Balancing the Time Commitment: A Parent’s Guide to Supporting Competitive Dancers
Remember summers in the 90’s when the days lasted forever and we rode our bikes around the neighborhood with no cell phone and no supervision until the sun went down? Yeah. So competitive dance kids in 2023 are living life at a faster pace. They spend their summers at intensives, traveling for comps, and maybe squeezing in a few photo shoots and family vacations. Let’s lean in to the challenge. Here are our Dance Angels’ best time management tips. Send yours to info@thedanceangel.com
Structured scheduling will help the entire family to thrive. Designating blocks of time for school, homework, tutoring, dance, church, and leisure gives kids the big picture and provides a way for them to thrive amidst their intense training schedule. Athletes in training can’t fly by the seat of their pants, but they can grow accustomed to planning fun stuff during their designated leisure blocks of time.
A shared family calendar placed prominently in the house is a great way to start the week. Not only will the entire family gain awareness of what is going on in each other’s lives, but a large, centrally located chalk board is a great canvas to write a literary quote, a Bible verse, a science fact, or a motivational message. Add segments like “Coming Soon” or “Goals for the Week.”
Prioritization is paramount. There are so many good opportunities for children; play dates, school clubs, neighbor hangs and more. But serious pre-professional dancers are unique in that they must prioritize class and training over the extras. Teaching these skill while they are young is a great way to prepare them for young adulthood and beyond when the sacrifices are even more antithetical to human nature. Being able to prioritize will help them all throughout life.
Flexibility will save your mood, Mom! Your child’s dance director longs to make each dance shine like a professional company performance, but to do that, the dancers must be present and participating. This means that extra rehearsals and additional classes may be necessary. Decide early that you’re not going to let last-minute changes or long rehearsals get to you. Going with the flow with a cheerful attitude will not only boost your own mood, but it makes you and your artist/athlete a more favorable choice for special dance opportunities.
Self-care for both you and your child is so important for preventing burnout. Presumably, your dancer is never going to be burnt out because he or she has the dancer gene – but you – you are a different story. You are sacrificing your free time for your child’s dream. Children are not always grateful, easy to work with, or even cognizant of the kindess of others. So be sure to encourage yourself and thank yourself on their behalf! Make a list of things that make you happy and tick them off one by one weekly.
Periodically reviewing the schedule creates an opportunity to reflect on the goals you’ve reached and the milestones ahead. In November, take a look back and quantify the weeks your dancer has spent in ballet, count the hours, toast with a sparkling cider and have a victory celebration. Don’t let this joyful journey become robotic.
Big-Picture thinking will help everyone to thrive. Never lose sight of the long-term goals. If you don’t have long term goals – make it a point to visit the ballet, Broadway, go to a concert, interview a choreographer. Winning competitions may be your short-term goal, but what does your child aspire to be? Have that conversation. You’d be surprised how many of our children have a vision and a dream already.
Conclusion:
Balancing the time commitment of a competitive dancer is difficult for the entire family. But by putting these tips into practice, we believe that you will rise above the chaos and graduate to the level of a true Dance Angel.
