Erin Sanchez - Performance Psychology for Dancers

PERFORMANCE
PSYCHOLOGY FOR
DANCERS

Doubt isnt necessarily a sign of failure, but perhaps more often an indication of the strength of intention and meaning brought to the challenge.

PERFORMANCE
PSYCHOLOGY FOR
DANCERS

ERIN SANCHEZ, DAVE COLLINS AND
INE MACNAMARA

First published in 2021 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

Erin Sanchez, Dave Collins and ine MacNamara 2021

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 799 6

Photography Dani Bower Photography 2020. Company: Motionhouse

Dancers: Alasdair Stewart, Bryn Aled, Beth Pattison, Chris Knight, Elly Welford, Junior Cunningham and Sophie Page

Cover: Dancers take physical and psychological risks, but when navigated and supported with appropriate psychological skills, success can be achieved even in very challenging environments.

Cover design by Maggie Mellett

DEDICATION

ine MacNamara

To Damian, Sofra and Iarlaith for their support.

Dave Collins

For Helen, Joe, Judy, Rosie, Ruby and Lily... my own personal lead me a merry dance company.

Erin Sanchez

To my family, Sanchez, Mills, Baca, Cordova, Garcia, Cooley, Taggart, Harley, Ansell, Wyon, Matt, Laura, Lara, Sarah, Mark, Will, Josh, Renee, ABKB, and Penni, for teaching me to be kind and love people and to steer into fear. With you, life is rich.

PREFACE

The book you hold in your hands is a product of (at this point) decades of focused academic research and clinical and applied work by Prof. Dave Collins and Prof. ine MacNamara in talent development and psychological skills, as well roughly nine years of my own interest and work in supporting dancers health.

The book began when Dave was approached to write about dance talent development and psychological skills. I was lucky enough to be the person he asked to collaborate with him, alongside Prof. ine MacNamara. After nearly three years (and many panics on my part), we have created this book.

For me, this book has been an enormous challenge and source of fear and anxiety. How could one book be the answer to the many challenges dancers will face during their training? How could we ensure that the book provided the most evidence-based and best guidance, for everyone? How could we make sure that every person that engaged in dance had a positive experience?

I learnt an enormous lesson during this process no book can do things like that. No one piece of advice or single source of knowledge whether it be a book, a person, a method or style of training will give dancers everything they need to become successful. Every pathway to success will require a different combination of support and challenge. The advice in this book may not apply to you, or it may be useful guidance for you at some times and not at others, or it just may be a very helpful tool and once it is used, you need to move on to another tool to keep growing and developing. I hope it will be clear that our aim is to provide questions to consider, principles to use, and confidence to apply them to your particular goals and challenges.

Im a perfectionist. In my life, that has sometimes driven me to work hard and look for ways to improve. At other times, it has made me question myself and my abilities, and to forget my accomplishments and only see my failures. At times in my life, wanting to be perfect has made me want to give up. Im still learning to embrace both sides: first, to see that doubt isnt necessarily a sign of failure but perhaps, more often, an indication of the strength of intention and meaning brought to the challenge; and, second, to recognize that striving for high standards can be a superpower, providing energy and strength to achieve challenging things. And every (scary, self-doubt inducing) challenge is a chance to grow.

We sincerely hope that this book is something that can be useful to you. As you, and we, gain new knowledge, there will likely be more editions of this book to add to the conversation.

Erin Sanchez

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We want to acknowledge the people who have contributed to the creation of this book.

Photographs: to Dani Bower who captured the beauty, strength, and fearlessness of dancers Alasdair Stewart, Berta Contijoch, Beth Pattison, Bryn Aled, Chris Knight, Elly Welford, Junior Cunningham and Sophie Page of Motionhouse for the gorgeous images used in this book. We are grateful to them for sharing their craft.

Thank you also to incredible photographer Danilo Moroni, who assisted with the first discussions about the book and, although in the end we couldnt find the right time to have a shot for this book, his beautiful work will certainly be included in the next edition.

Experts: we are immensely grateful to the experts who provided guidance and feedback, as well as expert commentaries, for selected chapters. They include Elsa Urmston, Fuschia Peters, Jodie Clark, Kathleen McGuire Gaines, Khyle Eccles, Stephanie DeAth and Tala Lee Turton. Thank you for all the conversations over coffee or by email, and thank you most of all for the inspiration and support you give every day you are changing the lives of young dancers.

Dave Collins

So pleased to have the privilege of contributing to performers who have enormously more skill than I could ever muster.

Erin Sanchez

Many thanks also go to Anastasia Paschali and Emma Turner, who contributed to the creation of this book by gathering information, distilling ideas and generally connecting the dots where needed.

The international field of dance medicine and science includes an exceptionally welcoming, familial and passionate group of professionals. Thank you to the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science for hosting their annual conference to allow us to meet and exchange, in what can sometimes feel a very isolated professional environment.

There is also a community of experts whose indirect impact through publications, presentations, collaborative activities and works of art made this book possible. Each of them in their own lives has contributed a great deal to the conversation about dance talent development, professional success, dance psychology, mental health, and lived experience of mental illness in dance. We commend them for their selfless and powerful work:

Joey Chua; Sara Ascenso; Lynda Mainwaring; Prof Paula Thomson; Bonnie Robson; Janet Karin; Dr Liliana Arajo; Vicki Balaam; Stuart Waters; Steve Peck; Sarah Maguire; Colin Bland; Hannah Friebel; Natalia Atkins; Caldonia Walton; Jaimie Tapper; Prof Jon Arcelus; Rae Bonney; Kym King; Rachel Bar; Dr Monique Faleafa; Brendon Hansford; James Williams; Omari Carter; Tomorr Kokona; Wendy Reinert; Kevin Turner; Helen Linsell; Mark Archer; Phaedra Petsilas; Megan Preston; Gemma Fuller; Debbie Malina; Dancers Career Development; Dance Professionals Fund; Nicoletta P Lekka; Allan Johnston; Alan Currie; Dr Phil Hopley; Dr Tim Rogers; Dr Huw Goodwin; Dr Irina Roncaglia; Prof Gene Moyle.