Concrete ideas to improve your dancers' connection
Today’s guest is Stephanie Westbrook, who is based in Sydney Australia and currently coaches the University of New South Wales Warriors Premier Dance Teams. Over the years her teams have won multiple National Championships, multiple international bids, and multiple Dance Grand Champion titles, and Stephanie has also received several awards for choreography. In this conversation, Stephanie shared with me that she only gets 1 hour a week with her team… one hour! It’s crazy to me, so I asked her all about building team morale and trust, and she shares some great exercises to try in the summer to set the team up for success, turning things around when morale is low, what it means to be competitive, and Stephanie's great advice to “drop it and swap it!” She also shares advice on how to start a team from scratch and her coaching non-negotiables. This was such a fun interview and I’m excited to share it with you now, let’s get to it!
Here are some highlights:
- [3m 05s] Building team morale
- [8m 50s] Exercises you can try to build team trust
- [13m 37s] What to do when morale is low
- [18m 00s] Starting your team from scratch
- [20m 25s] Coaching non-negotiables
- [22m 50s] Definition of success
- [30m 35s] Daily habits that are a part of success
Mentioned in today’s show:
Stephanie Westrbook
stephanie.westbrook.coach@gmail.com
Stephanie Westbrook
Stephanie Westbrook has been a coach and choreographer for over 15 years. Based in Sydney Australia, she currently coaches the University of New South Wales Warriors premier dance teams. Over the years her teams have won multiple National Championships, multiple international bids, multiple Dance Grand Champion titles and several awards for choreography. Stephanie is a former professional dancer, having been a cheerleader for the National Rugby League (St George Illawarra Dragons) and National Basketball League (Illawarra Hawks) in Australia. Her talents extend to the stage, having choreographed multiple musical theatre productions including Wicked, Jesus Christ Superstar and High School Musical. By day, Stephanie is a high school teacher, teaching Visual Arts, Photography, Dance and Drama. With 8 years of university education including a Bachelor of Dance, Stephanie believes that education is paramount to personal and professional growth.
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