Have you heard of the term toxic positivity? It's becoming a bit of a buzzphrase, so I want to dive into this complicated topic. I'm seeing it more and more on social media and hearing it in conversations with the dancers I work with. Sometimes is a great conversation, and other times there's a lot of misinformation going around. I even recently asked my community on Instagram if they had experienced toxic positivity and 96% said yes. There is clearly an issue, and I think it's time we talk about it. So in this episode, I explain what it is and what it isn't, give you some common toxically positive phases to avoid, plus some better options of what to say instead.

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Show Notes and Resources

https://chelseapierotti.com/75

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

As you may know, one of the main themes of this show is resilience. I love talking with successful and talented dancers about their own resilience journey and to hear what they can teach us about perseverance and following your dreams. As for today's guests specifically, they not only have multiple ballroom championship titles, but they have also coached and worked with some of your favorite dancers on shows like SYTYCD and DWTS. They even wrote a children's book that I can attest my 6-year-old loved. There are some wonderful words of wisdom in this episode so listen in as Corky Ballas and Carolina Orlovsky share their inspiring stories of resilience and advice for following your dreams.

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Show Notes and Resources

https://chelseapierotti.com/74

ChloeBook.com

@corkyballas

@carolinaorlovsky

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

There are so many times I've heard dances say things like "I can't do left" or "I'm not a turner." And of course, there are many times I've thought those things too. As a coach, it honestly wasn't a lot better. I would think, "I wish I could be as talented as she is," or "I can't do that like he can." But I've learned something over the years that I want to share with all of you today. We lie to ourselves a lot. Maybe we don't mean to, maybe we don't even know it, or maybe we really believe those negative thoughts in our own heads. But we can be better. So let's talk about the lies we tell ourselves and what they really mean.

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Show Notes and Resources

Freebie: 23 Growth Mindset Questions

https://chelseapierotti.com/73

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

If you are a dance educator long enough, you will go through some big life changes that will impact your career and your dancers. When you have something big happening in your life like a wedding, a medical issue, the birth of a child, or moving, it usually causes a lot of stress and can be hard to navigate as a leader. When I think about my own big life changes over the last 15 years, I know I would start to just go through the motions, or stress about what it all means for my dancers. But even really positive changes can be difficult to cope with. So in this episode, I share some advice about how to handle big life changes as a leader.

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Show Notes and Resources

https://chelseapierotti.com/72

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

Are you an assistant coach? Do you have an assistant in your program? Maybe you're in the school setting and lucky enough to be an assistant coach. Or maybe you're a head coach doing everything alone and wishing for some help! While this typically applies to a school or all-star setting with head and assistant coaches, it can also apply to studio teachers and owners who have younger teachers that report to you.

If you work with more than one dance educator but you have to be on the same page sometimes and this episode is for you. I'm going to share a little about my journey as a head coach with and without an assistant, and if you have assistants, the 4 questions you should ask them at the beginning of the season, plus if you are the assistant, I have some questions you should make sure to ask of your head coach or studio owner before we get back to the fall season.

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Freebie Download: Assistant Coach Questions

https://chelseapierotti.com/71

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

Last summer, I hosted an online conference called the Confident Dancer Summit, where 20 different dance educators came together to teach a short course on different aspects of confidence. It was a great weekend and I decided to share one of those inspiring conversations with you today. One of the summit speakers was Mary Wendt, an incredible woman I've had the pleasure of working with a few times. She's the Education director for the USASF (or US All-Star Federation). For her class at the summit, she paired up with another USASF director Kinshasa Garret and they brought together other successful coaches and had a panel discussion about increasing dancers' confidence.

This episode is PART 2 of this conversation, so if you missed last episode, go back and start there! Here is part two of the Confident Dancer Summit Panel discussion with Mary Wendt and Kinshasa Garret.

All Resources Mentioned in Today's Show:

https://chelseapierotti.com/70

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

Last summer, I hosted an online conference called the Confident Dancer Summit, where 20 different dance educators came together to teach a short course on different aspects of confidence. It was a great weekend and I decided to share one of those inspiring conversations with you today.

This summit class brought together many successful coaches and had a panel discussion about increasing dancers' confidence. I love how this turned out and am excited to share it with you. I'm going to break it up into two parts, so here is part one of the Confident Dancer Summit Panel discussion with Mary Wendt and Kinshasa Garret.

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All Resources Mentioned in Today's Show:

https://chelseapierotti.com/69

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

Do you have a teaching or coaching philosophy? Personally, it took me years to come up with my own personal teaching philosophy that was really specific to me and not just words you say on a job application. It took years of experience, challenges, successes, and choices. After all of that time, my personal coaching philosophy is simple but powerful. And above all else, as an educator, I have learned why it's so important to reflect and come up with your own personal teaching or coaching philosophy. So in this episode, I'm going to share why it matters, how it will save you so much time in the future, and some tips to get you started if you haven't written one before. And of course, I've got a free resource for you to help you tackle this if you're up for it.

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All Resources Mentioned in Today's Show:

https://chelseapierotti.com/68

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

Today's guest is Caroline Liviakis, she is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of the Caroline Liviakis Dance Company (CLDC), choreographing and producing live performances and interactive experiences. In her most recent project, she brings her creative visions to digital form as a choreographer and director of film, music videos, and commercials. Caroline currently teaches at Loyola Marymount University and is currently in pre-production for her debut feature-length film: Lessons In Love. And towards the end of our conversation, today shared this amazing idea…What happens if dance isn't just a backup to the star of the show, but dance is actually an integral part of telling the story?! It's an amazing vision for our dance industry.

Caroline and I talked about transitioning from dancing for fun to choosing it as a career, the importance of connecting with the audience in commercial dance, the importance of cultivating relationships and what networking really means, and some great advice for those of you trying to chase your own dance career passions.

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/67

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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

This episode is a little heavier, but I'm learning to lean into the hard, so I hope you'll join me. I'm grateful that there is a growing conversation around mental health, increasing awareness and hopefully supporting your dancers. However, I also think that can leave dance educators feeling like they should be doing more or that they don't know enough to be responsible. Consider this episode an introduction to help you feel more comfortable with this challenging topic and know where to go next. I'm going to clarify the difference between mental health, mental illness, and mental toughness. I cover some current statistics on mental illness in athletes, and finally, what YOU can do to support your athlete's mental health.

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All Resources Mentioned in Today's Show:

https://chelseapierotti.com/66

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts!

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