The Balanced Ballerinas Podcast

Welcome to the #BalancedBallerinas 6 week challenge!
Try and complete at least one (ideally all!) of these simple but effective habits that contribute towards a healthy, mindful and most importantly BALANCED life...
1. START YOUR MORNING WITH LEMON WATER
Yes we should be avoiding processed foods at all costs, but if you're new or struggling to adapt to a healthier way of eating, how about we start simple... one glass of lemon water as soon as you wake up!
2. CALF RAISES
The benefits of this VERY simple exercise are numerous for anyone wanting ankle strength and stability, improved lower body performance and to prevent common injuries. Let's all do 16 calf raises every day!
3. BODY SCAN MEDITATION
A body scan is the perfect way to start or finish your day! This bonus episode is a chance to take a few minutes for yourself and develop a heightened awareness of your body.
4. MOVE YOUR BODY
Remember, move it or loose it! Ideally we'd love to attend a yoga, ballet or pilates class every day but sometimes life gets in the way and we just can't get there. How about a 20 minute walk though? Everyone can do that!
__________________
You can find more inspiration and useful resources on the BB instagram @balancedballerinas and on the BB website www.balancedballerinas.com

I don’t know about you, but networking, making new friends in my industry and opening myself up to new opportunities really makes my day! I had one of THOSE days when I recently met the lovely Dr Andrea Robertson.
Andrea is the owner of Southside Clinic which is also the home of The Barre Clinic in Adelaide. Dr Andrea is an Osteopath, Nutritionist and my new best friend. You know those people that you meet for the first time and feel like you’ve known for years? Yep, that!
We spoke about many things I’m passionate about; thoughts on nutrition, pre and post class snacks, we even assessed what I eat in a day which was really interesting.
Then we deep dived into what exactly an Osteopath actually does and the importance of conditioning, managing and listening to the body.
We touch on exercises for pre-pointe assessment and the importance of teachers not body shaming their students.
In a nutshell, I loved every bit of our chat and left feeling inspired and motivated to keep pushing the whole foods and healthy bodies message.
You also have to check out the Balanced Ballerinas instagram, because as you’ll hear in our interview, I pull out my camera to film Andrea. She did such a great job of holding the microphone whilst demonstrating exercises - it was hilarious!
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed interviewing the lovely Dr Andrea Robertson.

Hey everyone, guess what?! The Balanced Ballerinas podcast went abroad! Well, not really… however I did interview fellow adult ballet teacher Julie Gill who runs an adult exclusive ballet studio in Denver, Colorado.
As much as I would have loved to sit face-to-face with this incredibly intelligent and passionate woman, we had to settle for a web interview (which is why the sound quality of this episode isn’t like my other episodes). However its quality conversation and thats all that matters!
As you’ll hear, Julie has quite an amazing story behind her journey into the adult ballet world and has many great insights and tips for any current or aspiring adult ballerinas out there.
I really enjoyed talking to Julie and I hope you get as much as I did out of this conversation.
Check out Julie's personal instagram @julietheballerina and let us know what you thought about the conversation. And as always, you can catch me on instagram @balancedballerinas

If you’ve listened to my 2017 TEDx Talk, you would have heard me talking about my impending trip to Africa. A couple of weeks after that talk, I packed up all the amazing leotards and ballet shoes that my dance community had donated and jumped on a plane to Nairobi to teach ballet classes for Annos Africa - a children’s arts charity running educational arts projects for children living in the slums of Kenya.
It was an experience I’ll never forget that completely blew me away. It solidified my ‘why’ - why I teach ballet, why I’m such an advocate of adult ballet and why I campaign for everyone to understand that ballet truly can be for everyone.
Part of this mission included a trek up Mt Kilimanjaro (one of the worlds seven summits) to help raise money for Annos Africa with our partner World Expeditions. I say we, because I dragged along my Dads really good mate, Mike Lang.
Mike is todays guest and you may hear me refer to him as Uncle Mike, this is because when we were travelling people kept asking if he’s my Dad and I thought it might be easier to just call him Uncle Mike. But to be honest, even though we are not related by blood, Mike will always be family to me. After all, he put up with my moods whilst travelling and sat through many ballet classes whilst I taught!
I would call Mike Lang and adventurer - he’ll blush at this grand label, but he really is. Mike owns and operates The Outlet Homewares and Furniture, and in between buying trips and family time, he always makes room for daily micro adventures and more exotic trips climbing some of the worlds tallest mountains. You can find all these adventures documented on Zero Vanilla - a company he started for the average Joe who needs some inspiration to find the time.
I’m always asked by people what it’s like teaching in Africa or reaching the top of one of the worlds tallest mountains, so I thought this might be a conversation worth recording.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! In this solo episode Georgia sits down to talk about the three main reasons why she loves ballet so much - health, performance and community!
As always, it would mean the world if you could rate and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode. We also love hearing and seeing where and when people are listening and what you thought of the episode. So take a screenshot and tag @balancedballerinas or @thebalancedballerina - thanks for listening.

