The Balanced Ballerinas Podcast

Dr. Linda Bluestein has been practicing medicine for over 20 years and has helped countless people restore function and improve their quality of life. Her special interest in treating performing artists (who are at increased risk of hypermobility disorders) stems from her many years as a ballet dancer and shattered dreams of turning professional due to her own hypermobility disorder.
An integrative medicine physician with certification in Performing Arts Medicine, Dr. Bluestein takes a unique approach to the evaluation and treatment of this highly specialised population.
Dr. Bluestein is an international speaker on the forefront of research on pain, hypermobility and dance medicine. Professional services include individual telemedicine visits as well as workshops and lectures for groups. Dr. Bluestein received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine followed by the completion of an anesthesiology residency at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and is board-certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology.
Personally I came across Linda's work when I was perusing dance related podcasts. She co-hosts the 'Bendy Bodies' podcast with Jennifer Milner and they cover a range of really useful topics for dancers, dance teachers and really anyone interested in optimising their health.
Now it was an episode about the connection between hypermobility and anxiety that really caught my attention and as you'll hear in this conversation I found Linda's discussion about this topic incredibly fascinating and useful when working with my own clients.
Linda is so smart, so driven and I really respect the work she's doing in this space. An absolute gift to the dance world and I can't thank her enough for her own podcast and content that she shares so freely. Thank you so much Linda for also carving out some time to share yourself with the Balanced Ballerinas community!
Happy listening everyone and as always you can reach out on Instagram @thebalancedballerina or find Dr Linda Bluestein @hypermobilitymd
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Hello Balanced Ballerinas!
Are you having a moment uncharacteristic of yourself?
Not following your own advice?
Not checking every box in your to-do list?
Going back to unhealthy situations?
Repeating unhealthy patterns?
Or perhaps you're doing things that aren't in line with your values?
Well this episode is for you! And me. And everyone who is human!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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I hope you're having a lovely January! And thank you for all your feedback on last fortnights episode. I'm so glad you enjoyed and it's always lovely to hear from the wonderful women (and men!) in the Balanced Ballerinas Community.
Today's guest is Caitlin Thamm who is the founder of Dance Care Australia. A space which has been created for dancers of all ages to be heard and understood in whichever capacity they need by someone who knows what it can be like to be a dancer.
Caitlin ​spent 15 years of her life studying to be a dancer. She began full-time training at the age of 13, which led her to finishing final years of high school at Queensland Dance School of Excellence. Following graduation Caitlin completed a year of Queensland Ballet's Pre-Professional Program in 2013 whilst participating in various company productions.
Upon graduating, Caitlin continued to train and traveled all over Europe auditioning for ballet companies in search for employment. Facing many struggles and disappointments she decided to return home to Australia and re-evaluate her future.
After making the difficult decision to stop dancing, a story so common, Caitlin applied for university and completed a Bachelor of Human Services in 2018. ​
During this time she began to notice the scarce amount of industry specific mental health support for dancers in Australia and decided to use her own experience within the dance world to support dancers going through the adversities the industry produces.
In December 2020 Caitlin graduated with a Master of Counselling from the University of Queensland and is now a registered counsellor with The Australian Counselling Association. ​Caitlin has a heart of gold and just wants to help young dancers flourish! I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Caitlin and I believe you will too...
As always, you can reach me on instagram @thebalancedballerina and you can also reach Caitlin @dancecareaustralia - she has the cutest, most sweet instagram full of feel good vibes, so be sure to check it out!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)

I'm sure being the new year that you are bombarded with goal setting, habit trackers and all sorts of specifically new year new me topics, so I thought this would be a breath of fresh air to kick start the topics of conversation in the Balanced Ballerinas community...
Speaking of conversation within this wonderful community, please don't forget to join the 'Secret Balanced Ballerinas Facebook Group' asap! If you are not in this group, you are missing out!
It brings me so much joy to see conversation between ballet teachers, studio owners, parents of ballerinas and adult ballerinas. So go click join, I'll be sure to accept you (everyone is welcome!) and let's get into todays topic...
The question that kick starts todays topic is from Erin: "I'm interested in the makings of a concert, I'm sure there is far more that goes into it than we could ever imagine!"
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)

Today’s guest is Pacific Northwest Ballet Soloist, Jonathan Batista!
Jonathan started his training at a social project in Rio de Janeiro’s City of God slums. His talent was then spotted by his teacher which took him to a pre-professional dance division at Alice Arja Ballet School where he started his journey in Classical Ballet.
I won’t spoil the story about how Batista went from this humble beginning to performing all over the world – he shares this wonderful story in our conversation – but I will tell you that during 2017-2021 he has performed with Oklahoma City Ballet as a Principal Dancer.
Whilst with the company, Jonathan created two world premieres, winning ‘Best Choreography of the Year’ by the National Destined 2 Dancer Award and in 2021 he won the ‘Art Culture & Music Award’ by the TAF AWARD FOUNDATION for his contributions in representation, activism, work and contributions to the dance community in Oklahoma.
​In this conversation we cover growing up in Brasil, the importance of having an entrepreneurial spirit if you’re going to have a successful career as a dancer and most notable his mission to create more diversity, equity and inclusion in the dance world.
​Batista is a man with a mission and like all humans who want to make a difference in this world, he is incredibly focussed, driven and organised. We cover his insane morning routine and disciplined practices – but of course there’s some balance in there too…
I really loved chatting to Jonathan, in fact when recording was done we spent another few minutes sharing diary recommendations and organisation tips! I have a feeling we’re cut from the same cloth…
I wish Jonathan all the success in the world and would like to thank him for carving out some precious time to share his story with the Balanced Ballerinas community.
As always you can find me on Instagram @thebalancedballerina and you can find Jonathan @jonathanbatistaofficial – I love when people actually comment on the latest podcast tile on the official @balancedballerinas account, so come say hello and let us know what you enjoyed in this episode.
Enjoy my conversation with my new friend Jonathan!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)

