Some of my earliest reminiscences from my formal dance schooling are of watching the “model” scholar stand within the entrance of the category and reveal the best way to execute (enter mentioned talent). Without realizing it on the time, this conduct, whereas making an attempt to assist schooling and talent constructing, truly created an unhealthy environment for comparability. I’d spend the following 20 years both evaluating myself to the “best” scholar or striving to be the perfect scholar who showcased all the things, which didn’t occur fairly often. This usually left me feeling insufficient, annoyed and upset.
Some of you studying this can be nodding alongside. It’s not an unusual follow, particularly in dance to match and distinction ourselves with our friends. While it will possibly foster wholesome competitors and encourage college students to work towards a objective, enhance abilities and obtain a larger stage of efficiency, it will possibly additionally result in unhealthy behaviors that may hurt a dancer’s psychological and bodily well being. This can lend itself to comparability of issues past abilities like physique picture and aesthetics.
I don’t consider any of us received into the sector of dance or turned dancers to fulfill an not possible customary or to be anybody else however ourselves. And but, someplace alongside the road between our first ballet sneakers and our first job audition or class lecture, we discover ourselves being extra involved with how we measure as much as others than how genuine we’re in our personal physique. This tradition of competitors over connection has deep roots within the dance group and nicely, the humanities on a broader scale. Comparison will not be all dangerous, however it will possibly result in harmful outcomes if not correctly cultivated and managed. There are some ways educators can foster connection over comparability and for particular person dancers to maintain their want to match in test.
For educators:
Support scholar’s individuality by specializing in strengths.
Offer constructive suggestions whereas additionally stating an accomplishment.
Facilitate mentorship over competitors or comparability.
Encourage extra superior dancers to maneuver with much less skilled or novice dancers.
Create house for all our bodies and talents within the dance studio.
For college students:
Focus on strengths outdoors of the studio to assist confidence and vanity.
Ask extra skilled dancers for recommendation or assist on abilities you need to strengthen.
Explore alternatives to bop with folks with totally different lived experiences from your personal.
Find a confidant or mentor who fashions connection and collaboration, not simply competitors.
Reach out for skilled assist that prioritizes your psychological and bodily well being.
Additionally, there are steps you may take to bolster connection on a physique stage via mild easy motion practices. Thanks to the mind-body connection, this may also help assist and problem ideas and habits related to comparability and competitors. Here are 5 motion practices to assist connection over comparability.
#1. Explore your backbone.
The backbone encapsulates your self-awareness. Engaging the backbone in any and all motion doable assist identification formation, self-awareness, and connection to our personal want, concepts and values. This means that you can honor and focus by yourself values, strengths and talents ideally with out judgement.
#2. Connect to your pelvis.
The pelvic area of the physique is linked to feeling rooted and grounded which facilitates connection to self as nicely. Feel the load of your physique as you shift or rock your hips. Try on totally different rhythms. Or merely sit and breathe into your decrease stomach and again.
#3. Find your stability.
Play along with your middle of gravity. Challenge your stability and discover alternatives to regain or discover your stability from a place of instability. This reinforces your capacity to face by yourself two toes, stand your floor, and arise for your self and your wants.
#4. Embrace the push and pull.
Engage in actions that target pushing away or pulling into the physique. This helps exploration of non-public boundaries which are sometimes compromised when comparability and competitors are prioritized. Explore the oscillation between the 2 polarities, discovering the center floor as a chance to attach and acknowledge your particular person wants and strengths.
#5. Slow all the way down to test in.
It is important to decelerate your actions as a way to create time and house to acknowledge your emotional and bodily wants. Competition and comparability has the flexibility to hurry us up whereas we attempt to “keep up” with these round us who we see as “better” or extra expert. Speeding up will solely lend itself to damage and burnout. Even taking a couple of minutes a day to decelerate and test in along with your feelings, emotions and ideas can have a big impact in your capacity to hook up with your self.
Most importantly, turn into conscious of your have to compete or evaluate your self to others. This will create a baseline for the place you might be in your journey. It is important to acknowledge the place you presently are on this course of as a way to assess the place you wish to be. Practice compassion over judgment, as this can be a brand new course of and can take time to re-pattern within the physique and thoughts.
By Erica Hornthal, LCPC, BC-DMT, Dance/Movement Therapist, Chicago Dance Therapy.
Erica Hornthal, generally known as “The Therapist Who Moves You,” is a board-certified dance/motion therapist and licensed scientific skilled counselor. She is the founder and CEO of Chicago Dance Therapy and the creator of Body Aware: Rediscover Your Mind-Body Connection, Stop Feeling Stuck, and Improve Your Mental Health via Simple Movement Practices.