Not only is Hannah Rigby my gorgeous friend, but she is a beautiful classically trained dancer who works for the biggest touring circus in Australasia, Circus Rio!
This multi talented dancer, singer and actress is also a beautiful human being, always bringing positivity and light to young performers through her social media. But the life of a performer can sometimes be really lonely and when Hannah posted a reminder on her social media a few weeks ago, I thought I need to get her on to talk about it.
When you’re a young adult, it might seem exciting or even preferable to move far away from family and the familiar. However that can soon wear off if you’re not accustomed to moving from one place to the next…
Hannah and I chat about her wonderful and colourful work with Circus Rio, what it’s like being a travelling performer, tips for anyone thinking of a similar career and what you can do as a family member or friend if you know someone working far away from loved ones.
We go deep, it gets a bit intense, but it’s such an important discussion to have. If you’re a parent or student looking at moving overseas for work or dreaming of a life that’s constantly on the move, then this is an episode you need to listen to in order to make a fully informed decision.
Find Balanced Ballerinas on instagram at @balancedballerinas and Georgia at @thebalancedballerina
You can find more resources and Balanced Ballerinas products at www.balancedballerinas.com
Non Copyright Intro Music // Last Summer by Ikson

As everyone starts heading back into classes for the year, this is the perfect episode to remind everyone to be nice to themselves in class and stop comparing!
Especially if you're an adult ballerina this can be a hard task. But making sure your goals are realistic and aligned with your attitude is super important.
This episode is an audio version of Georgia's most popular blog post 'Why your pirouettes don't look like mine...' which can be found at www.balancedballerinas.com
As always, it would mean the world if you could rate and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode. We also love hearing and seeing where and when people are listening and what you thought of the episode. So take a screenshot and tag @balancedballerinas or @thebalancedballerina - thanks for listening.

Christiaan Bettridge is one of my dearest friends who used to study at the same full-time dance studio as myself when we were younger. I was a total bunhed growing up, with Christiaan being the opposite. She actually didn’t really like ballet all that much, but understood it’s what she needed to do in order to succeed in the arts.
Christiaan is one of those people who can do everything. She can act, sing, model and of course dance with ballet being a pivotal tool in her success and many accomplishments. As you’ll hear in this interview, Christiaan is so humble and hates talking about herself, but I made her because she has an amazing career and I’m so very proud of her.
From ballet to the Moulin Rouge and Lido in Paris, Christiaan is now a stunt woman for leading actress, Gal Gadot in movies such as Wonder Woman - even snapping up a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
As you’ll hear, Christiaan thinks her career is all luck and is constantly thanking the amazing team around her that believe in her. However I’m quick to remind her that it's all her own hard work, with only a little sprinkle of luck and a beautiful personality to tie it all up.
I hope this episode inspires students to study dance with an open mind, knowing that the opportunities are endless and vast and you never know where you might end up!
As always, it would mean the world to me if you could rate and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode. I also love hearing and seeing where and when people are listening and what you thought of the episode. So take a screenshot and tag @balancedballerinas or @thebalancedballerina - thanks for listening.

This is a special bonus episode which follows on from our discussion with meditation and yoga teacher Laura Trimble-Thompson in Episode 3.
This guided meditation spoken by Laura herself has been specifically designed for dancers that find themselves in stressful situations like a competition or audition setting, where a little extra calm and focus may be required.
So if you currently find yourself in either of those situations, please find a quiet corner, pop your ear buds in and get in the zone with Laura’s soothing words of wisdom. I hope you can use this episode from time to time to calm those nerves and and achieve peak performance level. You've got this!

Todays guest is a fitting person to begin the new year as her zest for life and inspiring productivity will surely get you off your seat and ready to tackle the new year.
Laura Trimble-Thompson (also known as Laura TT or Miss TT by her younger students, is a school teacher and yoga teacher, on a mission to help young people reach high performance targets with less effort and stress… amazing!
I have worked with Laura several times on workshops and classes that bring a sense of balance, flexibility and mindfulness to our ballet community. In this episode we cover Laura’s passion for yoga and teaching, her dive back into the world of adult ballet and the importance of natural ‘active movement’ and meditation.
Speaking of meditation, I'm dropping a BONUS episode with a guided meditation designed by Laura specifically for dancers in a performance or audition setting. Hopefully it’s something you can refer back to and visit whenever you’re in those stressful situations that require some calm and focus. I was SO CALM just listening to Laura whilst she recorded the mediation.
Remember to rate and subscribe if you enjoyed listening and since dropping the first few episodes I’ve loved seeing everyones screenshots and tags on instagram. Thanks for sharing the love guys.
Find Balanced Ballerinas on instagram at @balancedballerinas and Georgia at @thebalancedballerina
You can find more resources and Balanced Ballerinas products at www.balancedballerinas.com
Non Copyright Intro Music // Last Summer by Ikson