3 Tactile Self-Care Techniques to Help Manage Difficult Emotions

Most of the popular self-care practices we think of are passive: meditation, taking a bath, zoning out watching Netflix. But according to psychotherapist and former Royal Ballet dancer Terry Hyde, a more active, tactile approach can feel more natural for dancers. “What you see in rehearsals is a lot of dancers hugging and holding each […]

How Dancers Can Find Comfort Despite the Stress of a Pandemic

Self-care isn’t so easy these days. Many of our go-to sources of R&R—seeing friends, taking vacations, booking spa days—aren’t quite as feasible during a pandemic. Yet looking after our mental health has never been more essential. “Especially for dancers right now, with their particular tragedy where their identity is linked to their artistic life that’s […]

7 Essential Self-Care Steps for Your Body & Mind Right Now

Even though we’re not dancing as much as usual right now, our bodies are going through a lot these days. Without our typical routines, we’re stuck at home, mainly stationary—until we hop onto Zoom classes, trying to do as much as we can in limited spaces, sometimes on carpet or concrete. Take the time to […]

Getting a Pedicure? Here are 7 Dos and Don'ts for Dancers

Dancers’ feet take a beating. So it’s natural to want to pamper them once in a while (and maybe make them look a little less…rugged) by getting a pedicure. But stepping into a salon comes with a few more complications when your feet take daily abuse in the dance studio. We asked New Jersey–based podiatrist […]

Dancers: Are You Forgetting This Essential Component of Self-Care?

Caring for yourself as a dancer is about more than rolling out your IT bands and eating the right food. However, when my podcast partner and I conducted an exploratory study of dancers’ perceptions of their own well-being, only a handful of over 175 participants identified financial counseling as important self-care, even though many stated […]

How To Keep Your Body In Top Shape At Summer Intensives

Few things are most frustrating than arriving at your summer intensive full of excitement—only to get injured, stuck sitting out on the sidelines and missing out on the experience you signed up for. To help you avoid this disappointment, we tapped Daniel Cuttica, D.O., an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon with The Centers for Advanced […]

Recharge Your Body: The Ideal Summer Schedule

What dancers do during their summer layoff can be the key to a successful next season. The theory of periodization suggests that downtime should be carefully divided into multiple stages: post-season total rest, off-season cross-training and pre-season ramping up. Building this strategic recovery time into your yearly schedule can allow for improvement—and decrease your chances […]