How to achieve dance goals

If you ask any competitive dancer they will be able to tell you at least ten things they think they could improve.  Dancers are good like that.  At a young age, they have a remarkable grasp of what they are good at and where there are areas for improvement. However, saying that you need to improve something and actually having the tools to make that happen are two very different things.  Learning how to achieve dance goals is a specific skill. Just like any other skill it needs to be learned, applied, and scaffolded.

Why are SMART goals important?

There is a brilliant and comprehensive Goal setting for Dancers pack available over in the Resources for dance teachers store, but if you are looking for something to get started with, please enjoy the free Goal Setting for Dancers printable below.  It shows dancers how to achieve dance goals, demonstrating each step from the brainstorming process right through to setting specific goals for each week.  It is based on the principle of SMART goals, that is, goals need to be Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based.  

SMART goals and dance

For dancers, this means that saying something vague like “I want to be more flexible’ is unlikely to lead to success.  This Goal setting for dancers printable encourages dancers to be much more specific with their goals.  A more specific goal might be something like, “I want to get my left leg splits.”  From there, it is important to set a deadline.  No goal was ever achieved just by wishing it.  We all know that there is nothing like a deadline to increase motivation and when it comes to how to achieve dance goals, the situation is no different.  If you know that you have set yourself a goal to achieve in 4 weeks, you are much less likely to miss a practice session.

To get started on guided Goal setting for Dancers and learn how to achieve dance goals, please download this free printable by entering your email below. If you are ready to take the next step and start accessing the kinds of performance psychology that Olympians like Michael Phelps used to perform at elite levels, check out the Success Mindset Pack for dancers.

If you are interested in learning more about Growth Mindset and Dance, check out these articles

How to succeed at dance competitions

Dancer Success and Growth Mindset

Dancing with a growth mindset, how to set dance goals

3 side-stage mistakes and how to avoid them

As dance teachers, we spend hours in the studio trying to perfect our dancer’s technique and bring out their very best performance.  We keep them calm backstage but once they are just about to go on, have we given them all the skills they need to really smash their performance? Those final moments before a dancer sets foot on stage can make or break their performance.  Hours of work in the studio can be undone, just in that few moments before a dancer steps out to perform!  What else can we do to help them during this crucial time? What can we do to help them avoid making common side-stage mistakes?

Why is side-stage such a big deal?

The last few moments before a dancer takes the stage are sometimes the hardest for them to deal with.  There are so many different feelings, emotions, and inputs to process and it is easy for a dancer to become overwhelmed.  As these are the last few moments before they step on stage, becoming overwhelmed at this stage can have a huge impact on performance. There are 3 common side-stage mistakes, nerves, the side-stage psych-out, and the on-stage psych-out.

Nerves

Just before a dancer takes the stage, nerves can really take over.  They know that it is make or break time, that there is no turning back.  How they deal with those nerves in that moment has a fundamental impact on their performance.  It is really important for dancers to learn strategies to overcome nerves and to build side-stage routines to keep them in the right frame of mind. It is important for dancers to learn how to deal with negative and anxious thoughts that creep in at the last moment, but once they have mastered this skill they will be able to overcome the negative impact of nerves.  For example, Michael Phelps likes to visualize any scenario and work out a solution.  That way he feels prepared for anything that might happen.  There is a full unit on this kind of visualization in the Success Mindset for Dancers Pack.

The side-stage psych out

Dancers deal with nerves in different ways and one very common one is the side stage psych-out.  Other dancers doing last-minute practices of their routine can totally psych your dancer out.  Imagine they are struggling with their turns and then moments before they go on stage, the dancer that is after them executes a series of flawless turns.  This kind of thing happens ALL the time so knowing how to deal with it is key

The on-stage psych out

It isn’t just other competitors side-stage that can psych your dancer out, it is also the dancer on before them. Standing side stage and watching an amazing dancer can rock the confidence of even the most prepared dancer.

The good news is that there are strategies to deal with this and they are all about mindset and creating a strong side-stage routine.  With the right mindset, dancers can learn to NOT  be negatively impacted by nerves and also to USE them to their advantage.  Dancers need to learn to know when they are nervous and use self-talk to combat nervous thoughts.  Focus and goal setting is also key. When dancers have clear goals they are better able to be ‘in the moment’ and to use laser focus to develop a side stage routine that minimizes the impact of other dancers.

