Harriet Mills, Principal with Staatsballet Karlsruhe, talks about how she survived the toxic regime and weight issues during her ballet training. Small fish, big pond During my training I had a difficult period around the age of 16. I had joined... read more →
Apr
08
Apr
02
My personal “rock bottom” was a near death experience, ironically, when I was at the peak of my dance performance career. It was a period of 35 days in ICU and 8 months recovery, during which my new dance theatre piece, ROCKBOTTOM, was born. ... read more →
May
23
A reader's response of the post on bully teaches and coaches in ballet. I received an email from someone who read my post on bully teachers and coaches in ballet. The sender wished me to post her email but for it to be anonymous. If anyone else wants to send... read more →
May
20
The third Q&A from dancers is about what to do about bullying teachers and coaches. Question: Some young dancers unfortunately find themselves in unhealthy situations with coaches or teachers. Some may feel too attached to their school or coaches to be able to leave, but may actually feel bullied. What would... read more →
May
20
Today's Q&A for Dancers' Mental Health is about self-care. Question: Do you have any day-to-day simple calming techniques for dancers who feel overwhelmed? Meditation, breathing and visualisations. For good mental health meditation is helpful. If you don't practice mindfulness meditation already then there are a... read more →
May
20
Diana Mitchel recalls her transition from child dancer to adult in 'Once a Dancer Always a Dancer' Training to be a ballet dancer was a way of life for me that started at a fairly young age. Going to my ballet classes was all consuming. My family, friends and my... read more →
May
11
Today's post starts a series of Q&As from dancers regarding Mental Health issues for Ballet Dancers. Mental Health Awareness Week UK It is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK this week (May 8th -14th 2017) so I am addressing some questions that have been put to me by dancers.... read more →
May
06
Jeanette Kakareka tells us about her anxiety as a teenage ballet student I enjoyed being one of the smart kids at school I grew up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania USA and was always a perfectionist at academic school.... read more →
Apr
30
Narcissists are around us in all walks of life. All performers, to a certain degree, are narcissists, otherwise they wouldn’t want to get on stage and perform to an audience. It depends to what extent narcissism takes over as to whether or not it becomes detrimental to those around the... read more →
Apr
11
Susan Marlys, retired Royal Ballet dancer, explains how her image obsession stayed with her even after retiring from performing. I feel somewhat embarrassed by my neurosis. Is my obsession because I lived in the image conscious environment of the ballet world and should have shed the self absorption when I... read more →