Methods for Body Positivity in Dance Practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT The whole person is a valued part of their dance community, and a healthy community plays an important role in the individual dancer’s self-identity and social, psychological, and overall health. As a dance community, we need to do everything we can to help increase body positivity through empathetic and empowering methods that bring everyBODY together. This article focuses on practices that involve making sure all bodies are represented; encouraging social connection and a sense of community, reducing body checking, influencing positive thinking, nurturing a mind-body-spirit connection, and instilling empathy, value, and acceptance in students. These methods are likely to be trigger-free for dancers because they do not specifically target issues of trauma nor do they introduce dancers to potentially new concepts of negative self-image. Simple methods increase ease of implementation; therefore less stress is placed on the educator as well.