Posts

2 Steps to Make Sure You Can Compete in Any Context

As coaches, we can all get in a rut sometimes where our practice structure gets repetitive. We have a similar warmup every day, we do similar drills for turns and jumps. We work on choreography, run it a few times full out and then rinse and…

Coach Interview: Kelley Tafazzoli, University of Tennessee

Tell us your dance story and how you became the coach at Tennessee. I am not a Tennessee native, I’m originally from PA. I’m a Yankee but now I live in the south so I bring a little of that brashness with me. I grew up a studio kid,…

To the Coach Who Won't Settle Until They Reach Perfection

Dear Perfectionist Coaches, I know there are so many emotions during all of the little moments throughout the competition season, and we have a  standard of perfection. Helping everyone get their hair and makeup done, walking to the warm-up…

How to Perform Under Pressure and Radically Reduce the Chance of a Mistake

Unlike other sports, dance coaches don’t get to coach ‘during the game’. Instead, we have to watch from the side and hope that our team can perform under pressure. We have to simply stand back and hope they don’t make a mistake during…
Erin Harold Alvarado

Coach Interview: Erin Harold Alvarado, Texas Tech

Erin Harold Alvarado is in her ninth year as the Pom Squad coach at Texas Tech University. In 2017, she led the Texas Tech Pom Squad to the squad’s first national championship in school history in Division 1A Jazz at NDA. Her team has won…
mental toughness

4 Mental Toughness Myths Holding You Back From Your Peak Performance

If you’ve ever set goals for your team at the beginning of the season, or encouraged your team to take the floor with confidence, or used visualization before competition then you understand the importance of mental toughness training.  …
Leyna Wimmer

Coach Interview: Leyna Wimmer of Francis Howell

I grew up dancing in Peoria, IL for 8 years and attended Lindenwood University after graduation to study dance and nutrition. I took time freshman year of college to travel with NRG Dance Project, working on the business side, and spent much…

The Fundamentals of Instilling Remarkable Mental Toughness in Your Dancers

How do I inspire mental toughness in my dancers? It’s one of the most common questions I get, and honestly, it’s something I think about a lot as a coach and a parent. I intentionally try to build mentally tough children (be it my own children,…
Bri Sorenson

Coach Interview: Bri Sorenson, Utah Valley University

Tell me about your dance background. How did you start coaching? I grew up dancing in the studio with a high school dance company then started at Utah Valley University. I did their team for 4 years and the next year I helped the current…
motivation

15 Meaningful Ways To Be A More Motivational Coach

Get this content on the podcast! Passion for Dance Podcast, Episode 1 Ever felt discouraged in the midst of intense nationals practices because the team isn’t giving it their all? Or have you started off the season with high hopes for an amazing…