The Success Mindset for Dancers pack was developed to help dancers create winning side-stage routines by helping dancers to unpack nerves, fears, and anxiety so that they can actually be used to help dancers consistently hit their routines.  From there, dancers learn how to connect their intentions with their actions and develop a laser focussed routine that will overcome even the worst case of the psych-out.  Once your dancer starts using mindset tools to improve their performance you will wonder how you ever managed without them.  You can learn more about the Journal here.

Dancing through lockdown 2020 – a guide to helping dancers through lockdown and the impact it has had on young dancers.

Lockdown 2020 has had a profound impact on young dancers around the world.  Many young dancers spend hours at their dance studios every week and they become not just a place of learning but a home away from home.  The vibe of being in a studio, of working as a team, and of dancing with friends is a feeling like no other.  Students attend dance studios for so many reasons.  Some look to make a career, others find a social outlet through dance, many enjoy the process of perfecting an art form, many love the thrill of performing and others find solace and a safe space within their dance studio.  Adapting to remote learning has been challenging for dance teachers and students alike. Without the energy in the studio, without the connection and with no clear goals to work towards such as performances or exams, many students have found themselves disconnected from an integral part of their being.  A dance year has a rhythm, learning new skills, learning routines, working towards exams, competition season, performance season, there is a comfort in that rhythm and that predictability.  As we continue to navigate lockdown and post lockdown in the studio, it is important to consider methods for helping dancers through lockdown. I have just come off 8 months of teaching on Zoom and over that time, a few things became very clear.

• A student’s motivation to dance plays a huge role in how well they cope with online learning.  Obviously, no student is motivated by only one factor, it is a combination of things that an individual loves about dance.  However, broadly speaking, students who are more extrinsically motivated, for example, by being in the studio, by being with their friends, and those that are motivated by displaying their dancing to others, whether that be having other students watch and admire them in the studio or in competitions, struggle on Zoom.  Without the camaraderie and the feedback and the feeling of performing, dance became a very different prospect. By contrast, those that are more highly motivated by intrinsic factors such as perfecting their art and by trying to become a better dancer, thrive on Zoom.
• Space to dance also plays a huge role.  Some students can avail themselves of empty rooms with plenty of equipment at their disposal whilst others have to make do with a kitchen bench and their little brother watching television next to them.  In the studio, every student can enjoy the space and facilities, at home it is a very different matter.  If motivation is waning, not having the space to dance can really start to impact.
• Attitude to Zoom.  I think we can all agree that the first time we logged onto Zoom, after getting past the thrill of seeing our students again, we all felt a mixture of disappointment, stress, and anxiety at our new teaching tool,  The way we as teachers feel about Zoom can have a huge impact on the way our students receive our lessons.  There are several great tips for getting the most out of Zoom classes here but the main message is to look for what can be achieved and focus on that.  Rather than looking at Zoom classes as a regular class that is now held online, it is an absolute game-changer when you start to view Zoom as a different way of teaching.  Whilst some aspects of dance class are difficult or impossible to achieve on Zoom there are many many things that can be achieved.  By focussing on this, the entire experience is totally different. And the good news, after 8 months I got back to the studio and I could absolutely see what we had achieved on Zoom.  Every student had improved.  I could see them applying corrections we had worked on in our Zoom class and some aspects of their technique had improved immensely.  After all those pirouettes in challenging locations, the kids could turn like tops!

In terms of helping dancers through lockdown, there are many, many resources that you can use on Zoom over in the store.  Why not spend a class working on growth mindset or goal setting, it offers not only a welcome change of pace but also introduces valuable life skills.  Meanwhile, please enjoy this worksheet to help your students process their time on Zoom.  Whether they are back in the studio or still learning remotely, talking about motivation, about how they feel about not being in the studio and looking for the lessons and positives they can take from their time away from the studio is incredibly powerful.  Just enter your email address below.  This sheet is from the Success Mindset journal for students which you can purchase here.  The teacher version is available here.

You can find more great Zoom resources here.

3 ways to become a better dance teacher

Are your words hurting your dancers?

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will cut me deeply. In order to become a better dance teacher one of the most fundamental changes we can make is in the words we choose when we address our dancers.  Common corrections, given with the best of intentions can really start to hold dancers back. The way we speak to our dancers is in large part habit.  Habits built up over our own teaching careers and habits that we have internalized from our own years of dance training.  How many times have you been teaching and the words of your own teacher suddenly comes flying out of your mouth? It always makes me smile but now and again it has given me pause for thought. This type of reflection is crucial in order to become a better dance teacher. Not everything I was taught and certainly not necessarily the way I was taught it, is something I want to carry on to the next generation of students. The power of our words, especially when it comes to impressionable young dancers has the power to hold a dancer back or help them soar to new heights of success.

