Self-Affirmation | Pro Tip from Elizabeth Marlin

Our current School of Ballet 5:8 Featured Guest, Elizabeth Marlin, is a Company Artist with Ballet 5:8. We asked her to share some of her favorite pro tips with us. Today's final piece of advice is an important one and a great wrap-up to Elizabeth's incredible Featured Guest Series.

Elizabeth says:

As dancers we are constantly striving for perfection, which is what I love most about the art form. But that also means we are constantly staring at ourselves in a mirror, receiving correction after correction, and picking ourselves apart. This is enough to bring even the most positive person down!

I have found it to be vitally important for my mental health to think about one thing I did well during a combination to counterbalance all the things I tell myself I need to work on in that same combination.

This can also be applied to a rehearsal or performance you weren’t happy with – find and appreciate one thing that went well and focus as equally on that as on what you can improve. Dancers really don’t do this enough!

Cultivating this mindfulness can make a huge difference in your self-image and give you the confidence and fearlessness to take your dancing to the next level.