Monday 4 December 2017

Healthier Dancer Conference

Empowering Dance Notes.pdf



https://www.dropbox.com/s/k56yj8sravslzrn/Empowering%20Dance%20Notes.pdf?dl=0

This past Sunday I went to Healthier Dancers’ Conference hosted by One Dance UK.  It was an exciting experience for me to be gathered with other dance teachers, choreographers, and experts who were concerned with the well-being and mental health of dancers.  

Throughout Sunday’s conferences, we heard about the importance of mental health to career and wellbeing and about the need to improve access to psychological care.


Some of the speakers I enjoyed included -

Fiona Macbeth, Integrative Psychotherapist
Dr. Irina Roncaglia, Chartered Practitioner Sport and Exercise Psychologist
Dr. Nicoletta Lekka, Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry
Georgia Cooper, Health and Wellbeing Coordinator, Northern School of Contemporary Dance

According to Fiona Macbeth, Integrative Psychotherapist, some helpful ways to improve mental health while dancing professionally including 

- Maintaining core beliefs
- Good network
- Staying true to one’s own vaues
- Self-care
- Balancing (taking time when necessary or needed for one’s own self and space)
- Self-soothing techniques – Visualization, Yoga, Inner techniques – there is an app called “headspace” that was mentioned

Sometimes it is just important to bring down the stress just a little bit and this makes all the difference

According to Dr. Irina Roncaglia, Chartered Practitioner Sport and Exercise Psychologist

- it is important for the dancer to understand what is going on
- what has caused this ‘not coping’ behavior
- what are the triggers?
- Can I reframe my thinking?


This workshop was applicable to my research topic which will explore psychology in dance and specifically how to optimise performance.  A private conversation with Erin Sanchez and Dr. Irina Roncaglia were insightful and were helpful in positioning me on a path in my research project.  I have attached some transcribed notes and pictures based on a three hour long practical and theoretically based seminar on Empowering Dancers.

Sunday 3 December 2017

Aha!

I had an aha moment during the discussion today, because I was able to see how there were no separate topics, identities, or discussions happening.  Every topic mentioned was connected to another.  I am beginning to understand that embodiment - linking this entire experience together with how it is lived, how we understand it - our knowledge does not exist separately as only a thought, but is experienced and lived as well.  Isn't this what an aha moment is?  Today our topics of discussion were

multiple professional identities
psychology of dance and the psycho-social elements
discipline - feedback and communication
and flavour, technique, belly dance



In today's Sunday discussion several topics were discussed and considered by those of us who were on the call.  We talked about multiple professional identities and the transition from being the dancer to the teacher.  Are they different - really - or is the dancer the teacher and the other way around.  We can certainly consider them separately, because there is the responsibility of focusing on the student. However, as a dancer one has the autonomy to get lost in oneself, dependent upon the dance setting.  Do we need to fix ourselves in these identities? Perhaps we can observe and accept them as they demonstrate themselves as we move from dancer to teacher to choreographer.

We also spoke about psychological process and how we think about our practice.  Are we empowering our students?  What baggage do we bring into the class?  Is this mental baggage or simply an understanding based on our own perception and the way we see the world and our dance practice?

Where does discipline fit into this and how do we communicate and provide feedback in the dance setting? How does this feedback change dependent upon the context.  Where does flavour, technique, and style affect us as dancers, teachers, and choreographers?

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