uncomfortable. As dance educators, I believe we can focus on building resilience in our students by teaching our dancers how to lean into the discomfort of being scared.

I know these skills are easier said than done, and I want to help you help your dancers learn these skills. If you'd like to learn more about my Mental Skills Workshops, please visit www.chelseapierotti.com/workshop, and you'll see more information on both in-person and virtual options.

Resources:

Episode Website: http://www.chelseapierotti.com/102

Summary: You may have heard there are four pillars to the Passion for Dance podcast: mindset, resilience, motivation, and community. All of the episodes revolve around those themes, and I chose that structure because it comes directly from my Positive Coaching Framework. To be a coach with impact, you have to teach your dancers how to have a tough mindset, fierce motivation, and steady resilience, and I believe the best way to accomplish that is with a community next to you. My goal as an educator is always to have a positive impact on the dancers and other teachers that I work with, and it's time I share that with all of you.

This episode is part one of a three-part series where I will show you how to be a dance coach who truly makes a lasting positive impact on your athletes by focusing on those three areas of mindset, motivation, and resilience. In today's episode, we'll start off with the mindset pillar. We break down the three tools of mindset: building confidence, establishing positive self-talk, and Controlling the Controllables. I'll also share a message from a member of the Relevé Membership and dive deeper into the tools available to you inside of the membership.

Resources -

Episode Website: http://www.chelseapierotti.com/101

The Relevé Dance Coach Membership is there to replenish your personal, mental, and emotional energy and help you create dancers who are mentally tough, resilient, and motivated. Join the Relevé Membership here: www.chelseapierotti.com/membership

Submit a question to be answered on the show: www.speakpipe.com/passionfordance

Join my email list here: www.chelseapierotti.com/email

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers

Word of mouth is still the best way the show can grow! If you have a dance friend out there who you think would benefit, please share this episode with them!

Welcome to the 100th episode of the Passion for Dance podcast! In honor of the 100th episode, I wanted to do something special. My passion has become a passion for so many of you who are listening, so thank you for continuing to tune in, listen, and send me all the messages about the podcast and how much it's helped you. It's all about building relationships and I love this community so thank you for being a part of it!

Today's episode is all about those small moments that shape who you are and the special people who are with you when you experience them. I asked a few different people who have been a part of my dance life at different stages to share a little story about a small moment they shared with me and what it meant to them. In the episode, I'll play four messages from these four people and give my honest immediate reaction to them.

I hope you find this interesting, getting a little glimpse into me and the different phases of my life, and I hope this episode encourages you to pause and think about those small moments in your life that have really meant something to you and who was with you during those moments.

Resources:

Episode Website: http://www.chelseapierotti.com/100

Join the Relevé Membership here: www.chelseapierotti.com/membership

Submit a question to be answered on the show: www.speakpipe.com/passionfordance

Join my email list here: www.chelseapierotti.com/email

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers

Word of mouth is still the best way the show can grow! If you have a dance friend out there who you think would benefit, please share this episode with them!

How do we improve our confidence? As teachers and as dancers, building our confidence is a big topic, and there's a lot to it. I chose to tackle this big topic with a fellow mental performance expert by my side. My guest today is a fellow mental performance expert who is also a dance expert, Lauren Ritchie.

In this episode, we discuss how fake it 'til you make it is a life hack that neither one of us are a big fan of, we bust multiple confidence myths for dancers and dance educators, and we share those concrete tips that you can use for your own confidence or to support your dancers. Enjoy the episode!

Resources:

Episode Website: https://chelseapierotti.com/99

Lauren's website: https://withlauren.ca/

Join the Relevé Membership here: www.chelseapierotti.com/membership

Submit a question to be answered on the show: www.speakpipe.com/passionfordance

Join my email list here: www.chelseapierotti.com/email