Shaking off the Rust - How to Come Back From Dance Burnout
There’s a stereotype in the midwestern United States that its inhabitants are pleasant, practical, and stoic to a fault. We are not prone to expressivity because expressing emotion could possibly inconvenience or annoy others, which is a mortal sin in the flyover states. If you ask a Midwesterner how they’re doing and you get a response somewhere in the spectrum between “Livin’ the dream!” and “Oh…it’s going”, you should probably assume they are experiencing biblical levels of hardship and/or they are on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
I hit “Livin’ the dream!” in September 2024 and proceeded directly to “Oh…it’s going” by November 2024. It felt like a nonstop assault of family drama, house repairs, layoffs, injuries, illnesses, sick kids, dead pets, and probably epic plagues and swarms of locusts that just absolutely beat me down until I fully shut down and dropped out of almost everything. I couldn’t bring myself to want to dance, let alone actually dance. I canceled my classes, pulled out of shows, and spent pretty much all of winter and spring moping on my couch with my dog. I didn’t feel like a dancer anymore and I wasn’t sure how to get the magic back, so I just kind of dropped out of life until I finally realized I was experiencing some pretty severe dance (and life) burnout, and I needed to take some healthy interventions to get myself back to semi-normal.
Some of you reading this may be exactly where I was last year. You’re signing up for shows and then backing out last minute because it’s too overwhelming to perform on stage when just getting to your practice space seems impossible. You’re registering for workshops but not attending. You hide dance friends on social media because the FOMO is frustrating, but you can’t find the motivation to rehearse. Dance has stopped feeling like an outlet for creativity and more like an obligation. My friends, I want you to know that feeling this level of burnout is completely normal, completely okay, and doesn’t make you less of a dancer. It’s okay to take a break, whether temporary or permanent, and it’s absolutely okay to redefine your relationship with dance during and after facing burnout.
Here are a few things that helped me:
Take a F*ckin’ Break!
No, really. If dance has stopped feeling good (emotionally or physically) it’s okay to separate from dance until you start to feel differently. Punishing yourself by forcing practice, performances, and relationships will just compound the frustration and pain if you’re not also working to heal the other stuff that’s bringing you down. A supportive dance teacher will always welcome you back to the studio when you’re ready. Good dance friends will be waiting with open arms whether you’re returning to shimmy or cheering them on from the audience. Dance will always be there when you need it, and it will not fall apart while you’re gone. Sit on the couch, eat the ice cream, wear the sweatpants. Rest. Be a hermit until things start to look a little brighter and the energy you put towards dance starts to feel lighter. If therapy is financially and logistically accessible for you, I highly encourage you to find an excellent therapist to help with anything else that may be stressing you out or wearing you down.
Use Your Time Away to Define Your Values and Your Goals
Taking a break during burnout not only provides for rest, but it also can be a great time to redefine your relationship with yourself and dance. Have things in your life changed that have caused your values to shift as well? How does dance support/not support those values? Does the big fancy certification you wanted to pursue no longer seem so important in light of financial issues, job loss, health concerns? That’s COMPLETELY valid, and it’s a great thing to really think about before you plunk down that deposit and buy the plane tickets to avoid FOMO. Does the style of dance you practice and learn still resonate with you? If not, what does? Who are the instructors you can’t stop watching when their reels pop up in your social media? What excites current you vs. past you? Do your classes/dance friends/instructor/studio align with your values and support your goals? Taking the time to answer these questions for yourself may help inform your next move. Whether it’s a renewed enthusiasm for your normal practice and style, or a drive to try something new and different, resting and reassessing can be invaluable in helping you stay with dance.
If/When You Return, Take it Slow!
This one is pretty common sense, but Imma nag you about it anyway. If you’ve been dealing with burnout and you’ve taken a break, it is not healthy or sustainable to resume dancing like the burnout never happened. You are different. Your body may feel different. Your mental health may react differently to seeing and participating in dance. I completely get the desire to cannonball straight back into all the fun stuff once the burnout phase has passed, but I encourage you to dip your toe into that figurative pool and see how it feels before you dive all the way in. Be prepared to drill and rehearse in shorter sessions, maybe attend a few shows as an audience member before you sign back up to perform (or host a hafla with friends to get the performance jitters out in a low stress environment), and finally honor your body in whatever state of movement it’s currently in, even if moves feel wonky and body parts aren’t shakin’ it like they used to. I promise you, with consistent but gentle movement and a lot of self-kindness, you’ll get back there again.
Burnout happens to the best of us (and possibly all of us!) and I truly believe that open and honest communication about our mental health should be just as prevalent in dance as glitter and sequins. If you’re feeling like your dance life has lost its luster, or you’re feeling the pressure of dance without the joy of dance, please reach out to a dance instructor or friend for support. We aren’t a dance community if we put the practice ahead of the people in it.
Sending you lots of love, healing, and shimmies when you’re ready.
-Cerridwen
