male dancer supporting female wearing green romantic tutu

Dancing With OCD

Miami City Ballet principal Steven Loch had been dealing with anxiety and intrusive thoughts since his teens. But when he was a corps member at Pacific Northwest Ballet, they became intense enough to make it difficult for him to manage his daily schedule of company class, rehearsals and performances. These feelings were a result of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a chronic mental health condition that, when left untreated, can become extremely debilitating.

How Can We Chip Away at the Shame Surrounding Mental Illness?

As a dancer going through a mental health challenge, loneliness can feel like your only companion. Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Steven Loch has managed obsessive-compulsive disorder since middle school, and for nearly a decade felt too scared to speak up. “We feel like if we say something people will be horrified by some of the […]