Jenn Edwards has crafted a multifaceted profession: She performs with Le Patin Libre, a recent skating firm, dances, teaches, and choreographs for gymnasts and dancers, and performs in a band. Although her breadth of labor is spectacular, she’s additionally struggled with durations of self-doubt, questioning whether or not she really belonged in any of her chosen fields. “As a result of I’ve hopped round to totally different disciplines quite a bit, I typically felt like I wasn’t an professional at any a type of issues—I used to be simply form of a fraud in any respect of them,” she says.
Edwards’ experiences are indicative of impostor syndrome. Whereas the extreme doubt and concern related to this mind-set can turn out to be debilitating, it’s additionally potential for dancers to vary their thought patterns, bolster their confidence, and regain possession of their craft.
Impostor Syndrome and Dancers
“I’d be very stunned if I met with a high-level dancer they usually didn’t have some model of this,” says Liv Massey, a psychological efficiency coach and counselor who works with performers and athletes. “Impostor syndrome exists on a spectrum, so some folks have somewhat little bit of it and a few individuals are actually, actually paralyzed by it. However with most dancers I converse with, that is one thing we speak about.”
Impostor syndrome is a sample of pondering, says Massey, not a prognosis. It’s characterised by doubting one’s talents, downplaying achievements, and fearing being uncovered as a fraud, she explains. It’s common in high-achieving, pushed people, particularly those that are vulnerable to perfectionism. Folks with excessive anxiousness are additionally extra prone to expertise it, as are those that battle to welcome experiences exterior their consolation zone. If you end up dwelling on ideas of inadequacy with out additionally considering your exhausting work and success, it’s possible you’ll be experiencing impostor syndrome.
Triggers and Profession Results
Sure occasions or conditions can even immediate these thought patterns, and typically they will intersect with different elements of id. When Boston Ballet principal Chyrstyn Fentroy first started dancing professionally—and extra lately when conversations surrounding range, fairness, and inclusion took middle stage within the ballet world—she struggled with insecurity and fears that she wasn’t worthy. “I questioned if the whole lot that I had completed to date was deserved, and I began to essentially doubt that I had earned it. I assumed that it was the product of some ulterior motive,” she says. “I had folks say that I used to be solely getting employed into Boston Ballet as a result of they wanted a range rent.”
Triggers are particular person to every dancer, although there are some commonalities. Usually, the upper a dancer climbs within the ranks, the extra probably they’re to expertise doubts surrounding their talents and aptitude for the place, says Brooke Ewert, a licensed skilled counselor who focuses on treating athletes and performers. Moreover, touchdown a coveted function—or, however, having a foul audition or efficiency—can even trigger impostor syndrome to flare up. For instance, one dancer may really feel it most after a promotion as a result of they concern they don’t deserve their new rank, whereas one other may really feel it extra after being handed over for a job.
If impostor syndrome goes unaddressed, Ewert says, it will probably maintain a dancer again from progressing and reaching their full creative potential, even when they’re at a prime rank. It might even cause them to go away the sphere. Massey provides that impostor syndrome can be prone to result in burnout as a result of it will get in the way in which of the enjoyment and circulate state that always accompany efficiency. “If you happen to always really feel such as you’re going to be uncovered and also you’re residing on this perception system that you just’re not ok, that’s not a sustainable method to proceed to get pleasure from what you do,” Massey says.
Therapeutic and Coping
Edwards mined impostor syndrome for inventive inspiration, pulling from her self-doubt to choreograph a recent dance work, Imposter Syndrome, which debuted on the 2019 Vancouver Fringe Competition. “I believe that anytime we take an idea from life and put it into one thing we’re creating as artwork, it helps to course of that factor and separate you from it,” she says.
One other useful coping instrument, Massey explains, is solely labeling self-deprecating ideas as impostor syndrome. Doing so will help you acknowledge that they might not replicate actuality. “As a substitute of pondering ‘I don’t deserve this function,’ reframe it as: ‘I’ve labored actually exhausting for this, and I’m rising with every efficiency,’ ” says Massey. She provides that leaning in your help system, each inside and out of doors of the studio, will help as you make these changes.
If you happen to’re experiencing impostor syndrome, working with a therapist is useful, particularly when you’re discovering that these ideas are impacting your work and every day life. Fentroy says that attending remedy helped her to develop instruments to problem and reframe her ideas—and that nursing an harm final season turned an surprising salve for impostor syndrome, too. “I noticed that there’s a lot to like about your experiences. You don’t wish to stroll away from this profession and be like, ‘I hated myself your complete time and didn’t imagine in myself,’ ” she says. “It’s important to love your self via the exhausting issues, and loving your self via the exhausting issues is like reminding your self that you just belong the place you’re.”
