Write down your goals, a whole class can throw out amazing ideas.

Happy New Year and as they say New Year new start. We hope you had a great Christmas break and new Year and received lots of dancing related presents. With some downtime to chill and relax it is a chance to look back over 2016 and look forward to 2017.

We are super excited looking forward to the new year. There are loads of ideas floating about and we are looking forward with fingers crossed to a year of great designs, super dresses, and fantastic performances from all of you.

Straight away all of you dancers will be looking ahead to the coming Feis season and it won’t be long before the World Championships are right upon us.

Every year parents and teachers ask me what should they be doing different, what they should improve what are the small margins that could make the difference in your dancing. Sometimes dancers are too shy to ask! Don’t be, never be afraid to ask how you can improve!

There is that old saying fail to prepare, prepare to fail. And every dance class you go to and in every other aspect of your performance you need to think “will this improve me as a dancer’. And by the way, we don’t necessarily agree with calling not achieving your goals a failure. It is a learning experience. The best and most hard working dancers often had to come back from a setback or two.

When it comes to down to it, it’s all about aiming for that perfect performance. The dress, the dancer, and the dance in perfect harmony.

There’s a serious amount of hard work that has to go onto your dancing for you step onto the stage. Ask yourself some tough questions. Are you doing everything you can? Are there corners you know that you cut that you shouldn’t? Are you prioritizing other things? It’s hard, but if you’re aiming to be the best you can be then you need to make the sacrifices.

And have you tried something different. Here are some things to try if you don’t already do them.

• Write down your goals. Ranging from achievable to super difficult.
• Do some interval training.
• Take notes in class to help you remember your corrections.
• Work on core strength or do a Pilates class.
• Take a mindfulness class. Helps you focus on the here and now and not get distracted. I’ve tried it, it’s great!
• Get on a good eating plan to fuel your body properly.
• Work on time management and prioritise and balance all the demands in your time.

But most importantly and I’d like to stress this in BOLD:

 Listen to your teacher, they know more that you do and they want the best for you.

So much look forward to seeing you along the way in 2017. And I wish all of you the best in your dancing, enjoy it.

 Gavin x