How to Mentally Prepare for the Season Ahead
For professional ballet dancers, the start of a new season is an exciting time, with new ballets to learn, new choreographers to work with, and new challenges to tackle. Dancers may have ambitions about the roles they want to perform and the ways they want to grow.
Being physically prepared to take on demanding rehearsal days and performance schedules is crucial. But what’s equally crucial—and less frequently talked about—is being mentally prepared for what the season holds, whether that’s learning a daunting new role, working towards an artistic goal, dealing with rejection, or managing a complex schedule.
Spending some dedicated time readying your mind—just like you ready your body—can have big payoffs. Use the following strategies to lay the mental groundwork for a successful, fulfilling year.
Set Goals
First, set some objectives for what you want to accomplish this season, like specific casting goals. “When you’re looking at the rep, pick out one or two things you feel like you’d be a good fit for, relevant to your rank in the company, that you’re excited about,” suggests Kelsey Fyffe, a licensed professional counselor who works with Houston Ballet Academy dancers.
If you have an evaluation with artistic staff early in the season, that’s a great time to share those goals. “If you don’t actually communicate your goals, all you’re doing is crossing your fingers and hoping that it works,” says Fyffe. “The worst thing they can tell you is no.”
The feedback you receive can help shape other goals you want to tackle. Fyffe says that having ambitions that aren’t related to casting—and that you can control—is key. They could be artistic, like being braver onstage and taking more risks in rehearsal, or physical, like prioritizing recovery or getting stronger. “Make your own plan of how you’re going to attain it, regardless of how casting goes,” says Fyffe.
San Francisco Ballet principal Katherine Barkman solicits feedback from her coaches to help determine what she should focus on. Last season, for instance, she homed in on footwork. “I changed the way I focus on my feet at barre and did exercises before class to find more texture in my pointework,” she says.
If you do set casting goals, think about how you’ll cope should you be disappointed. “If you need to take a bit of time to grieve, that’s okay,” says Fyffe. “But try not to dwell on it for too long.” She recommends concentrating on what you can achieve within the roles you do have, even small ones. “Find places to have fun, to be creative, so you feel like you’re bringing your own artistry to it,” she says.
Do Your Homework
You may want to do some prep work before you enter the studio, whether that’s to audition for a stager or to jump into rehearsals.
Before Joffrey Ballet dancer José Pablo Castro Cuevas starts learning a story ballet he’s unfamiliar with, he likes to have a movie night. For instance, a few years ago, he watched Atonement ahead of dancing Cathy Marston’s adaptation. He’ll also watch productions danced by other companies, which he says helps him better understand the characters, the story, and what’s being asked of him.
Similarly, if a ballet has a complicated score, you might study it before auditions or rehearsals, or if you’re unfamiliar with a choreographer, you might watch videos to get a sense of their style. Fyffe says that artistic staff and veteran dancers can be helpful resources if you have questions about a piece or want insight about what a stager might be looking for.
Yet Barkman emphasizes that too much research can inhibit the imagination and spontaneity critical for creative freedom. When preparing the role of Tatiana for Yuri Possokhov’s new production of Eugene Onegin, Barkman tried to go into rehearsals with a clear head. “I wanted to give space for what Yuri wanted to come out through me in a really pure way,” she says.
And remember, while researching upcoming repertoire can help you feel more prepared, it doesn’t guarantee casting, says Atlanta Ballet company répétiteur Eduardo Permuy; you just might not be what the choreographer is looking for. Also, while he encourages research, it’s by no means required. “As an artistic staff, we’re here to provide everything the dancers need to succeed,” Permuy says. “There’s no expectation of coming into the season knowing anything—the only expectation is to be mentally and physically ready to go.”
Make a Plan
Once you have a sense of what your season is going to look like—your general schedule, the physical demands, the possible challenges—Fyffe recommends making what she calls a “cope-ahead plan” based on the support you might need and when. That could look like scheduling a massage after a period of grueling rehearsals or signing up for a meal service during a week you’ll be too busy to cook.
You can also use the days before rehearsals begin to knock out life tasks that might overwhelm you during the season, like making a Costco run, deep cleaning your house, going to the doctor, or getting your pet groomed. That way, “your days off during the season can really be for you,” says Barkman. For Cuevas, seeing his therapist in the lead up to a new season helps him process any emotions or nerves, and he makes sure to plan time throughout the season for appointments.
As the season approaches, Barkman ramps up any routines she relies on, like drinking a nightly protein shake before bed, or blocking social media in the evenings. “Even though I’m not performing yet, everyday habits are built in that time, and they are the framework for when I will be performing,” she says.
Being mentally prepared is about more than knowing the ballets—it’s about being able to show up with confidence and clear-headedness, which Barkman says comes from carving out time for herself. “In order to be mentally prepared, I need to get into a space to do my best work,” she says. “That, first and foremost, starts with time with myself.”