Become a better dance teacher with a Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck’s research into Growth Mindset clearly illustrates the importance of the way we phrase praise.  You can read more about Growth mindset and Dance here but in summary, when a child is praised for ability they can become risk-averse.  They start to believe that their talent is fixed, something out of their control, and as a result, start to avoid trying new things because it might disprove their talent.  This is known as a fixed mindset. Unfortunately in the world of dance, messages about natural facility and natural talent ABOUND! From having beautiful ballet feet to being a natural turner, messages that you either are or are not are all around.

It is, therefore, even more, important that the messages we send INSIDE the studio don’t back these messages up.  What we want to create are dancers that see the value of effort, that are faced with hard things but are willing to try to master them. We want our students to not be afraid of trying new things or of failing but to see this as all part of the process of learning.  Developing as a dancer is all about pushing beyond the comfort zone, to see what is possible.  It is also about the grind of hard work, about doing little things each day that whilst not the most exciting, all slot into place as the years pass by.  This is known as a growth mindset.

Praise the Process, Not the Person

How to become a better dance teacher

So, how do the words we choose impact our dancers?   Carol Dweck’s research shows that to help create a growth mindset it is important to praise the PROCESS not the PERSON. Here are 3 tips to help with this. You can also find a range of resources designed especially for dance teachers which promote growth mindset in dance here.  Using these Growth Mindset kits in conjunction with your newfound knowledge of how to choose your words more carefully is a POWERFUL combination that will not only help you to become a better dance teacher but will help lay the foundations for new levels of success for your dancers.

1. Praise Effort not Facility

 It is easy to get carried away with natural facility.  The child that comes to class, sits down and their toes touch the floor when pointed, the child who puts their legs in a straddle and without any prior training achieves a near flat split.  We are human and seemingly effortless ability is beguiling.  We are excited at what this child could achieve.  It’s ok to be excited but what is not okay is constantly praising the child for their innate abilities. In order to become a better dance teacher, we must pay particular attention to how we praise our dancers.

Praising for facility sends a harmful message that dancers are the sum of their natural talent, that they don’t need to work and that effort is unimportant.  The damage extends to the rest of the class. They see you constantly praising a child for something they just have. It doesn’t take the other children long before they come to the conclusion that they will never be as good as their classmates.  After all, they know that they don’t have good feet or flat turnout, or advanced mobility.  Instead, it is important to focus on effort.  Rather than talking about beautiful feet or a flexible back put the emphasis on how a student is using their feet or working hard to control their back.  

2. Praise Practice AND Ability

In order to become a better dance teacher, always be on the lookout for evidence of practice – of a step that was once challenging that is now being mastered.  Remind your students of how far they have come.  Praising practice doesn’t mean you don’t praise the students who might be finding new steps easy and are performing well, just make sure that you give praise for attributes other than ability.  Another way to think about this is to think about is to make your studio into a safe zone.  There is a big emphasis in dance on perfection, on perfect execution of technical steps, of the ‘flawless’ performance.  However, when this level of performance is expected during class time we can run into problems.  Class time is a time to experiment, to push the boundaries, to fall down and get up, and to try again.  It is just as important to praise and encourage these ‘failed attempts’ as it is to encourage mastery.

3. Praise Application not ‘the win’

Winning at a competition is wonderful and should be celebrated, just keep in mind that it is important to celebrate other kinds of wins too.  Focus on individual mastery, achieving personal goals, personal best performances etc. Though it is easy to get carried away with competition wins, in the general scheme they don’t necessarily represent what we are trying to encourage. A student may win for a variety of reasons.  They may simply be the best there on the day and yet not have performed particularly well or even put in a great deal of effort. Conversely, they may not win even though they have put in 100% effort.

I always find it useful to look at competitions in terms of what can be personally achieved.  If you have given 100% to your preparation, if you went on stage and did your very best, if you achieved some small goals that you set for yourself during your performance then that is what really matters, a trophy is just the icing on the cake.  If you as a teacher go into competition with this mindset and pass it onto your students, if your whole team is looking at achieving personal bests and setting and reaching goals you will be well on your way to getting the very most our of the dance competition experience. Check out the Resources for Dance Teachers Success Mindset kit to learn more about this shift in mindset.

