Recently I had the chance to sit down with Bri from Apolla Performance and professional dancer Chelsie Hightower, who you might recognize from So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. Chelsie and I found each other when a mutual friend connected us because she knew I would resonate with the mission behind Chelsie’s clothing line. Inside Out works to produce dancewear that encourages the next generation to know their worth. That mission for understanding your personal value and worth struck home for me, so I immediately wanted to connect and work with Chelsie.

That brought us both to Apolla’s Beyond the Steps show where Chelsie, Bri and I worked together to try and answer the question, “how do we encourage mental toughness in our dancers while still validating their feelings and emotions? It was such a good conversation I wanted to share it with you here so this is my conversation with Bri and Chelsie about encouraging mental toughness in our dancers.

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Mentioned in today’s show:

Dance Inside Out 

Dance Elevated

Apolla Performance

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Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/40

I feel like in the dance industry we use the word passion to mean your performance on the floor, to be believable, and truly go for it. But honestly, it’s a lot more than that.

If you have a passion for dance, I have some important news for you to consider: your passion for dance may be hurting you.  In this episode, I share some of the psychological research on passion to highlight the fact that there are two different types of passion: harmonious passion and obsessive passion. I’ve bet you’ve seen both types of passion in the dancers you work with, and maybe even in yourself, and understanding the difference can go a long way to ensure a career filled with joy.

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/39

Work-life balance is a myth, and I have some thoughts on the idea that I want to share with you today. There are so many self-help books and podcasts, and influencers out there telling you how to balance in work and life so that you never feel overwhelmed or guilty. I argue that true balance is impossible.

But not because it’s impossible to balance, but because I don’t believe your life and your work should be in opposition to each other. The phrase “work-life balance” implies these two things are sitting on opposite sides of a scale. And in order to be happy, you have to figure out how to keep these two things balanced every minute of every day. When the scales slightly tip one way or the other, you feel guilt, shame, and a sense of failure. In this episode, I talk about the harm of that myth and what you can do about it.

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Mentioned in the episode: Time management and life organization expert Kelly Nolan

https://www.kellynolan.com/

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/38

If you’ve ever experienced a rehearsal where dancers aren’t giving full effort, there’s eye-rolling or disrespect, it’s incredibly frustrating and it could be a sign the dancers lack accountability. Accountability is when you do what you say you’re going to do to the best of your ability.  Accountability doesn't mean perfect or without mistakes, but if you promised you’d do something, you do it.  And it’s more than being accountable to the coach or teacher in the room.  We don’t want a group of dancers who only do what they’re told when someone is watching. We want them to do the right thing even if no one sees them. We want a group of dancers where everyone is accountable for themselves AND accountable to each other. 

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/37

Let’s talk about stress. Stress is something we all deal with, but today I want to share something with you that you might not have heard before… science has actually taught us that stress can be good for us! I know that sounds crazy but stick with me for this episode and I’ll tell you all about it. Also, this episode is a little different... I’m going to speak directly to the dancers. Now dance teachers and coaches out there this is will certainly still be helpful for you, but I’ve had some requests recently to cover this topic in a way you could simply share with your dancers. So, this is that episode! Listen in, and then feel free to share with your dancers. This is my take on the upside of a dancer's stress.

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Mentioned in the show:

Stress Management Tools free downlod

Book: The Upside of Stress by Dr. Kelly McGonigal 

*affiliate link*

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/36

Do you feel like competing is an important part of your dance life? What would it look like if your dancers didn’t compete? My guest today is Chasta Hamilton. She is the author of Trash The Trophies: How To Win Without Losing Your Soul, and the owner and artistic director of Stage Door Dance Productions. Chasta is reinventing the dance education model by focusing on character development and community involvement over the traditional competitive approach. Chasta and I agree that dance is a wonderful mechanism for teaching our dancers important life lessons, and I bet many of you agree with that too, but Chasta’s perspective on how dance teaches those life lessons is pretty unique. 

There are affiliate links below, which means I get a small commission if you follow the link to purchase Chasta's book. It's no additional cost to you, and supports both of us!

Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Book: Trash The Trophies: How To Win Without Losing Your Soul

Website: https://chastahamilton.com/

Nonprofit: Girls Geared for Greatness

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/35

Journaling has so many benefits for dancers including reducing stress, noticing progress to boost motivation, organizing your thoughts, improving confidence, and growing as a dancer and person. I often talk about the lessons I’ve learned after years of teaching and coaching and in this episode, I want to talk about one of those lessons, in the hope that you choose to integrate some of this strategy into your time with your dancers a whole lot sooner in your career than I did. If I had known then what I know now, I would have introduced my dancers to journaling right away.

In this episode, I’ll cover the benefits of journaling, what to expect, setting some ground rules, and how to get started.

Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Free Download: Starter Journal Prompts

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/34

Have you ever told your dancers to “leave it at the door?” I know I used that phrase a lot and it’s because I wanted dancers to come into class with a positive mindset and let go of any drama or challenges that might get in the way. But in this episode, we’re going to challenge that idea because maybe telling your dancers to leave it at the door is doing them a disservice. 

My guest today is Ali Phillips, an Embodied Leadership Coach and she really opened my eyes to a new perspective. Ali owns Bust a Move Dance which is a dance company for children, teens, and adults with disabilities. We discuss our egos as dance teachers, developing a teaching philosophy, and trusting ourselves as young professionals by tapping into our bodies for the answers.

Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Bust a Move Dance: https://bustamovedance.com.au/

Instagram   @bamdance_      @aliphillips.official

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/33

Why do we take a good performance for granted and seem to spend way too much time thinking about mistakes and performances we regret? Why do we naturally tend to docs on the bad side of things? Well, today I’m going to talk about how your brain processes information in a way that makes it so easy to hold onto the negative experiences and harder to focus on the good things. But the more we can learn how to intentionally spend more time on the good things in our dance life, the more resilient we become to the hard times. In this episode, we’ll cover why our brains naturally focus on the negative and what we can do about it.

Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Dancer-Fitness.com: https://dancer-fitness.com/membership

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode. 

Check out the full Show Notes, including episode highlights, key takeaways, exclusive resources, and more: https://chelseapierotti.com/32

This episode comes straight from all of you, I’ve had many people ask me to talk about having alternates on the team. It’s a tricky situation, mentally and logistically but I didn’t feel like I could talk about this topic on my own. Instead, I interviewed 5 successful high school coaches to get their insights and perspectives on using alternates in their programs. As I hoped and expected, there are some themes running through the interviews, but also some unique ideas and different approaches. 

Here are some highlights:

[1m 58s] Kevin Mathis, Lake Central High School, Indiana

[12m 22s] Ta Fett, formerly Frazee High School, Minnesota

[23m 30s] Jennifer Cryder, Joliet West High School, Illinois

[38m 17s] Renee Buchholz, DC Everest, Wisconsin

[52m 46s] Jana Blue, formerly Denver East High School, Colorado

[1h 04m 28s] Chelsea’s summary

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Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Dancer-Fitness.com: https://dancer-fitness.com/membership

Erin Manske & The Tiers System: Ep. 25- Bringing Stats and Analytics to Dance Team – with Erin Manske

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

Be sure to snap a screenshot and tag me on instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti as you’re listening to the episode.