What is Your Stress Barometer?
Stress is part of life. Short-term it can rev you up for an audition or a performance. Unfortunately, many performers tend to ignore stress until they are mentally and/or physically exhausted. Continue reading
Do You Need Help with Time Management?
If your life feels out of control because you have too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it, join the crowd struggling to manage a limited resource—time. Some of you may be facing a demanding work environment, Continue reading
How can You Prevent Burnout?
Burnout is common in overachievers. Instead of pausing to “smell the roses,” you make increasing demands on your time and energy. These demands may be self-imposed or arise from an intensive Continue reading
Is it Time to Diet?
Now that the holidays are over performers often think about going on yet another diet. Please don’t! First, research shows most people imagine they’ve gained Continue reading
Have You Been Sexually Harassed?
Any form of sexual attention that feels uncomfortable, unwarranted or makes you feel pressured to respond is harassment, particularly in a relationship of unequal power. It can be verbal or physical. The key is to recognize the signs and protect Continue reading
Are You at War with Your Body?
Many people struggle with a negative body image in today’s youth- and weight-obsessed culture. Yet, while no one can control the dictates of society, it is still possible to be true to your core—corny as it may sound. Continue reading
What’s the Price of Celebrity?
Surprisingly, the answer is big! Even if your claim to fame is being Snooki on the reality show Jersey Shore, your private life is up for grabs by celebrity websites and tabloid media. There’s also the danger Continue reading
Are You Injury-prone?
At some point as a performer, you’ve probably had to deal with yet another dreaded fall or chronic pain that threatens to stop you in your tracks. It could be a sprained ankle, carpal tunnel syndrome, or polyps on your vocal cords. Continue reading
Do You Need to Increase Your Self Esteem?
Many performers struggle with low self-esteem. They are filled with self-doubt, fear of making mistakes, and feel as though their work is never “good enough.” In contrast, those with high Continue reading
Are You Sleep Deprived?
Are you sleeping less than you need for peak performance? The tip-off is if you’re getting less that the amount you would naturally sleep on vacation after the first few days after an exhausting schedule. Continue reading
Do You Have an Eating Problem?
Most eating problems start off with a simple diet. At first, the choice to cut back on certain foods, such as sugar or animal products, may reflect an earnest desire to better yourself. The danger occurs when you start putting your health at risk, all Continue reading
Can You Have a Personal and Work Life?
Many people struggle with creating a healthy balance between professional and personal demands. However, this goal can be especially elusive for performers, whose work often feels like a Continue reading
Do You Have Degenerative Arthritis?
Pain, stiffness, and crackling noises are often the first signs of deteriorating joints, as articular cartilage disappears and bone rubs against bone. While there are a variety of causes for this problem, performers may be at particular Continue reading
What is the Best Way for You to Cross-Train?
Every performer has different goals when it comes to cross-training. Apart from increasing your overall fitness level, you may want to gain or lose muscle mass, increase strength and flexibility, or use Continue reading
Re-entry After a Vacation
Re-entry after a vacation is a double-edged sword. On one hand, taking a break from your usual routine can leave you feeling refreshed, creative and ready to rock! That is, until you crash land into a mountain of work. Continue reading
What’s Love Got to do with It?
Ever wonder why you chose your particular vocation? Sure, luck, timing and opportunity all play a role in our choice. However, your eventual selection usually matches your unique form of intelligence. Continue reading
Why Prepare a Career Transition?
Did you choose to be a performer? Or did it choose you? For many people drawn to center stage it’s hard to tell which came first. All you know for sure is that you’re passionate about work Continue reading
New Year’s Resolutions: How’s the Change Going?
January represents a fresh start when many people make resolutions to improve their lives. Too bad only 40% of New Year’s resolutions work. The truth is, whether you want to discard a bad habit or begin Continue reading
Do you have “Spring Fever”?
It’s springtime! Are you feeling frisky—or down in the doldrums? Scientists tell us that “spring fever” really exists, especially for people in the upper half of the northern hemisphere. This can be reassuring if you’ve recently experienced Continue reading
What’s Your Pain Threshold?
Pain is a double-edged sword. It can protect us from serious injury by sending nerve impulses to the brain if something hurts. Yet, because pain is often undertreated, Continue reading
How Do You Fight September Stress?
September can be a stressful month for performers. The lazy days of summer are gone and pressure is mounting to move into high gear. Training programs, auditions, rehearsals or other projects that didn’t seem so urgent suddenly require action. Continue reading
Do You Have Stage Fright?
If you have stage fright you aren’t alone. This reaction cuts across all performance settings, affecting pilots, public speakers, students taking exams, and athletes—just to name a few. Performing artists are even more vulnerable to this form Continue reading
Are You Feeling Sad?
As you move into a dramatic change of season accompanied by overcast skies, shorter days and less sunlight, please pay attention! You may be one of a number of people who inexplicably Continue reading
How Do You Survive Summer Intensives?
