How One Studio Owner Teaches Important Life Lessons Without Competing with Chasta Hamilton
Do you feel like competing is an important part of your dance life? My guest today is Chasta Hamilton. She is the author of Trash The Trophies: How To Win Without Losing Your Soul, and the owner and artistic director of Stage Door Dance Productions. Chasta is reinventing the dance education model by focusing on character development and community involvement over the traditional competitive approach.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chasta when she was a speaker for my Confident Dancer Summit. We had a great conversation about shifting your focus when you are living out of alignment from your vision, even if that means going against everything the industry says you are “supposed” to do in order to be successful. Chasta and I agree that dance is a wonderful mechanism for teaching our dancers important life lessons. (I bet many of you agree with that too!) But Chasta’s perspective on how dance teaches those life lessons is pretty unique.
*This episode contains affiliate links.* That means if you follow the link to purchase Chasta's book, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Here are some highlights:
- [2m 45s] Dance as the catalyst for change
- [6m 13s] Stepping away from the competitive dance industry
- [10m 30s] Increasing confidence when we stop competing
- [14m 10s] What do you do if your studio doesn’t compete?
- [18m 02s] Communicating vision with parents and dancers
- [21m 52s] Improving confidence outside of competition
Chasta Hamilton
As the owner and artistic director of Stage Door Dance Productions, Chasta Hamilton is reinventing the dance education model by focusing on character development and community involvement in addition to technique and performance attributes. She is the founder and president of the nonprofit, Girls Geared For Greatness, and the founder and former editor of The Dance Exec.
Chasta was recognized by Triangle Business Journal as a 2014 40 Under 40, and in 2016, a Women in Business, Future Star. Proud to call North Carolina home, Chasta lives in Raleigh with her husband, John, and their Scottish terrier, Elvis.
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