How to Recover From a Tough Class: A Guide for Students and Teachers
By Austin Sexton, DWC Ambassador
Medical Disclosure: Dancewear Center does not claim to have any medical expertise on any circumstances or diseases discussed. This is Austin’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.
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We have all been there as dancers. We’ve all had that class where nothing seems to be going our way. We mess up every combination, we can’t balance longer than a couple of seconds, we fall out of every turn, or completely botch a petite allegro. It’s so easy to let self doubt and negativity completely destroy us. It’s easy to let those feelings of failure take over. Sometimes it feels like every combination gets worse and worse to the point you want to give up and run out crying. As teachers, we’ve also been there when we can see students starting to struggle and then it causes us to doubt ourselves as valuable educators.
Most of the time, the reasons for having a hard class have nothing to do with our technical ability or worthiness as educators and everything to do with outside factors. Maybe you had a tough day at school, maybe your body is processing some trauma, maybe your body needed more nourishment that day, and you didn’t realize it until you were halfway through a tendu combination. But sometimes, maybe the class is harder than you expected and you weren’t prepared for the challenge because of those outside factors.
As a teacher, I have also had classes where I go into it with good intentions, but I’ve let my outside factors take over and things start to spiral. I can see that I’m not connecting with the students in the way I intended, and I can see their self doubt kicking in, which then in turn, causes my own self doubt to kick in. I start to question if I’m a good teacher, if they trust me, and imposter syndrome tries to take hold of the truth.
It’s important to not let one rough class define your worth as a dancer or teacher and more importantly your worth as a human.
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Here are some ways to recover when you’ve had a class that makes you want to quit:
CRY. I mean it. It is okay to cry. Crying releases so much tension and emotion out of the body, that I promise you will feel better afterwards. Crying is not weak (this is something I’ve really had to work on for myself). Crying is the body's natural way of releasing negative emotions so that it doesn’t hold it in and manifest in the body through pain or injury. As a teacher, sometimes it can be very scary to see a student crying, because it feels like a personal attack on our teaching ability, or our worth as a teacher. But I have been trying to understand that maybe sometimes the student can’t control it and that it's genuinely the body doing what it’s supposed to do. However, if it is a result of my inability to meet a student’s needs, I try to hold accountability and take action to reconcile through communication and redirection. I recommend finding a safe space and/or a safe person and crying as much as you need to.
Take a break. If you’re in the middle of class and you feel tension rising in your body and self-doubt kicking in. Attempt to communicate to your teacher that you need a moment. As a teacher, I try to be in tune with my students and notice if they’re struggling, but not every teacher does. So, try to find an appropriate moment to say something like, “I need a moment to collect myself” or “I’m having some anxiety, may I please be excused for a moment?” The most obvious moment is between barre and center or warm up and progressions, but we can’t control when we reach our limit, so in extreme cases, if you just need to step out without saying anything, that’s okay too. Your mental health is more important than five minutes of class. As long as there is communication with your teacher either before or afterwards, then it is okay to take a break.
Do some grounding exercises after class. It’s easy to let yourself spiral into all of the negative moments in class and to fixate on every missed tendu or stumbled glissade. Breathing helps so much. Take some deep breaths and try to de-center your thoughts of negativity and tell yourself that you are safe and that you are worthy. As you’re breathing, try to recall three positive moments in the class and let those be the light that carries you through. Choosing to recall the good moments over the bad can help you realize that the class was not completely terrible and that although sometimes class is hard, you are still strong and powerful. Pick a color and identify items in the room of that color. This activity helps to bring your consciousness out of your head and into the room so you can begin to think logically about the class and identify what went well and what didn’t. For more grounding techniques visit: https://www.healthline.com/health/grounding-techniques#physical-techniques
Self-affirm. Remind yourself that you matter and that you are worthy of having access to the joy of dance. Remind yourself that you are doing your best with the tools that you have in your box that day, and that the goal is not to be perfect. The goal is to do your best and give 100% of what you have to offer that day. That might change from day to day, depending on your stress levels and outside factors and that’s okay. Tell yourself that you did your best. But also, have a conversation with yourself about what you could have done differently. It’s good to hold yourself accountable, while also reminding yourself that it’s okay to make mistakes, because mistakes are where you learn the valuable lessons in life.
Lastly, as teachers, we hold the power and therefore, we are responsible for taking accountability for the outcome of the class. After a tough class, talk to your students. Have a moment with them to not only take accountability for how you could have improved in the moment and also tell them what your intentions were. Show students that they deserve respect and that you are capable of apologizing and reconciling after tough moments. Assure them that you want to see them doing their best and that you are also doing your best. Tell them you don’t ever expect perfection from them, but you expect intention and for them to simply try, even if they make mistakes. Showing students your own vulnerability can create a safe space for them to be able to take risks and not give up on themselves, because you won’t give up on them.
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Not every dance class you take is going to be perfect. Not every pirouette you do is going to be flawless. Sometimes, class is going to be hard-and that’s okay. Sometimes, you’re going to completely screw up a combo-and that’s okay. It is 100% okay to have a “bad class.” But when you let that one pirouette, or missed pas de bourre completely ruin the rest of class for you, that’s when you’re letting yourself down. Don’t let one tough moment in time define your worth as a dancer. You are still worthy, you are still strong, and most importantly the work that you’re doing matters. When you give up on yourself, you give up on the possibility of a successful moment and give the one flaw too much power. No one is perfect, but what you can do is decide to do your best, every day. Even if that looks different from day-to-day. Your best is best.
RESOURCES
https://www.healthline.com/health/grounding-techniques#physical-techniques
Students, please talk to your parents or an adult you trust if you need help. They can connect you with a doctor. If you need immediate help, here are some resources: