Gains are addicting. When we start getting stronger or faster it fuels our drive forward which in turn creates more forward progress – we have all experienced this in our lives. We even feel it in our emotions; we are happier, we sleep better, we are less irritated by life’s little annoyances. This euphoria in life creates a harmonic relationship with our goals, the more we achieve the more we want for ourselves. When we are in this zone of achievement the work is enjoyable because our efforts are rewarded with results. I call this phenomenon forward momentum.

Forward momentum is also infectious. You may have noticed this in your AcroDance classes, one dancer gets her side aerial, five minutes later another six do. We are attracted to gains because they are addicting and we are inspired by others who are progressing. When we lose our gains and our inspiration from others it is easy to quickly slip into stagnation. Every now and then we lose our forward momentum in life. Sometimes it is after a long break or a holiday, sometimes deadlines get the best of us or things come up in our personal lives. And sometimes trauma occurs. What we haven’t acknowledged sufficiently in the dance industry yet is that Covid-19 is very much trauma for young dancers. Children were unable to see their friends, unable to continue their dance training, schools closed, parks closed, life was suddenly on hold with very little warning. It is easy to see this situation as a trauma for people who were immediately affected by health problems or loss, but we have neglected to fully appreciate what it might be like for a child simply processing the world. As children looked up to the leadership of adults it was all very confusing, particularly because many of the adults didn’t agree on what was actually happening. The world came to a staggering halt and we lost the forward momentum in our AcroDance training.

This of course is completely natural and largely expected – we have all had different emotional responses to this trauma. We are now faced with the challenge; how do we get our forward momentum back? The tricky part here is that often kids don’t fully understand what exactly has happened to their motivation. They could be feeling sluggish, lazy and under-stimulated along with any number of feelings such as depression and anxiety. These conditions make it harder to restart even if they know they love dancing. As adults, we see this every January when there is a big rush to the gym for New Year’s resolutions, by February the gym is empty again. That is because change is hard, and we often quit before we regain the forward momentum needed to see results and drive us forward. The situation we have in the dance industry right now is the perfect storm, high anxiety, low physical motivation after such a long break and loss of routine.

Routine is so important in the developing years. It will be a struggle for us to get dancers back into the studio so once they are there we must reignite their passion and create opportunities for them to see their gains. Gains are addicting. As educators we must go into this gently, children are likely to be uncomfortable in their own bodies and experience soreness once they start moving again. We will need to deliver our classes with positivity, focus on productive fun and let our dancers know that it takes some time to establish a productive routine. If they are feeling resistance to their dance training, it is not because they do not love dancing but because they have lost touch with the euphoria created when we are in a state of forward momentum.

Children are resilient but there are psycho-social consequences of what we have forced them to undergo the last few months. Our physical health has suffered, many children and parents have been sedentary for months. Our reset may be overwhelming for all levels of organizations, the dancers, us teachers and even the parents. Extracurricular activities that provide a platform for fun movement are fundamental to regaining forward momentum in life. As we head back to the studio dance teachers should focus on making AcroDance fun by easing into the training slowly. After Covid-19 we have deeper considerations to make for the mental, social, emotional and physical development of our dancers. Check in with them, be kind, set realistic short-term goals, encourage self-monitoring and mindfulness and lead by example. We can all regain our forward momentum together. When we do, what a beautiful thing it will be.