**This is a guest post from Elizabeth Sullivan, founder of The Dancer’s Coach**

Now that audition season is coming to a close, several dancers, especially those waiting on offers, report feeling a little uninspired and unmotivated. They aren’t sure how to manage these feelings and still get themselves to daily classes and rehearsals.

First, this is normal. Audition season can take a lot out of you, especially if you’ve been traveling and doing in-person auditions. Each audition, as I’ve reminded you, is not just a class but a performance. Performances usually leave people feeling high-energy for a few hours until the fatigue sets in.

As a student, performances are often followed by vacation, which is when you sleep in, rest up, and recover in time to return to the studio with renewed energy.

That is not the case after audition season, though. Classes and rehearsals don’t stop just because you’ve been away auditioning. And so, you may find that you are mentally and physically tired. 

What now?

You need to find ways to refill your cup without taking extra time off if it is not available to you.

Look outside ballet

First, it will help to look outside the ballet studio to non-ballet interests and people when you are feeling like this. Too much dance, even when you love it, can be depleting. Everyone needs a break.

If you are an extrovert and get energy from being with others, try spending some time with non-dancer friends, peers at school, or family – anyone who will not talk about dance with you.
If you’re an introvert, you’ll want to find things to do on your own to refill your cup. Things like listening to new (or favorite) music, settling in with a good book, journaling, or spending time out in nature.

Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, try taking a break from social media; it masquerades as a relaxing, cup-filling exercise but has been proven to leave people feeling tired and depleted. This is especially true if you are a night-time scroller because it disrupts your ability to fall asleep when your body is tired.

Try deleting the apps from your phone for a few weeks or moving them to folders on the last page of your phone, making them harder to get to every time you look at your phone.

Class at less than 100%

The second tip that will help is to reframe daily class and rehearsal. While you probably view class as the most important part of your day where you give 100% of your focus and energy, that approach is not sustainable when you’re feeling depleted and uninspired.

Instead, reframe studio time as “maintenance” for now. You’ll want to work cleanly and correctly so you don’t risk injury, but that’s it. Instead of maxing out your energy, think about minimizing your effort while maintaining correctness and cleanliness. (Yes, I really did say “minimize” your effort. Stick with me…)

Practice working at 55%, 65%, or 75% effort rather than 100%. This will feel like you’re being lazy, but you’re not. In fact, it’s a necessary skill to keep from getting injured when you HAVE to dance but are depleted or feeling under the weather.

Naturally, this is a skill professional dancers use all the time. I learned this when I danced in 60 Nutcrackers in my first year as a professional. It wasn’t possible to give 100% of my effort in every company class (two per day) AND perform (often two shows per day). I would have either burned out or gotten injured.

While observing the more seasoned company dancers, I noticed how carefully and cleanly they took classes, without pushing themselves too hard and expending all of their energy. I learned to pull back on effort without sacrificing technique or alignment.

That is what I’m asking you to try.

Results

You’ll know that these two tips are helping when you start to feel less depleted and more motivated. Maybe you need to practice these for a week or a month – keep refilling your cup until you wake up one day feeling more energetic and like you can give your best in the studio again. 

If that moment doesn’t come after a month, please get in touch. You could be burned out or experiencing something more serious, and it’s worth connecting yourself to resources to sort it out.

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth, a former professional ballerina with the Cleveland and Boston ballet companies. Now a coach and mentor for pre-professional dancers, she has developed a unique approach that helps young dancers choose a positive path leading to success in their dancing and their life. Learn more at: https://thedancerscoach.com/