Supporting Our Dancers Through Difficult Times

Our tendency, as humans, is to avoid pain at all costs. This can show up in how we interact with our dancers. Of course, we want to make sure they feel good about their dance experiences. Although this is a great thing to work toward, this is unrealistic all the time.

Our dancers will have negative experiences. They will feel disappointed and discouraged. They will encounter situations where they feel hurt. 

This is not the problem.

The problem comes when they don’t have the support they need in those times.

It’s common for us, when a dancer is struggling or going through something hard, to do something like this -

- Not do or say much because we just aren’t sure exactly what the right thing to do is

- Try to twist what they are experiencing into something positive, which in turn, dismisses their reality

- Jump to problem solving right away

Our dancers don’t need these responses.

They simply need our presence.

They just need someone to say, “I see you. I hear you. I understand how big this is for you.”

When you have an opportunity to support your dancer(s) through a difficult time, try saying/expressing this before you do anything else and see what happens.

Never underestimate the power of simply being there in the mess with them instead of trying to pull them out right away.