You can learn more about Growth Mindset and Dance and how it can help you to become a better dance teacher in these articles.

Dancing with a Growth Mindset – how to set goals

How to get more out of your dancers

Success Mindset

Success Mindset for Dancers – what is it? How can my dancers get it?

How to succeed at dance competitions

Peak Performance Psychology for Dancers

The world of competitive dance is TOUGH. Our dancers are fronting up weekend after weekend, being judged, critiqued, and scored.  Sometimes they are up, sometimes they are down but they must stand on the stage and smile regardless of the outcome.  Self-belief can be challenged and self-doubt can creep in.  Dancer Anxiety, nerves, lack of confidence, and focus can all play a role.  The technical skill we are now training our younger dancers with is increasing all the time. Knowing how to succeed at dance competitions is becoming increasingly more challenging and  dancer mindset can be the one thing that sets your dancers apart from the crowd.  The Success Mindset for Dancers kit is designed to help YOU equip your dancers with a winning mindset.  Based on the latest research into peak performance psychology for dancers the kit contains 15 units to help your dancers develop a Success Mindset and give them the tools to succeed in the world of competitive dance.  You will learn how to help your dancers banish the fear of failure and start training dedicated, committed dancers who consistently operate outside their comfort zone to achieve incredible things,

The Success Mindset for Dancers is written with the following poem in mind.

The Success Mindset for Dancers kit contains over 45 pages of workbooks and instructions to help your dancers achieve peak performance and showing them how they can succeed at dance competitions.

Topics covered include

1, Defining success – dancers are challenged to differentiate between success symbols and actual success and then to develop a definition of success that is personal to them.

2. Redefining Failure – a key component of building a Success Mindset for dancers and learning how to succeed at dance competitions   is to help dancers to let go of a their fear of failure and to redefine it as a stepping stone to success

3. Facing Fear – dancers are challenged to unpack their fears and explore the sources of their anxiety and discover strategies to help deal with them.

4. Reframing negative thoughts – Learning how to reframe negative thoughts and become a ‘Unicorn Dancer’ is integral to building a robust winning mindset

5. Dealing with nerves – dancers are challenged to look at what makes them nervous, how they react, and then explore strategies to overcome nerves and harness their power for good

6. Developing Laser Focus

7. Dance competition reflection – reflection is a key component of performance psychology for dancers and integral when exploring how to succeed at dance competitions.  Dancers are challenged to examine the whole dance competition experience from the preparation to being sidestage to the performance itself.  This then forms a learning experience for future competition experience.

8. Setting SMART goals – an introduction to goal setting and a springboard for the Goal Setting for Dancers Resource kit.

9. Matching intentions with actions – this sometimes confronting unit, looks at whether what dancers say they want and their actions align.

10. Dance class reflection – this unit provides dancers with the skills to reflect on their classes promoting the development of mental toughness.

11.  Corrections – this unit helps dancers build a success mindset by helping dancers to understand the link between corrections in class and their 30-day goals.

12. Motivation – Understanding and controlling motivation is a key to the development of a Success Mindset for dancers

13. How to be a great teammate – this is a very powerful unit that is particularly useful if you are struggling with dancer attendance.

14. How to be an inspired dancer – This unit helps dancers perform a mindset reset. Rather than being a ‘hater’ and feeling threatened by the success of others, this unit helps dancers to step outside of their comfort zone and find inspiration in the success of others. You can learn more about Growth mindset and dance here.

13 The “Wheel of Success” – the wheel of Success brings all components of the Success Mindset for Dancers kit together.  The final unit is titled “How to succeed at dance competitions” and brings together all the skills dancers need to create and maintain their winning mindset. This unit covers all the key concepts in peak performance psychology for dancers and provides dancers with a framework they can use on a weekly basis. The Wheel of Success is highly recommended for all competitive dance students and teams to complete and discuss on a regular basis,

The Success Mindset Resource Kit is available over in the Resources for Dance Teachers Store.

More information about the importance of Mindset and Dance can be found in these articles

How to Praise your Dancer for Success

Dancer Success and growth mindset

Growth Mindset for Dancers – turning can’t into can

Goal setting for Dancers

Private solo lessons – how to get the most out of them.

