Abstract
Mental health and well-being play a critical role in dancers’ ability to learn, perform, and sustain their careers. This article provides dance teachers with practical strategies to help manage common sources of stress within dance training environments. Drawing on research into mental health in dance, the author identifies key stressors for dancers and offers a set of tools teachers can integrate into everyday teaching practice.
The article presents a practical toolbox designed to support dancers’ psychological well-being. Suggested approaches include initiating open conversations about mental health to reduce stigma, using emotionally attuned communication to acknowledge and validate dancers’ feelings, and supporting dancers’ basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness within the studio. Teachers are also encouraged to create facilitative learning environments that balance high challenge with strong emotional support, fostering both artistic development and psychological safety. By incorporating these strategies into daily teaching practice, educators can help cultivate studio cultures where dancers feel supported, empowered, and able to thrive both artistically and personally.