Happy Thursday! In this weeks SOLO episode I go on a tangent about my thoughts on LEGACY. This is something I often think about at this time of year...
Are you thinking of changing dance schools? Quitting ballet? Or do you want to make a difference in this world and not sure how to go about it? I think this might be the episode you need to listen to...
As always, feel free to connect with me on Instagram and if you want to find the blog post about today's topic 'Why do I feel amazing after ballet class?' you can do so here...
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/10/08/why-do-i-feel-so-wonderful-after-class/

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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)

Penny is the Honorary Founding Director of Australian Dance Vision and registered training organisation Australian Dance Institute.
Penny's vision was to create a holistic education dance program via a creative and unique assessment process, while building both excellence and self-esteem for students and teachers.
Penny truly believes her syllabus gives students preparation for a professional career in dance (if they choose that path) with life skills that set students up for greater employment opportunities. Penny trained at the Scully Borovansky School, Sydney before becoming a professional dancer in theatre, film, modelling and television in Australia and the USA.
Later Penny followed her dance passion and became a teacher of classical ballet. Penny holds her RAD Teachers’ Diploma and a Certificate IV in Training & Assessment and a Certificate in Learning, Literacy & Numeracy. More recently Penny is a NEELI Higher Education Advanced Leadership Program graduate 2017.
Just as a side note; I love to share the qualifications of my guests because I think it's really important to recognise (especially classical ballet teachers) that go onto further education and seek professional development instead of simply teaching as they were taught. Being any kind of dance teacher is a career (it's not a hobby) and even though the industry is highly unregulated, anyone teaching without the desire for further education to achieve qualifications shouldn't be teaching.
Anyway, continuing on with Penny's story she was the proprietor and teacher in her own large academy of dancing (The Penelope Lancaster Academy of Dancing) in Turramurra, Sydney for over twenty years before creating and directing the youth dance company Ballet d’Action. This company performed in Sydney for ten years from 1989 to 1999 with 22 new dance works employing a number of prominent choreographers and musicians.
One of the reasons I wanted to have a conversation with Penny for the podcast is because I've been thinking a lot about syllabus lately - especially classical ballet ones. I've been researching and recognising those that do things really well and those that do things very poorly. It's a hot topic on my mind as I look toward to future of my own studio and as so many teachers ask my opinion of syllabi, I find it a duty of care to promote ones that are not only run professionally but also fairly for the health and wellbeing of students.
I hope to talk more about this topic freely in the future, but for now I want to focus on how Penny created and co-ordinated the development and implementation of five accredited, nationally recognized dance educational programs in classical ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary dancing. Her syllabus and it's process for examining students is really quite revolutionary. In Penny's own words...
“Created by qualified Australian teachers for Australian teachers. A unique holistic dance program for everyone who loves to dance. And isn’t that everyone!” Penny Lancaster, Founding President
During this interview we dive into some of the finer details that make ADV stand out from the rest, the importance of keeping up your academic studies (something I'm incredibly passionate about) and the importance of non threatening examination environments.
Connecting with Penny was truly a highlight of my week. I have so much respect for the work she does and the human she is. I can't wait to sit down over a coffee in-person one day soon. I feel like we'd have a lot to talk about...
In the meantime, it would mean the world to me if you subscribed, shared a screenshot or rated the podcast. This is a labour of love and your support keeps the podcasts coming! Now enjoy this interview with my new friend Penny Lancaster...
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You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)

I had the most delightful conversation with a gentleman by the name of Terry Hyde. I say gentleman because Terry came to the interview via Zoom in what looked like a very organised study in a wonderfully dapper suit jacket.
I on the other hand was in my pyjamas. Although my bed top is black, so it didn't quite look like pyjamas. But it was 5am in the morning for me, so my apologies if I take a moment to warm up in this interview. I really loved this conversation and found Terry to be so warm and inviting with his story telling and passion for his work. Let's face it, I love anyone who is on a mission. And Terry's mission is to provide counselling to dancers, teachers and artistic staff in the hope of creating better learning and working environments for dancers.
Terry Hyde is a registered psychotherapist and counsellor. Terry started dancing at age 6, joining the Royal Ballet at age eighteen before moving to London’s Festival Ballet (now known as English National Ballet) as a soloist and even performed in West End musicals, Film and TV.
Terry attained a Master of Arts in Psychotherapy, validated by Middlesex University in 2012, and in 2017 set up the website counsellingfordancers.com specifically to address the mental health needs of dancers. In 2021 he even created an app, which is called Help4Dancers and I highly recommend checking it out.
Terry understands the mental health needs of dancers and uses that in his one to one therapy sessions and in his proactive Mental Health Self-Care Workshops. You ca actually book an appointment with Terry via his website and if you feel drawn to him during the listening of this interview, I highly recommend doing so.
Terry is a little bit like my Mum. Very intuitive, very warm and very open to people sharing their stories, issues and idiosyncrasies. I can imagine a session with him would be incredibly rewarding. A huge thanks to Terry for making time during his busy schedule!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)