Burnout: A Personal Look into how it Affects Dancers’ and Choreographers’ Lives
As a dancer myself, I have used the word ‘burnout’ to describe feeling completely disconnected from my brain and body, prompted by strenuous rehearsals or show processes. It’s a term I hear dancers and choreographers talk about both nonchalantly and with great intensity. So, what exactly is burnout and how do you know if you have it? Better yet, what do you do if you are experiencing it?
Overview
What is Burnout?
Burnout can be described as a state of consistent tiredness, irritability, and poor performance due to an overload of stress put on your body and mind. It is your body telling you that you have gone too far and you need a break.
Warning Signs and Symptoms
‘Burnout’ is a very generalized term and symptoms can vary depending on the person. Common warning signs include fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of enthusiasm, poor concentration, inability to recover quickly, disturbed sleep, increased susceptibility to injury and illness, and more.
Prevention
The best ways to prevent burnout are to get adequate sleep, eat nutritious meals, and understand your limits and honor them. Now, I’m sure everyone has heard those suggestions countless times, but sometimes those things aren’t as easy to execute as they seem, and there are personal barriers that prevent us. With that in mind, I have come up with unique and somewhat specific methods in which dancers can use to prevent burnout and help when things have gone too far:
Keep a daily schedule and plan “rest time”. Be specific and make it a priority.
Develop a yoga practice, meditate, and/or focus on breathwork to relieve stress and anxiety.
Create a recovery station in your house and include items such as a foam roller, tune-up balls, a muscle pain reliever topical, massage gun if available, and more. Displaying these items in your room or house will make it more likely for you to use them in your free time.
Reduce screen time, alcohol, and processed foods.
Understand what helps you reset and schedule those things weekly if possible.
Have open and honest conversations with fellow dancers, teachers, or choreographers/directors to explain how you are feeling and what you need in order to perform and feel your best.
Personal Discussion with Working Dancers and Choreographers
There’s endless information out there to help you understand the basic information regarding burnout. What isn’t as accessible, yet can be extremely valuable, is hearing directly from dancers who have their own unique experience with burnout and how they have overcome it. So, in attempt to provide insight into the reality of its nature, I spoke with other dancers and choreographers, who shared what burnout looks like for them , a couple who provided insights I’d like to share here.
In order to have full transparency in the conversations, I opted for all dancers to remain anonymous.
Dancer 1: “For me, burnout is very easy to identify. I get so drained a day of rest doesn’t help one bit. I’m able to notice when I push myself too hard even while I’m doing it, but the pressures of other factors inhibit me from allowing myself to take a break. Whether it’s for financial reasons, habitual reasons, or simply feeling like the only way to be successful is if I’m always going, it’s hard for me to let myself rest until I’ve gone too far - when complete breakdowns are a part of my weekly routine or I get injured.
Learning the importance of periodically tuning into how I’m feeling has been a crucial part in preventing burnout. I quite literally make a conscious effort to ask myself how I’m doing. Do I have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? Do I feel fully aware of what is going on in rehearsals 100% of the time? Am I making the time to recover from rehearsals? Am I making the time to enjoy my hobbies and see friends? If I am slacking on these things, it will be easier for me to feel fully burnt out and drained. So if I can stay on top of preventing it, I won’t ever let myself get too far.”
Dancer 2: “I started having scattered thoughts and was so stressed in the middle of a show process. I didn’t even know where it was coming from at the time, but I started feeling out of my body and it hit me driving to rehearsal one day. My body was burnt out and my brain was burnt out from all the choreography being thrown at me. I didn’t know it was burnout, I thought I was going crazy.
My body was depleted and my brain was trying to protect me by turning off, by dissociating. Once I realized I wasn’t feeling right, I was able to step out of it and find ways to make it tolerable since stopping all together wasn’t an option. I started taking cold showers in the morning which helped get me back into my body at least, and meditation helped as well. It took me at least two weeks to feel better. I wish I would’ve done the work before it happened, because then at least I would’ve started to feel better sooner.”
As the end of the year approaches, winter is a good season to reflect and slow down. We should allow ourselves deserved rest time while being cautious in the ways we proceed with setting and accomplishing new goals for the coming year.
What are ways you prevent and deal with burnout? As a community, we can all learn from each other! And dance companies like MashUp can learn from hearing about dancer experiences in order to better know how to craft more supportive dance work environments. Share your ideas in the comments below.
Megan Picas danced for Mashup for 5 years. Now, she is excited to have the chance to shine light on topics that need to be discussed among us dancers through words! Her goal as a writer is to provide unique information and perspectives that you can’t find elsewhere.