Pointe Magazine

I have sourced a few articles from Suzanne Friscia’s blog on the online version of Pointe Magazine, which include fun tips based on scientific or academic studies, for a dancer’s general health and well-being.  

1)Enhancing one’s mood- according to a recent study published in the Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, walking in a happier more upbeat style enhances better moods than walking in a slower and more depressed style.

Tip-“Previous research has already shown that our mood can affect the way we walk, but these results suggest that the opposite is also true. So the next time a difficult rehearsal is getting you down, hold your head high and put a little extra spring in your step as you walk to your next class. It might just give you the boost you need.” (Friscia, S. 2015)

2) Mind over matter: her analysation of a research project on the power of the mind and how it affects muscular strength, shows that imagery and the concept of mind and body connection is an important aspect in coping with an adversity. The adversity used here is injury.

Tip- “So even if you're recovering, or resting between seasons, keep picturing the strong, powerful movement you plan to get back to. It may have more of an effect than you think.”

Campus Session M3- 16/03/2015

For the first time I was able to make a Campus session carried out by Paula. This session gave me the opportunity to reflect on everything I had done (picture)¨as well as making a checklist of what the next inquiry stages should be.

Only Ruth and I could make it. However it worked out well as we could really focus on and discuss our topics together in detail through the different stages of writing up the inquiry process.

Step 1

We first started by our journey and experiences in our work practice whilst starting the BAPP course, which brought up ideas for our professional inquiry. We then explained what our project is about, whilst the other wrote notes on our plan and intentions. This brought up ideas on what to add into the introduction of the critical review. For example:

·      My experiences of rejection, tough times, disappointments etc. in my career lead me to the topic of my inquiry in investigating how to keep emotionally resilient though the adversities in the professional ballet industry. These events lead me to dancing with Cape Town City Ballet and currently Vienna Festival Ballet, which shows that the saying “when one door closes another one opens” is true.

·      The fact that I didn’t give up when disappointed showed some sort of resilience, and so I was curious to see where the thought of this ‘inner drive’ and sensation would take me.

This exercise was a good time to self-reflect, thinking back on how to put things right and change things for the better. I was able to conclude one of the main intentions of my inquiry, which is for my readers and audience to be able to relate to it and to the personal experiences of the dancers and of my own.

Two main questions in this section to consider:

What are you doing?

Why are you doing it?

Further update

Having deferred a term due to a busy performing schedule and a transitional phase in my dance career, I am now back to working on my inquiry. During the 'waiting period' of auditions and Christmas, I was lucky to be inspired enough to read a number of sources, blogging in detail about each source in sections. Thus my thoughts on the emotional health and resilience in ballet dancers have developed further. 

Updated inquiry question: How do professional ballet dancers cope with and maintain emotional resilience with the adversities and pressures of the ballet industry? 

Most of my approaches towards my plan (Task 7a) has stayed the same, however the dancers used will be from my current workplace- Vienna Festival Ballet. This will enable me to get more into depth with the various emotional challenges us dancers face, especially because we are rehearsing all day with one another and will be on tour with each other most of the time until May 31st. It is the perfect setting too to get footage for my documentary, which I plan to present as my professional artefact.   
Thus I will continue with the plan of getting permission from the dancers used in my interviews and video footage as well as from Directors and the ballet mistress.

 “Most fears of rejection rest on the desire for approval from other people. Don’t base your self-esteem on their opinions.” – Harvey Mackay

Reconcile With Your Self-Esteem

This information was sourced from another great post by Tony Fahkry about rejection. There are physical affects from the feeling of rejection and jealousy- heart beats fast, a sensation to flee (fight or flight, instinct), painful knots in the stomach etc. Although it can create ‘emotional trauma,’ the willingness to accept and move on teaches a person some good life lessons and skills for later adversities and experiences.

