A Dancer's Mindset

This episode features an interview with ballet dancer Victor Caixeta, discussing his journey from starting ballet at age 12 in Brazil to joining the Demarinsky company and overcoming initial weaknesses to achieve success.

This episode explores why people overthink, its connection to mental health issues like anxiety and depression, and provides strategies to stop overthinking and achieve balance.

This episode explores how dancers and artists can practice with purpose and transform feedback into opportunities for growth and confidence-building.

This episode offers advice for dancers and others on how to cope when family or friends don't support their dreams and goals.

Precious Adams discusses the physical and mental challenges of being a dancer, including the impossibility of maintaining peak fitness year-round and the impact of toxic body image.

This episode explores how the principles from the book 'The Inner Game of Tennis' can be applied to dance and other high-achieving pursuits, focusing on mindset, confidence, and taking action toward goals.

This episode discusses how dancers and students can cope with not receiving immediate recognition or feedback in class, emphasizing that instant gratification isn't the goal for success.

This episode introduces a new experience focused on helping dancers and non-dancers build confidence, mental strength, and motivation to achieve their goals.

This episode features an interview with Lucas Lima, a principal dancer at the Norwegian National Ballet, discussing his journey of overcoming injuries, the mental challenges involved, and how teaching became a new chapter in his career.

This episode explores the concept of 'pulling it together' for dancers and beyond, offering three key ideas to align actions with goals and regain control in scattered moments.

This episode explores the prevalence of toxicity in ballet classes, examining how jealousy, bullying from peers and teachers, and negative studio environments impact dancers' self-esteem and confidence, while advocating for more supportive and positive atmospheres.

Isabella discusses the importance of identifying non-negotiables in daily life to achieve goals and manage priorities, while also promoting upcoming dance intensives for students.

This episode explores how to overcome self-imposed limitations by understanding motivation and challenging learned fears and negative thoughts.

The host shares personal mental lessons learned from teaching dance, emphasizing creating positive learning environments where mistakes are accepted to build confidence and self-esteem.

The host Isabella shares her experiences from a recent trip to Australia, expresses gratitude to listeners, and promotes upcoming dance intensives while introducing the topic of overcoming imposter syndrome and negative self-talk.

This episode explores how dancers can cope with injuries and effectively communicate with teachers about pain to prevent career-ending issues and resentment.

This episode explores how focusing on 1% daily improvement can help dancers and others achieve success through small, consistent steps and behavioral psychology.

This episode features an interview with Inès McIntosh, a first soloist at the Paris Opera Ballet, discussing her rapid rise in the prestigious company and how she shapes her own destiny despite early challenges.

This episode features an interview with Suvi Honkanen discussing performance anxiety and stage fright, focusing on understanding its causes and sharing coping mechanisms for dancers and performers.

This episode addresses how fear and overwhelm, particularly in dance and performance contexts, can hinder potential and offers insights from the host's personal experiences with imposter syndrome and perfectionism.

This episode explores how your thoughts and beliefs shape your life outcomes, emphasizing the power of mindset in achieving dreams.

This episode explores how daily choices shape reality and subconscious patterns to empower listeners in achieving their goals.

This episode explores what true happiness and contentment look like, particularly for ballet dancers and performers, while acknowledging the common experience of feeling lost or depressed during personal growth.

This episode addresses homesickness among ballet students, offering strategies to manage nervousness when returning to school away from family.

This episode explores how dancers can navigate the tension between pushing through challenges and taking necessary rest, addressing cultural pressures in ballet and the importance of balance for mental and physical health.

This episode discusses how artists and performers can cope with nerves, drawing from the host's personal experiences as a dancer.

This episode features an interview with Madeline Woo discussing her transition from ballet to a creative studio, including insights on performance techniques, body image challenges, and her recent move to San Francisco.

This episode features an interview with Chloe Misseldine, the newly appointed principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, discussing her journey from childhood to her recent promotion after performing Odette Odile.

This episode features an interview with principal dancer Denys Cherevychko, discussing his career, work ethic, and the importance of technique in ballet training.

This episode explores the key qualities and skills, such as a relentless work ethic, that help successful people in various fields like dance, business, and sports get ahead of 99% of others.

This episode features a discussion with ballet dancer Suvi Honkanen about how to identify and address weaknesses and shortcomings in ballet training to build self-esteem and achieve goals.

Royal Ballet legend Alina Cojocaru discusses her definition of success, emphasizing growth, emotional connection in performance, and learning from feedback.

This episode explores the concept of 'pulling it together' for dancers and beyond, offering three key ideas to align actions with goals and regain control in scattered moments.

This episode discusses using September as an opportunity for a fresh start to set goals, build confidence, and work hard towards personal achievements.

This episode explores the common experience of waking up with anxiety, drawing from the host's personal struggles and childhood experiences to help listeners understand and manage their emotions.

This episode promotes upcoming ballet workshops in London and Australia while emphasizing building confidence and teamwork in the studio.

This episode explores the concept of performance without purpose and what it means when there's no goal, while promoting intensive workshops in Australia.

This episode discusses the pros and cons of summer intensives for dancers, addressing feelings of pressure and exhaustion while promoting self-esteem and goal achievement.

The host announces upcoming dance intensives in London and Australia, encouraging listeners to join her mailing list and follow her on Instagram for access and updates.

This episode explores how Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech inspires dancers to build confidence, trust themselves, and avoid wasting time by living authentically.

This episode explores how healthy competition can benefit personal growth, using athletes' pragmatic approach as a model to help dancers and others manage pressure and use competitors to their advantage.

This episode explores how to shift perspective on New Year's resolutions by focusing on lessons from past goals, avoiding imposter syndrome, and building a mindset for personal growth in 2025.

This episode explores the teachings of Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi on how pleasure and discomfort can impact success, applying his wisdom to dance and personal development.

This solo episode encourages dancers, athletes, and high achievers to overcome moments of doubt and persevere toward their goals.

This episode focuses on helping dancers and non-dancers build confidence and self-esteem through a 90-day challenge to transform their lives and become their best selves.

This episode explores how dancers and high achievers can cope with feeling overlooked despite hard work, challenging the expectation of instant recognition and emphasizing earned validation.

This episode explores why ballet dancers may not see improvement in their technique, focusing on common pitfalls like prioritizing quantity over quality in training, with insights applicable to both adult/freelance dancers and students in structured programs.

Isabella discusses why setting goals alone is insufficient for success, using examples like New Year's resolutions to highlight the importance of systems and discipline over motivation.

Host Isabella and guest Suvi, both Vaganova graduates, discuss the negative self-talk they experienced during ballet training, exploring anxiety, self-sabotage, and the lack of positive affirmations in dance culture.

A Dancer's Mindset episode 111 uses Wynton Marsalis's seven-year daily-practice story to examine how dancers improve.

A Dancer's Mindset examines why Instagram's polished turns, jumps, and arabesques hide years of practice, failure, and frustration.

Isabella recounts how low bone density, a 51-kilogram body weight, and an untreated back injury led to a stress fracture during her graduation year.

Rachel Fine connects her ballet training, “clean eating” perfectionism, and later dietitian work with dancers’ struggles around food.

A Dancer's Mindset host Isabella interviews Miko Fogarty about winning gold at the 2010 Moscow Ballet Competition and leaving professional ballet.