Hi DTPT Friends!

In today's episode, I talk about one of my favorite activities for young children's classes--guided movement stories!

Not only are they fun, but they help with practicing skills & movement important to the class we are in, guide dancers with imagery, and prepare dancers for the art of performing!

We discuss:

*Creating a scene

*Locomotor and nonlocomotor movement

*Adding emotion

*and more!

This is a wonderful episode to listen to while preparing your pieces for recital.

And if you are looking for more, check out my Patreon where I share monthly guided children's stories for the dance classroom.

I hope you all enjoy today's episode, and don't forget to follow on the platform of your choice so that you're up to date with all the latest episodes.

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

Make sure to check out ⁠my Patreon Page⁠ where I have monthly resources for dance teachers (both free & paid memberships available) with anything from meditation to journaling to guided stories for the children's classroom.

May has content that celebrates anywhere from May Day to National Tap Dance Day, to preparing students for recital, and more!

A look ahead—instead of individual Summer months of resources, I will be doing a different set-up for my Summer resources, more info on that coming soon!

Also for those looking for general pep talks to support your Monday through Friday, check out ⁠Evolve Love⁠!

IG: _evolvelove

Thank you all so much for your love & support!

Amanda

Welcome back to DTPT!

I am so grateful you are here and in today’s episode we are discussing:

*Genuine emotion & performance practice

*Acting tips & tasks for all genres of dance

*Emotion in our faces and emotion in our bodies

*Musicality & emotion in music

*and more!

I am so inspired by what we do as choreographers and wanted to include some of my best tips on how to get our dancers invested in the vision and story you are wanting to share.

This is a wonderful episode to listen to while cleaning your recital pieces and for preparing your pieces for Nationals events.

I hope you all enjoy today's episode, and don't forget to follow on the platform of your choice so that you're up to date with all the latest episodes.

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

Make sure to check out my Patreon Page where I have monthly resources for dance teachers (both free & paid memberships available) with anything from meditation to journaling to guided stories for the children's classroom.

April has content that includes celebrations for Spring, Earth Day, National Dance Week, and more!

A look ahead—instead of individual Summer months of resources, I will be doing one Summer Bundle of resources and content.

Also for those looking for general pep talks to support your Monday through Friday, check out Evolve Love!

IG: _evolvelove

Thank you all so much for your love & support!

Amanda

Hey there!

Today's episode is a special one and it is because today we are celebrating YOU . . .

Choreographers

Dance Teachers

Front Desk Staff

Marketing Teams

Studio Owners

because truly, I don't think we give ourselves enough credit.

What we do is so beautiful, so special, so rare, and I wanted to take time in today to recognize that.

We should be so proud for all that we do! It is magic what we do.

I hope you all enjoy today's episode, and don't forget to follow on the platform of your choice so that you're up to date with all the latest episodes.

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

Make sure to check out ⁠⁠my Patreon Page⁠⁠ where I have monthly resources for dance teachers (both free & paid memberships available) with anything from meditation to journaling to guided stories for the children's classroom.

April has content that includes celebrations for Spring, Earth Day, National Dance Week, and more!

Also for those looking for general pep talks to support your Monday through Friday, check out Evolve Love!

IG: _evolvelove

Thank you all so much for your love & support!

Amanda

Happy Thursday everyone!

I recently came down with a Spring cold and along with that came a major halt for myself. Calling out sick from work, not being able to record for the projects that I run, and just my body screaming to me to take a pause was a wake-up call. I struggled so much with calling out of work, though I was so supported in the decision, and it really got me thinking, is this a dance teacher thing? An American thing? An east coast thing?

Why is it so hard for me to say, "I need to call out sick?"

This inspired and prompted today's entire episode and today we discuss:

*Knowing and honoring your body's need for rest

*The difficulty with taking a sick night as a dance teacher

*Hustle culture

*Diving into how we glorify commitment, dedication, and hard work, and shifting the attention to praising when a dancer takes the time if they need

If we are always pushing and powering through when our bodies are saying no, we are also modeling that for our students. How can we help our students have a healthier understanding of hearing their body's needs?

Yes attendance is SO important, especially this time of year, but today's episode opens up some more ideas and thoughts that I hope help to inspire and shift our mindsets with how we can best support ourselves & our dancers.

I hope you all enjoy today's episode, and don't forget to follow on the platform of your choice so that you're up to date with all the latest episodes.

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

Make sure to check out ⁠my Patreon Page⁠ where I have monthly resources for dance teachers (both free & paid memberships available) with anything from meditation to journaling to guided stories for the children's classroom.

April has content that includes celebrations for Spring, Earth Day, National Dance Week, and more!

Also for those looking for general pep talks to support your Monday through Friday, check out Evolve Love!