The PERFECT ballet blog!- consciousness, not emotion

To all dancer out there…

I have recently discovered the perfect ballet blog, Setting the Barre by dancer Kisrten Evans with Providence Festival ballet. She gives her readers an insight into what the life of a professional ballet dancer is like by sharing her experiences, thoughts, reflections and observations within her workplace (ballet company). I thought to contact her to ask what her thoughts were on emotional health and resilience, and she posted a whole blog on the topic…which follows exactly  the type of opinions and thoughts I am looking for, for my professional inquiry!

I love how from my research I could instantly identify a few topics that directly relate to what she mentioned. The post starts off with “Live through consciousness, not emotion.” Meaning that having awareness, and being mindful, will help keep those emotions under control, directing any decision made in the right direction. As a dancer, our most important relationship to monitor is between the mind and the body, and that maintaining a healthy balance of support and love between the two is key.  

Finding Balance- Paul Bowler and Wendy Peron

Paul Bowler- Olympic gymnast and performer with Cirque de Soleil

The ideal performer: “ Should also be hungry for such transormation”

“…goal is to have a language, a conversation with the audience…audience sees musicality and artistry… achieving harmony despite the demanding work that is being asked of them.” (Bowler, P. pg. 209)

*Can apply to professional ballet where instead of focusing only on a step, or trick to get everything right, instead to focus on the artistry. Promotes positive and more productive emotions leading to an overall better performance- leads to achieving success and the ultimate goal of performing.

Finding Balance- James Fayette

James Fayette- Former NYCB Principle

*A quality that helps to cope and work with the pressures of perfectionism is persistence.

“Persistence is what he needed to perfect the featured roles he’s danced in…” (Berardi, G. pg. 207)

Managing the intensity of it all-“…you can get too caught up in it and become anxious and tentative.” (Fayette, J.) 

Being too engulfed in the lifestyle and its issues create tentative and anxious emotions.

Good relationship with dance partner helps:

“There’s a level of synergy that we can achieve when you’re dancing with someone comfortable and inspiring.” (Fayette, J. pg. 207)

What helps with overwhelming feelings:

·      Keep grounded in important relationships

·      Positive attitude towards work

·      Feed off inspiration

Finding Balance- Melanie Skinner

Melanie Skinner, a former soloist of Pacific Northwest Ballet, talks about two main adversities that come with dancing- body image an injuries. She mentions that she has seen many dancers struggle to attain the ideal body image. When a dancer becomes conscious and weary of how they look a sense of ‘neurotiscism’ can be developed. "When you're surrounded by mirrors, its inevitable" 

She mentions that with her experience of an injury, “…it took longer to emotionally recover.” However 

she discovered the right mindset after the experience- thus experience helps. “I was devastated then, but things happen for a reason.”

Finding Balance- Jenifer Ringer

Jenifer Ringer- Ballet Dancer, New York City Ballet

Body Image

Even though she was lucky as she was very good, she was more ‘feminin’ and ‘curvy’ which made her feel ‘overcome with self-doubt.’

“Obsession is not productive.” (Ringer, J. pg. 189)

Injuries- “It was at that point that she started to have emotional problems.” (Berardi, G. 2005)

-Often unhappy

-Low self-esteem

‘Lost a bit of joy in dancing’

“It got to the point that the one thing bringing joy was unavailable to me.” (Ringer, J.  pg. 190)

*Having these negative feelings could not help dealing with an injury and to rise above it

Finding Balance- Kent Stowell (Director of PNB)

Kent Stowell gives advice, in the book, on why it is important to have a healthy approach to eating for dancers. He first mentions it is important to have the right knowledge, experience, right frame of mind and approach towards food and eating. Having a healthy attitude towards food can lead to experiencing new things. It not only encourages nutritional well-being, but helps ‘dancers discover other things about food.’ He stresses how important it is to have some type of routine when sitting down for meals- promotes ‘enjoyment’ and ‘creativity’

He hopes that ‘his dancers have nourishing meals- if only to give them a sense of life, somehow,’ and “providing information is the key.”

