The Importance of Recognizing Burnout in Dance
By Emma Spencer
Emma Spencer trains and teaches at Academy of Dance in Port Orchard, Washington, and has been dancing for 12 years. She studies multiple styles such as ballet, contemporary/lyrical, jazz, and musical theatre, as well as gets involved in her competition team and Pre-Professional curriculum.
Emma teaches primarily between the ages of 5 and 10, and is very involved with her competition team, Synergy Dance Company, competing at local competitions and performing at local venues such as nursing homes and festivals. Emma has also been featured in her studio’s rendition of “The Nutcracker” as many lead roles such as, but not limited to: the Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara, and the Snow Queen.
When not dancing, Emma enjoys playing video games, digital art, advocating for epilepsy and mental health, collecting rocks, drinking coffee, and photography. Emma is honored to have been accepted as a Dancewear Center Ambassador and is excited to share her passions with the dance community.
Medical Disclosure: Dancewear Center does not claim to have any medical expertise on any circumstances or diseases discussed. This is Emma’s personal experience and opinions. If you need help see the resources listed at the bottom of this post. If you or someone you know needs immediate medical attention, call 911.
It’s that time of the year when many studios are starting or well into their preparations for competition and performance season. Especially with the major setbacks the pandemic has put us in when it comes to being on stage, it makes it all the more exciting to be back on stage and dancing again. However, with the pandemic comes another crisis many dancers have overlooked. Teenagers have been the most affected by the pandemic in terms of mental health, stress, and burnout. Between this last year and our current year, we have witnessed and participated in a plethora of historical events that took away opportunities that we took for granted, such as school, prom, hanging out with our friends, and those of us who are dancers: performing in person in front of a large audience. With the pandemic starting to (hopefully) fade out and scientists grasp more of an understanding of COVID-19, I’m not sure we’re ready for our next world-wide crisis: mental health and burnout.
Being a dancer, you see a lot of stigma against mental health and burnout in general within the community. As someone who deals with mental health related issues myself and spreads information about it more than I regularly complete my homework assignments, it’s disappointing to see that the dance community hasn’t quite caught up with the rest of the world in that regard. You see comments like “you just aren’t trying hard enough” or “you probably shouldn’t be dancing if you aren’t taking this seriously.” It’s comments like these that invalidate the struggles of dancers and make them feel unheard. Because the truth of the matter is that dancers are pushing themselves so far that they're getting burnt out and fatigued, and the pandemic and daily struggles of life are doing nothing to help them either.
What is Burnout and What Causes It?
Burnout is, simply put, your mind and body telling you to take a break (bet you haven’t heard that from your parents 100 times). It’s the consequence of doing too much and is often seen in dancers who’s schedules don’t give them an adequate amount of time to rest and recover after training, although dancers aren’t normally in control of their own schedules. Burnout can also be caused by poor nutrition and physical and emotional stress. Dancers affected by burnout are also more susceptible to injuries.
Burnout Warning Signs
Just like physical illnesses, your body begins to show signs that you need to slow down and that what you’re doing is too much before you experience burnout. Those precursor burnout signs should be a signal for you to take a break and recalibrate your mind and body. Those signs include but aren’t limited to:
Poor concentration
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Decrease in enthusiasm or desire to dance
Increase in irritability, anxiety, and depression-like symptoms
Inability to “bounce back” completely after intense training
Prevention
The biggest thing you can do to prevent burnout is to educate yourself as to what burnout is. It’s important for teachers, students, and parents to recognize the risks and warning signs of burnout to stop it ahead of time. Burnout isn’t completely avoidable due to its complexity, and the signs and effects of burnout are going to be different for every dancer. However, there are steps you can take to prevent the worst of it.
Adequate Rest
After a long day at dance, it’s important that you give your mind and body the time it needs to relax. Whether that’s active stretching, yoga, or even taking a nap. Resting is important so you feel energized for your next day of classes. Making sure you get a good night’s sleep is also important. You want to wake up well rested and ready for the day.
Eat Well
Note: In this section I briefly talk about eating disorders. It isn’t in depth, but if the topic makes you uncomfortable, please read at your own comfort. I’ll also be leaving resources at the end.
It’s no secret that dancers struggle when it comes to eating well, or at all at times. Eating disorders are common within the dance community unfortunately. As I stated earlier, poor nutrition is a major cause of burnout, so it is all the more important to eat well before and after your classes. I’m not necessarily saying to make yourself a large meal, just a fueling snack before and after classes at least. Your body needs that fuel to create the energy you need to dance all day. If you aren’t eating, your body doesn’t get the fuel it needs to give you energy, and you’ll be left tired and nauseous all day. Give yourself permission to eat.
Know Your Limits
Don’t push yourself harder than is necessary. Set realistic goals for yourself. Being a perfectionist myself, I understand the struggles of feeling that I’m not doing good enough and need to keep pushing myself towards unrealistic goals to the point of causing unnecessary stress.
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Find Other Hobbies
Find things to do at home that aren’t related to dance. Being dedicated to dance is great and highly encouraged, but if that’s all you’re doing at home, that’s going to speed up the process of burnout. Take up some different activities such as painting, or music. Not only will it give your brain a break from thinking about dance, but picking up multiple hobbies makes you a more well-rounded person. Finding other things to do doesn’t make you any less interested or dedicated to dance. Make sure there is a life outside of the studio.
Acknowledge Your Students’ Struggles
This section pertains more towards teachers and parents. Give your dancers a chance to recover. Don’t make them push through it, that will only worsen burnout and will take longer to recover. Be there for your students, listen to their concerns, and help them through their struggles. They look up to you as a mentor.
Stigma
The dance world is definitely growing in terms of inclusivity, progressivism, and removing stigmas and stereotypes, but there is still work to be done, especially in the mental health department. “Stigma is a powerful social force that has the potential to prevent treatment seeking and exacerbate the stigmatized challenges” according to a study on burnout written by the World Health Organization that you can read here.
Within that same study, the participants, all of which were either undergraduate students or workers, were asked to rate the degree of which most people would agree with statements stigmatizing burnout. The leading statements were the ones that describe people with burnout as lazy, weak, and undeserving of achievement and praise. It was interesting to see the parallels between the stigmas for the dance world and the work/school environments.
Conclusion
Dance is a sport where you’re constantly on your toes (pun somewhat intended) and you’re constantly grinding to the next goal. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to be a dancer, and it’s important to take care of yourselves if you’re going to participate in such a demanding art. You’re not lazy or weak for taking a break. You recognized your burnout and decided to do something about it, which is one of the strongest things you can do.
Parents and teachers, please check in with your dancers. Allow them to take breaks when needed. Offer them love and support and listen to them when they are struggling. Your dancers rely on you the most, so it’s up to you to give them the support they need.
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