So you’ve finally been asked to represent your studio doing a solo, or maybe you are a seasoned soloist wondering how to get the edge over your competitors. Private solo lessons have the potential to really take you to the next level IF they are approached in the right way. We talk a lot about practicing at home, about setting goals and about working hard in class but what about your private lessons, the one on one time you spend with your teacher perfecting your solo.  How can you make sure that you get the most out of this valuable time?

First of all it is important  to  recognise how valuable this time really is.  Even MORE hard earned cash is being invested into private lessons.  It should NEVER be seen as a right or a chore.  Private lessons are a privilege in every way.  Just as your parents are paying extra and devoting more time for the private lessons, likewise dance teachers are ALWAYS short on time – time is a premium resource in the world of dance.  If some of this time is being devoted to JUST YOU, you’d better come prepared to make the most out of it.

Five ways to get the most out of your private solo dance lesson.

1.  Know you choreography – I cannot stress this enough!  KNOW YOUR CHOREOGRAPHY.  It is imperative that you don’t set foot in a private lesson, not knowing your dance.  Sure, when a dance is new, little blank moments happen, but there is a world of difference between that and just plain not knowing what you are doing.  If you do come to a lesson not knowing what you are doing your teacher cannot help you.  They just can’t.  They may be kind enough to try and help you nut it out but you’ve wasted a lesson right there. When you learn a dance, make sure you keep a record. Back in the dim dark days we had to write things down, now it is SO easy, you can just take a video, there really is NO excuse for not knowing your dance. This is YOUR responsibility, not anybody else’s.
2. Come prepared with the right equipment – It is so unbelievably discouraging when a chid presents to their private lesson without the equipment they need.  If you have a ballet solo, do not come with only jazz shoes.  Do not come with hair in your face, do not come without any props or practice props you might need. All these things put you way behind.
3. Bring a book – Private lessons are often scheduled in the middle of a busy night of dancing.  By the end of the night, its hard to remember exactly what your corrections were, so WRITE THEM DOWN.  A key component of private lessons is fixing your corrections.  Dance teachers don’t give out corrections for the fun of it, because they like talking or just for something to do.  They are telling you exactly what you need to do to improve.  This is vital information.  Its information they are giving just to you, tailor made to your situation. Why would you not do everything in your power to apply this information?  To download this correction checklist fill out the form below.

5. Dance full out – when you are running your solo in your solo lesson, it is a really amazing chance, to perform your solo in a big space and practice the way you are going to do it on the stage.  Its about as close you are going to get to being on stage without actually being on stage. Yet time and time again I see students marking through choreography or performing it without full facial expressions.  There are times when your teacher may instruct you to mark certain parts of your dace, there are times when it may be ok to dance without full facia expression, but wait to be told.  Otherwise do it full out.  Your mind and body needs to get used to what its going to be like when you are dancing and performing full out.  If you suddenly burst onto the stage with full performance without having practiced it that way, you will most likely burn out before your solo is finished (performing and dancing together is a lot more exhausting than just dancing)

6. Communicate – In order to really get the most out of you lesson it is really important to communicate with your teacher. It can feel a bit intimidating at first, just you in the room with nobody else to distract attention. In order that your teacher can help you to the very best of their ability, they need to know any vital information.  Do you have an injury, even a niggle, let them know.  Did you really struggle with a certain part of your solo when you performed it on stage? Are you stressed about some aspect of your solo?  Is there a problem with your costume? Do you have a question about how a certain correction should be applied? If entering competition is up to your parents rather than the studio, make sure you tell your teacher which competitions you are entered in.

So there you have it!  Of course you may choose not to take any of this advice.  That’s fine, maybe you think that your lyrical shoes are good enough for ballet shoes, maybe you think that having neat hair doesn’t really matter and that bringing a book to class is for little kids.  The thing is, that with each one of these decisions you take you are decreasing the effectiveness the valuable time available to you.

If you would like to download this poster you can do so by filling in the form below.

A student who comes to their private lesson prepared, knowing their choreography, having worked on their corrections is primed ready to make progress. This student is motivating for the teacher and the energy in the lesson takes on a positive, magical vibe. The lesson is helpful, valuable and sets the student up for success.  The student who is not prepared, who has not remembered their corrections chips away at their possible achievement.  They effectively fight against they own success.

For more information on how to help your dancers succeed check out these articles.

Fast track dancer success through goal setting.

Growth mindset for dance

The power of YET