It also helps aid in the performance skills of a dancer. It is not all about perfecting choreography, but artistry is needed. “We have always encouraged our dancers to think about other things, if for no other reason than it makes them interesting performers.”

Berardi, G. 2005, Finding Balance- Fitness, Training and Health for a Lifetime in Dance, 2nd edn. Routeledge, New York.  

Finding Balance-Donald Byrd

Has a different mentality towards castings and auditioning:

“…an audition was not to get a job but to see if he was interested in the work. If the style didn’t suit him, he wouldn’t do it.”(Bergardi, G. 2005)

Whether auditioning for a specific role within a company or for a specific production, dancers do face rejection. Instead of being so nervous and having all that pressure to try and impress and be perfect, here it suggests to approach casting as a work shop? If the dancer finds that the work suits them, naturally they will do well. If not chosen, i.e. rejection, perhaps reassurance will help, and to know they have something better to offer in some other area/role.

*”This is the only way to survive in the dance world-you have to be your own person…It’s the only way to emotionally survive and find some balance and not be victimize or brutalized by the profession.” (Byrd, D. pg. 108) 

(Being your own person- dance for yourself, be more self-aware: emotional resilience)

Finding Balance- Interviews

Gus Solomons jr.: Choreographer, dancer, director, critic

“Solomon believes dance is a demanding profession but that dancers can find their way when they feel overwhelmed, if they take one step at a time.”(Berardi, G. 2005, pg. 110)

“Dancers tend to beat themselves up. They have a strong will and a strong drive to succeed so they don’t give themselves leeway to fail.”(Solomons, G. pg. 110)

-Having these qualities set up opportunities to become stressed, overwhelmed. Perfectionism creates pressure, making the more pressuring situations less enjoyable. Thus inviting negative feelings to brood.

Solomon mentions that a dancer should realize that he/she cannot always be in control- be aware and accepting (links to one of the approaches towards emotional resilience)

Motivation v.s Inspiration

Following my research on the effects of motivation and one's emotions, I have discovered the concept of the law of attraction from the Secret as well as from Andy Shaw, a mindset strategist, blogger and author of A Bug Free Mind. 
Before I go into more depth about all of this, I have recently read an article by Shaw, suggesting a different way of looking at the connection between motivation and inspiration. He states that, "When you are inspired you no longer need motivation." The difference is that inspiration always comes in abundance. However motivation is like fuel, where you have to consider how much of it you have. 

Power of Yoga

 “Physiological benefits which follow help yoga practitioners become more resilient to stressful conditions and reduce a variety of important risk factors…” (Corliss, 2001)

Michalsen, 2005

Yoga’s anti-stress benefits are a host of bio-chemical responses- decreases catecholamine, which is a hormone that is released due to a response to stress, produced by the adrenal glands. Also our neurotransmitters let out dopamine and epinephrine that create a feeling of calm

Being resilient- turning every circumstance to your own advantage

-Accept change

-Perceive challenge as an opportunity

-Work with what you have got

 As a ballet dancer, you need to have resilience as a quality- yoga helps maintain a ‘chemical power of adversity”

Meditation for Dancers

Dealing with an obstacle emotionally can easily bring up feelings of stress, anxiety, worry, fear, un-motivation, and even depression if a person is stuck in a negative single-minded state. This article, sourced from the MDX library summon, describes that meditation could really help with focus and concentration for dancers, as well as a ‘useful tool for defeating negative self-judgment,’ a quality that poses various emotional challenges.

Meditation creates a sense calmness and peace by entering an altered state of consciousness.

Meditation helps people to better handle daily stress. When the mind is overloaded, your concentration starts to deteriorate. Clutter is the problem. Many people have so much on their minds that they are in a constant state of stress and worry. Stress comes from brain overload and the inability to turn off the flow of thoughts. Worries pull us out of the present moment into the future (how will I pay all my bills?) and the past (why didn't I get that role?). (Weiss, D. April 2008.)