IG: _evolvelove

Thank you all so much for your love & support!

Amanda

Happy Spring everyone!

Something I find so interesting about dance teaching is just as one season begins, we are already looking and planing for the next!

So many of us at this time are preparing and launching our Summer Program information, and even making our Fall Dance Schedules, so I wanted to share some ideas and input about what can help to make Summer Dance even more special.

As a dancer, I have such fond memories of childhood Summer Dance, and as a teacher I love the spark and energy that it brings me because I find myself thinking outside of the box more where we have a shorter window of times to work with our students in this season.

I hope you all enjoy today's episode, and don't forget to follow on the platform of your choice so that you're up to date with all the latest episodes.

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk

Make sure to check out my Patreon Page where I have monthly resources for dance teachers (both free & paid memberships available) with anything from meditation to journaling to guided stories for the children's classroom.

Thank you all so much for your love & support!

Amanda

In today's episode, I share some of my biggest go-tos for handling tough situations such as . . .

*Classes not listening or not staying focused

*Absences during choreography

*When we lose our cool

*And more!

I share the major question I ask myself that helps me to find my true core essence and true core values as a teacher.

Within these tough situations, by sticking to my core essence, I am able to step into difficulties calmly but also with an expectation that is clear for myself and for the dancers.

Trust & respect are not a one way street in the dance classroom; it must be mutual, and today, I share how I am feeling on all of that!

Thank you so much for your support & listens!

If you have topic requests, please send them over via DM to @dancteacherpeptalk on Instagram so that I can best support you here on the show!

Also if interested, head on over to ⁠Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon ⁠for a month's worth of FREE resources this March in celebration of our 100th episode launching this month.

With love,

Amanda

Welcome to our 101st episode!

I am so very grateful for today's conversation for so many reasons and I am so glad that I get to share it with you all.

I had the beautiful opportunity to sit down with Maia Mahosky of The Casual Dance Teacher's Podcast and discuss a difficult, but very real life topic and that is, taking a step away from the studio.

There are so many reasons in life why we may need to take a step back and as Maia shares her personal story, she also shares encouragement for the growth that this time has given her and for realizing that sometimes the thinking about how it will be when leaving or the uncertainty around it, is actually the hardest part.

With many things in life, if you feel a gut instinct, it is usually telling you something. Some of these things we don't want to face, but sometimes when we do, there is beauty & a new chapter beyond what we are able to see at that given time.

Maia is just truly so lovely to talk with and I am so glad we get to share this conversation with you.

Please make sure to follow Maia on the following platforms and listen to her incredible podcast episodes with The Casual Dance Teacher's Podcast.

IG: @thecasualdanceteacherspodcast

Facebook Group: The Casual Dance Teacher's Network

I want to thank you all so much for your support & listens.

Please make sure to share today's episode with a friend or colleague and don't forget to hit the Follow button on your podcast platform of choice to be notified of all the newest Dance Teacher Pep Talk episodes that launch.

If interested, head on over to Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon for a month's worth of FREE resources this March in celebration of our 100th episode launching last week.

Have a beautiful week!

With love, Amanda

Wow! It is our 100th episode!

First of all, I want to thank you all so very much for being here. I am truly grateful for you, this space, the growth we have shared together, and I am so excited for what is to come.

In honor of celebrating the 100th episode, I spoke from my heart about thinking on how we can best celebrate our students and also how we can send them out into the world knowing and understanding how they can celebrate for themselves.

Let's be real--once we are adults, we aren't getting the trophies, and the good jobs, and the wow that was amazing, for every project and item we do. So where does that pride and validation come from? It comes from us! It comes from us realizing, wow, we did that.

And in order for our students to understand how to find that, I feel it is so important to model, practice, and exercise that concept together.

It starts with us!

I don't want my students to turn 36 and finally start understanding it.

My hope is that when they graduate, they walk on knowing that they can be proud of their accomplishments without outside validation--that what matters most comes from within.

In honor of the 100th episode, I have made my whole March Meditation Collection on my Dance Teacher Pep Talk Patreon FREE!

There are some beautiful resources this month including . . .

Spring Awaken: energy to start your day and your class

Nourish Yourself: checking in how we best nourish our bodies, minds, souls

Barre/Wall Body Scan: alignment centering to prepare for our class

A Walk In The Park: a guided meditative improv story for young students to explore, act, and work in their imaginations

World Dance Metta: a Loving-Kindness inspired meditation to extend our energy to ourselves, our peers, our studio, and the world of dance

How Are You Ready To Bloom?: a mini podcast episode honoring the growth you achieved over this winter to now share in the bloom of your performance

I hope you enjoy!

Thank you all again with all my heart!

Love, Amanda

IG: @danceteacherpeptalk