Advice for Dancers: Emotional Counsel and Practical Strategies

by Linda H. Hamilton

Dancers experience pain, joy, frustration, rapture, failure, applause, and are above the worldly concerns of food, money, and financial security. They live only to dance. Or do they? The reality is dancers of all ages, types, and skill levels often experience incredible physical and psychological stress and have traditionally bore their pain in stoic silence. In this much needed new book, Dance Magazine 's Linda Hamilton offers dancers the same type of advice and understanding they have come to trust from her popular monthly column. Psychologist Hamilton--a former dancer with New York City Ballet under the legendary George Balanchine--offers a complete resource for coping with the day to day pressures of being a dancer. Page after page is filled with the insight that can only come from a person who has been intimately involved in the world of dance. Hamilton outlines strategies for dancers for dealing with a variety of common physical and psychological issues and shows how to be true to your passion and bring back the joy in dancing. The book is filled with answers to dancer's most often asked questions and offers practical methods for dealing with such difficult problems as eating disorders, substance abuse, ruthless competition, and performance anxiety. Advice for Dancers will teach you how Advice for Dancers is a result of Hamiltion's extensive research and years clinical work with dancers and includes information for a survey of more that 1,000 dancers from across the country.

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 1998

Reviews

[Sally Kaack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty interesting read for pre-professionals, professionals and those who have moved on from a career in dance, with classical ballet in particular.

I’m not sure how outdated the statistics are but I found the book, informative and mostly relevant.

[Arabella Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-meaning, but badly outdated. She retired from ballet in 1988. The only parts still relevant are the purely psychological observations.