Ballet Webb: Mad Monday Micro

Mad Monday Micro

Dancers are a highly motivated lot. They usually don’t need to be beaten down mentally in order to work at maximum potential. Unfortunately, this is often exactly what happens. This comes from a long tradition of teachers and directors holding the belief that saying something –anything - nice leads to a lazy dancer. I have never known this to be the case, and fortunately things are beginning to change in the dance world.

Dancers learn to accept constructive criticism on a daily basis, and that’s good and helps them improve. But often this constant dosing of “what needs to be fixed” leads to self micro-managing. And this often leads to depression – still a sad secret in the dance world.

Here is an article that addresses this issue: https://www.dancemagazine.com/why-are-we-still-so-bad-at-addressing-dancers-mental-health-2466177083.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

One quote from this article is this: “Feeling like you want to quit is a common symptom of depression, according to Dr. Goonan. It does not necessarily mean that you will, or should stop dancing.”

I’m sure there are many dancers that need (or needed) to hear this.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #21zz:

“Avoid micro-managing yourself.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJnZhdf_gZs

Quote of the Day:

“Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.”

- Anne Wilson Schaef

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