You have passed the audition to train at a summer intensive for performers. Now it’s a piece of cake, right? Wrong! While you definitely deserve a gold star for immersing yourself in a unique craft versus an extended vacation, Continue reading
Do You Feel Guilty Taking a Vacation?
Serious performers often feel conscience-stricken when taking time off, especially as they move up the “ladder.” Suddenly, opportunities to study with master teachers or audition for good roles are possible. Continue reading
How’s Your Immune System?
A healthy immune system fights off disease and colds throughout the year. However, it’s especially important during flu season, which kicks in during the fall and ends in the spring. Unlike a bad case of the sniffles Continue reading
Are You Worried About Holiday Weight Gain?
Gaining weight over the holidays is not the end of the world. The typical amount that people gain is only around five pounds. So you can still fit into your favorite pair of jeans—for the moment. The catch is that even a small celebratory weight gain Continue reading
How Do You Achieve Your Goals?
Are you frustrated about reaching your goals? Whether it’s improving your health, career, Continue reading
Is Your Resume in Shape?
A polished resume is your first chance to highlight key elements that make you stand out from the crowd. Link your name and credits with a clear headshot of your face (and body for dancers) Continue reading
How Do You Handle Rejection?
Let’s face it, no one likes rejection. Yet even successful people have experienced it. In Fred Astaire’s first audition the comments about him were ‘balding, skinny, and can dance a little,’ whereas Walt Disney was fired for ‘lacking ideas’. Continue reading
Is Stage Makeup Bad for Your Skin?
Transforming your face with cosmetics is an essential part of being a performer for most entertainers. Yet all that glitters is not gold when it comes to stage makeup. Clogged pores, outbreaks of acne, and allergic Continue reading
What Are Your Summer Plans?
Summer offers many performers a vast open space to fill. Intensive training programs, camps, internships, and special workshops provide a variety of opportunities to hone your skills as a performer, whereas Continue reading
Are You Ready to Become a Professional?
Dreams of “making it” in the entertainment industry can fuel a burning desire to sacrifice other interests in favor of your passion to be a performer. Yet, while being goal-oriented and persistent Continue reading
Have You Scheduled Any Playtime?
According to the latest research, the ‘busy’ trap has increasingly taken over many Americans’ lives. Rather than enjoying some open time each day (unless you’re part of the group who has to manage Continue reading
How to Stay Hydrated in the Heat?
Dehydration affects your mood, health and performance. While a high altitude and low humidity increase your risk, it’s especially important to replenish lost fluids during the hot summer months Continue reading
Are You Ready for September?
Did you know that September is officially known as Self- awareness Month? Each person is gearing up for something, such as school, work or life (a.k.a. reality). While it is never easy to evaluate oneself Continue reading
Should You Reinvent Your Life’s Work?
Sooner or later, performers of all ages, including the most successful, often run out of room to grow. Problems range from discovering your training program isn’t a good ‘fit,’ to the need to develop other talents, Continue reading
Do You Have the November Blahs?
The November blahs can be a life-sucking monster for entertainers. It starts to get dark by mid-afternoon, the weather is colder, and nothing much happens until the Thanksgiving holidays Continue reading
How Do You Manage Holiday Season Stress?
Glittering decorations, parties, gift-giving, and celebrations with family and friends mark the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year. This whirlwind of festive activities is “supposed” to be joyous. Continue reading
Is Your Post-Holiday Relationship on the Rocks?
Holidays are a time for celebration; a lesser known fact is more relationships break up in January than at any other time of the year. Why? Experts believe that holiday stress, coupled with avoiding problems Continue reading
Do You Have ADHD?
Performers with ADHD (a.k.a. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are often standouts, as entrepreneurs, risk-takers, quick-wits, or thinking “outside the box.” Yet ADHD also inflicts deficits which can make it difficult to reach your full potential. Continue reading
How Do You Nail an Audition?
You’re not alone if you get a queasy feeling right before an important audition. In fact, even pros get nervous. The difference is that experience helps to quell excess anxiety. Still, given that no one can predict Continue reading
Do You Know How to Handle Success?
If you’re like most high achievers, you aim for greater success in your career whether it’s a specific job, promotion, or role. Yet we’ve all heard of gifted stars spiraling out of control when they had seemingly everything going for them. Continue reading
Are You Deficient in Vitamin D?
The “Sunshine Vitamin” (a.k.a. vitamin D) has been on a steady decline with the rise of sunscreen to ward off skin cancer and premature aging in a society obsessed with youth. Continue reading
What’s Up with Doctor-Shopping for Prescription Drugs?
Prescription drug abuse is a serious and growing problem. Apart from the illegal use of a friend’s prescription to get ‘high,’ certain controlled substances are highly addictive even when prescribed to help performers Continue reading
Do You Need a Good Survival Job?
Most dedicated performers focus on landing the job of their dreams, whether this involves the stage, film, or commercial work. Continue reading
Is The Heat Getting To You?
Summertime offers performers many enjoyable outdoor training and job opportunities. Yet there’s also the danger of becoming overheated and dehydrated when faced with seasonal risk factors, such as high temperatures and humidity, among others. Continue reading
