BALANCING TECHNIQUE, ARTISTRY, AND WELLNESS IN DANCE EDUCATION
In today’s dance world, teachers face an important challenge: how to shape technically strong dancers who are also expressive artists—and who stay mentally and physically well in the process.
It’s no longer enough to just drill steps and expect greatness to emerge. The most impactful dance education finds the sweet spot where technique, artistry, and wellness intersect. Here's how we can nurture all three in our classes—and why it matters more than ever.
1. Start with Solid Technique—but Teach Why It Matters
Technique is the foundation of dance. It creates safety, precision, and the ability to fully express choreography. But drilling steps without context can feel lifeless.
Reframe technique as a tool for freedom.
Help dancers understand that clean pirouettes, strong feet, and proper alignment aren’t just for the exam—they’re the key to moving with power and ease. Explain how technique supports storytelling and gives dancers the stamina to perform longer and better.
2. Create Space for Artistry Every Day
Artistry isn’t reserved for advanced students or final performances—it can (and should) be fostered in every class. Even during barre or across-the-floor drills, encourage musicality, dynamics, and emotion.
Try prompts like:
“How would you dance this if it were your last time performing it?”
“What story are you telling with your arms here?”
“Can you dance this phrase like a whisper? Now like a shout?”
Incorporating improvisation exercises, even for a few minutes each week, can unlock creativity and self-expression that technique alone can’t reach.
3. Promote Whole-Dancer Wellness
High expectations shouldn’t come at the expense of health. Dancers today are more aware than ever of burnout, anxiety, and physical overuse—and teachers must evolve to meet those concerns.
Physical Wellness:
Include proper warm-up and cool-down time.
Offer cross-training tips or conditioning support.
Address overtraining or fatigue early.
Mental/Emotional Wellness:
Foster a non-competitive class culture.
Normalize rest, mistakes, and growth over perfection.
Create an open space for communication and check-ins.
Remember: A stressed, injured, or emotionally drained dancer won’t perform at their best—no matter how technically skilled they are.
4. Adapt Your Approach by Age and Level
Young dancers need more play and creativity to fall in love with dance before technique becomes a focus.
Teens benefit from discussions on performance, identity, and self-expression, alongside strong technical training.
Advanced dancers need coaching that integrates all three elements seamlessly—fine-tuning their artistry and supporting career or collegiate goals.
5. Model What You Teach
Your dancers absorb more than your choreography—they absorb your mindset. Show them what it looks like to care about form and feeling. To hold high standards and give grace. To move with discipline and joy.
Your example is one of the most powerful teaching tools you have.
Technique trains the body. Artistry trains the soul. Wellness supports them both. When these three pillars are balanced, we don’t just create better dancers—we shape more confident, expressive, and resilient people.
Let’s raise a generation of dancers who are strong, expressive, and well—from the inside out.
Good luck!
See you in the dance studio,
Jess
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