Beyond The Mirror Artistic Pursuit

Pride is a powerful thing! 💚 Pride is: a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

A healthy dose of pride can be a great tool for dancers. It can enhance confidence, increase motivation, and can lead to an abundance of progress in a dancer’s growth.

HOWEVER, when pride takes over, it can actually have the opposite effect. If our worst becomes tied to our achievements and successes, what happens when we fail? What happens when we make mistakes?

A huge part of dance is about taking risks. Fear of failure can inhibit dancers from taking said risks and accessing deeper levels of creative freedom. As teachers and educators, it is important to continually remind our students that it is okay to make mistakes, it’s okay to take risks (even if they result in failure), and that failure doesn’t define them. For students, the dance studio should be a no judgement zone.

How do you cultivate a healthy sense of pride in your students? Share in the comments!

One of our favorite things to incorporate into our BTM Intensives and classes is structured improvisation.

Structured improvisation allows dancers to explore movement within a framework that both challenges them, and allows them to explore freedom of expression.

This approach helps to cultivate spontaneity and adaptability, essential qualities for performers! Structured improvisation also enhances collaboration and ensemble awareness, as dancers learn to interact dynamically while maintaining the integrity of the choreographic structure.

Ultimately, structured improvisation in dance class enriches the learning experience, pushes dancers to discover movement outside of their comfort zones, and challenges their brains and bodies in a fun way!

Featuring: an image from an improvisation exercise during our BTM Intensive at 💚

We strive to uplift studios and students by offering a balanced dance program that will push your students towards confidence and success in dance.

Read more - Link in bio 💚🍃

It is a fact that people tend to be nicer and more compassionate when they feel safe. When we feel secure, we are more likely to be open, relaxed, and considerate, as our focus isn’t consumed by feelings of self consciousness, insecurity, and worry around being judged.

When we feel secure, we are able to more easily extend kindness and empathy towards others.

In addition to making goals around improvements, achievements, and excellence in dance, we also need to be making goals around self-confidence, bravery, and persistence. These qualities are of equal (if not more) importance.

What are some tools you use to build self-assuredness, bravery, and persistence in your dancers? Share in the comments!

Food for thought 🧠🪞

Dancing without mirrors is a great tool to use when practicing for performances and recitals, but what about during regular class time? Consider using this as a tool in other scenarios in dance as well.

What are your thoughts on occasionally taking away mirrors in dance classes? 💚

When Shannon and I created Beyond the Mirror, part of our development process involved examining how our ideas for programming could fit into already-existing studio programming.

It is NEVER a bad time to invest in nurturing and increasing students’ confidence, pushing their creative boundaries, and teaching them what it means to have a healthy dance career (recreationally or professionally).

These are some of the main ways that Beyond the Mirror Artistic Pursuit can fit seamlessly into your studio’s programming.

Interested in booking a workshop? Click the link in our bio today to read more about our offerings. Don’t hesitate to send us a DM or email! 💚🩰

An important reminder for dance teachers and educators! While there are times when we will push our students towards the same goal and want them to fit perfectly together in their group dances, we can’t forget about their individual identities, personalities, and how that fits into their dance journey.

Not only must we work to cultivate dancers who work well in groups, we can’t forget about helping them cultivate their own unique movement personalities. Finding a balance in this way fosters a supportive environment for students of all levels and backgrounds. 💚🪩

How do we incorporate task-based movement into our instruction? ⭐️

We love to give students improvisation exercises that involve completing certain tasks. We also love to develop contemporary phrase work based on specific tasks to encourage authenticity and “realness” in movement.

When working on ballet technique, learning to organize and coordinate your body in terms of completing tasks can help simplify and increase efficiency in the approach to movement.

Breaking down common and complicated steps by simply naming the task at hand can increase understanding of dance technique.

Do you employ task-based movement in your classes? Tell us below!✨

Self-compassion in dance. 🌱💚

Self-compassion serves as a crucial anchor in dealing with life’s challenges with resilience and kindness towards oneself. By embracing self-compassion, individuals cultivate a nurturing attitude that acknowledges their own suffering and imperfections without harsh judgment.

In dance, this is important because a compassionate perspective fosters emotional well-being by reducing self-criticism and enhancing self-acceptance. It empowers individuals to confront setbacks with a gentler approach, fostering motivation rather than discouragement.

When we aren’t afraid to make mistakes, we open up opportunities for more creativity, more risk, more adventure, and more growth in dance.

Struggles around achievement, self esteem, and abilities are part of the dancer experience. Ultimately, practicing self-compassion cultivates a deeper sense of emotional stability and a more positive outlook, nurturing personal growth and fostering healthier relationships with oneself and others.

Dancers, work to develop self-compassionate behaviors towards yourself when you are struggling in dance. Teachers, work to teach your dancers to have compassion for themselves and others. Dance can be difficult and frustration and struggle are normal. Let’s create supportive learning environments through the power of self-compassion!

RECAP from our amazing day of dancing with ! On June 21st, we held a full day Beyond The Mirror Intensive Workshop with the students of Spotlight Dance Academy of Chicago.⭐️

We started off the day with two technique classes in ballet and contemporary, followed by a very insightful seminar with the amazing 💚

Following some inspiring discussion time, we explored creativity and new pathways of moving through improvisation and a bit of team composition work.

Throughout the day, we really investigated what it means and looks like to feel confident when we dance, and how we can work through moments of doubt and fear of judgement in the classroom and on stage.

Such a fruitful and inspiring day of! Thank you, dancers! 💚

Interested in what BTM has to offer? Click the link in our bio to read more about us or send us a DM!

Celebrate their wins!! Positive reinforcement can go a long way in a perfectionistic art form. How do you celebrate wins in your classes? 💚

We are firm believers that being a good dancer involves a lot more than just your body and dancing. We want to hear from YOU! What do you think are some characteristics of GREAT dancers? Comment below! 💚

✨Healthy classroom practices for students ✨

It’s important to be mindful of how we approach class each day in order to make participating in our dance classes less stressful and more fun. Dancers: use these tips to get the most out of your dance classes!

Interested in booking a summer BTM workshop? Click the link in our bio for details! 💚

Throwing it back to our workshop with the amazing dancers of .co ! We had such a wonderful time sharing Beyond The Mirror with these students.

Interested in booking a workshop and learning more about us? Head over to the link in our bio to visit our website today. Don’t forget to join our email list while you’re at it! 💚

About us…

Created by two professional dancers themselves who are no strangers to the pressures of the dance world, BTM was created to offer a safe environment for dancers to explore their self-confidence, build resilience, and appreciate the bodies they are in by helping them find freedom in creative and introspective capacities.

We empower recreational, competitive, and pre-professional dancers to tap into their intrinsic worth and uniqueness in order to help them develop their craft in a way that will carry them beyond their ever-changing bodies and beyond what they see in the mirror.  Through partnering with health professionals, along with integrating these ideas into our verbiage and technical instruction, we offer a comprehensive education on what it looks like to pursue dance in a healthier way.

Click the link in our bio to read more about our workshops today or send us a DM if you want to connect further! 💚

Feelings of inadequacy or being “behind” are too common in dance.

Allow the rhythm of life to unfold at your preferred tempo. There’s beauty in navigating your unique path, free from the pressures of a race and comparison. Embracing your journey on your terms brings a sense of authenticity, allowing you to savor experiences and growth. Life’s richness lies in the moments you create, not in the haste of a race.

Embrace where you are in your unique journey. There is no need to rush. 💚⭐️

Embark on a transformative journey with our Beyond the Mirror Workshop! 🌟 Build the mind-body connection through the art of dance, empowering young individuals to explore ways they can grow in their self-confidence and grit.

If your dancers have been struggling with body image, low self-esteem, and unhealthy habits, and you’re not sure how to effectively respond, you’ve come to the right place.  

Beyond the Mirror Intensive workshop is an intensive program where students participate in rigorous technique classes, listen to presentations from mental and physical health experts in the dance industry, and gain tools that help them pursue dance in a healthier way. 

Through our unique workshop formula, we teach dancers that they can love dance AND love their bodies, and we give studios the tools they need to develop and encourage a healthy environment where their student feel valued, heard, and uninhibited in their development of self-confidence and a positive self-image.  Your students shouldn’t feel bogged down by the pressures of dance.  They should feel mentally and physically free in their bodies and physical capabilities... we’re here to help them (and you) get there.

* Mindful Movement: Immerse in dance routines designed to cultivate a deep connection between body and mind.
* Expressive Arts: Explore creativity through dance, allowing young participants to express themselves authentically.
* Collaborative Environment: Foster a supportive community where youth can share experiences, build friendships, and grow together.

Clock the link in our bio to learn more and send us a DM with questions! ⭐️💚

Guiding students to engage in both visual observation and tactile exploration provides a holistic approach, fostering a deeper and more meaningful connection with their own bodies. This multifaceted approach encourages a comprehensive understanding of their physical sensations, promoting a heightened awareness that goes beyond just practicing for themselves, but allows them to see other’s experiences and learn from them as well.

Let’s talk about somatic awareness.

In dance, it is so easy to get fixated on what you see in the mirror. Whether you’re hyper-focused on your placement, or feeling stress about how your body looks in the clothes you are wearing or when you’re doing a certain step… it is easy to get into a spiral of ONLY valuing what you see in the mirror. This can lead to body image stress, self-consciousness, and lower self-esteem.

This is where somatic awareness comes in. Somatic awareness is the action of focusing on the internal experience and feeling of the movement instead of what it looks like from the outside. Teaching students to observe through seeing AND feeling can help them connect with their bodies beyond just valuing how they LOOK.

Not only does this help when working to achieve proper technique, but it also creates for a more rich performance quality. Working with sensations, both anatomical and emotional, can enrich a student’s practice and performance. Exercising somatic awareness in these ways can also take their attention off of the mirror and turn it inside their bodies.

Through Beyond the Mirror messaging and workshops, we strive to create an environment that emphasizes this type of awareness and appreciation. Interested in booking a workshop for your studio? Head to the link in our bio to read about what we offer today. Don’t hesitate to send us a DM! 💚