*Flow of thoughts is used as a term to describe emotions, feelings and thoughts that overwhelm the mind. It leads us away from the present, not being able to focus on what there is to be done in that moment or to focus on a task, inhibiting a person to fully overcome any challenge.

Finding Balance- Chapter 6

Finding Balance- what does it take to succeed in dance? ( Chapter 6, page 195)

*Dancers must enjoy the challenges dance poses

-In order to keep a dancer’s career going, they need to enjoy the whole process and be able to still feel joy, regardless of the obstacles.

The key to dealing with various challenges, “…gain cognitive control by focusing on what you can control such as your attitude and good health habits as opposed to factors actually outside one’s control.” (Berardi, G. 2005, p. 197)

This states that a dancer cannot always be in control, which is reassuring to know there are always ways to work around a situation. Therefore treating an adversity as looking at new possibilities, which would make sense to promote positivity and motivation, creating a healthier and more positive emotional state.

Finding Balance

Finding Balance is a book full of information on fitness, training and health for a lifetime in dance, and written by Gigi Berardi. It holds advice in all the important areas of dance health on the mental approaches in coping with the challenges dances poses – the demands, injury and treatment, technique and training, keeping fit and conditioned, nutrition, weight management and diet, and finding balance in order to succeed. Berardi, has sourced information from her own experiences and the research of many other physicians in a similar field including professional dancers themselves. Mental and emotional health seems to be a huge contributing factor towards finding this balance for a lifetime in dance.

Franklin Method- workshop

9 August 2014

Today I took part in a ‘Franklin Workshop,’ where we learnt the basic principles of Franklin’s methods of the execution of movement in relation to our physiological mind-body connection.

His methods are all about imagery and understanding the biochemical process of our body when moving. The instructor (Morten Dithmer) made it clear that being aware of your body helps so much in performing movement the right way, which is in turn necessary for us dancers to live a good successful dance career.

When you execute a movement right that is what is key for improvement. But what was also mentioned, and is vital, is that the body responds to and recognizes change, and in order to improve you need to be aware of that change. Observing how your body reacts to any form of change will help tremendously, and more you can recognize even the slightest shift in the right direction, the faster the improvement. Often though, in class or rehearsal, there are other distractions that keep us from fully focusing on the present, either thinking of the past, or the future. Sometimes it might be on stage when nerves set in too much, or because of stage freight.

But, it is proven that if we are able to focus on the present more, and are more aware of our body in that space and time, it will contribute to us being able to dance better over all!

*More focused and on what your body is going to do, more aware of what your body feels and your emotions etc.

Caring relationships

The benefit of caring relationships

According to Kelsey, caring with love in a relationship creates a far more beneficial and in-depth understanding between each other- therefore enabling support for one another. She describes it as "a love that involves a complex of emotions, attitudes, movements of will and actions in which we reach out to others in a caring, concerned manner…”

Relationships can work as two paradoxes- two realities that appear contradictory but in truth are mutually influential.  One type of caring relationship integrates autonomy and community, and the other paradox centers on contemplation and action.

In summary, it is imperative in knowing who you are.

Enhancing Resilience in the Workplace

Enhancing Resilience in the Workplace through caring relationships 

“Resilience "lies at the heart of human evolution" (Flach, 1988, p. xi); it plays a critical role in the change process, for it helps us successfully adapt to situations in spite of adversity.”

Resilience can be enhanced and nurtured within a workplace with the help of caring relationships. It first describes that resilience plays a role in any change process- change is needed in times of adversity and pulling through. It is important in any work place, as the change process that comes along with it is “more likely to occur in healthy ways for individuals who are resilient to change.”

“The one thing that has not changed is how individuals psychologically respond to change.” Through any challenge, or change, what is even more challenging is the transition phase. Another way to express this transition is deep change which means “surrendering control" as well as “letting go of old beliefs, assumptions, and behaviors…”.