Burnout

Feeling burned out, or going through a funk, or something. Or it could be the weather--I don't do well on rainy gray days, and we've had several in a row.
 
I danced a showcase, an almost-showcase, and a formation routine in December. For the two weeks prior to that, I was at the studio virtually every free moment either practicing, taking a group or taking a private. I dumped a boatload of money too.

It was great fun, I think I did reasonably well, but I've had no desire to repeat the experience. I'm not sure I'm burned out but my enthusiasm level is way down, even months later. I only danced a formation for this month's showcase.

We have medal testing coming up for the first time ever and I'm not sure I even want to bother with it.
 
I've not danced much in the past year. We will see what effect it has this year. I do plan to dance more, but my focus has changed, I think.
 
I'm feeling rather burnt right now myself. But I'm not going to even have the opportunity to dance for the next two weeks so maybe it will work itself out during that time.
 
Not burned out, but trying to give myself another day off during the week.

A week ago one of our hospitals had a Relay For Life benefit called Dancing With Our Stars. I think there were like 18 "celebrities" total, something like that, and a crowd of over 600 onlookers. I had three of my own local celebs to dance with, and since November the partner and I have been in the studio nearly every day working on routines with/for them. It was a lot of fun, and I'd definitely do it again next year, but it feels good to just take it easy for an extra day or two during the week. For now at least...
 
I think to prevent burnout you need to have a routine of doing so many days per week, and give yourself time to have breathing space ....outside of dancing
 
I think I'm about to burn out on EVERYTHING. Unfortunately I can't take a break (well, I could take a break from lessons, but San Diego and Yankee are coming up faster than I think) from anything. Hence the stress. I'm going to end up a great big teary mess on the floor someday. Or in hospital. One or the other. Possibly both.
 
QPO said:
I think to prevent burnout you need to have a routine of doing so many days per week, and give yourself time to have breathing space ....outside of dancing
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Good advice. When I completely stopped, I thought, this is nice,there is life outside of dancing. In general, I'm feeling a little less burned out than I was, but still in a state of flux....
 
danceronice said:
I think I'm about to burn out on EVERYTHING. Unfortunately I can't take a break (well, I could take a break from lessons, but San Diego and Yankee are coming up faster than I think) from anything. Hence the stress. I'm going to end up a great big teary mess on the floor someday. Or in hospital. One or the other. Possibly both.
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and I thought I had it bad:(
 
danceronice said:
I need a vacation. Next thing is San Diego DS, but that's work + comp. Definitely not a vacation.
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DOI...I try to remind myself that I can be miserable for absolutely free...so if your comp experience is more stressful than enjoyable perhaps you might want to re-think doing them for a time...or re-think your perspective on why the stress may outweigh the enjoyment...BTDT...I feel I positively owe it to myself to enjoy my comps as hard as I practice and as much money as I spend...if I don't, well I could be feeding a whole lot of starving people with my dance budget....the least I can do is let it make me a more joyous person...;)
 
MadamSamba said:
Hmmm...one of my friends is suffering a serious case of burnout @ the moment. She's stopped private lessons, hasn't been to a social in weeks and refuses to come dancing on weekends or weeknights.

Until her break she used to dance five times each week and was glad to dance at any social opportunity between the five group/private lessons. She loves dancing, but every few months she goes through this, "I think I'm going to quit dancing" phase and stops for a few weeks.

I know it happens and I went through something similar recently, but what are your thoughts on burnout? How often do you suffer from it (if indeed you do) and does returning (I'm assuming you return) feel better? Also, how long do your "burnout breaks" last?
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Well, I have kinda similar experience as a music major. I originally went to do performance in college until after sophomore year I finally realized I DISLIKED performing. Yet, I had pushed myself so hard that I totally stopped after I switched to a generic music degree. I was burnt out and had no desire to do it. I'd lost the love of it after hours of practice a day/concerts/etc for years. Now, about 10 years later, I've finally started to have a tickling of a desire to pick it up a little.

Because I love dance so much (and picked it up at beginning of college), I've been very careful to not burn out on it. When I first started, I was on college dance team/club and was dancing practically 5 days a week. For personal reasons, I had to take a break for a year after dancing for two. Then went back and danced for couple more years. Then again for personal reasons had to take a year off. Now, I don't recommend that for everyone, but I think at that time, it really helped me.

Question, does your friend compete in dance at all? I've seen now that I usually start to feel the most "burnt" when I get absorbed with being competitive/perfectionism/performance. I have to remember I'm doing this for fun. If needed, keep social dancing, but step back from lessons and competiting. The joy of dance far outweighs rate of growth...
 
Hmm...interesting topic.

I think for me the feelings of "burnout" have been very functional in the sense that they've prompted me to change my dancing routine when it needed a change. In retrospect, when I think about the times when I felt like I was progressing too slowly and didn't want to continue the way I was going, I really WAS progressing too slowly and DID need a change.

After the weekly routine changes, coaching changes, and discussions with my partner, I have generally had some of the most exciting periods ever, since the learning curve suddenly steepened along with the change.

I just need to take some time to think through what would really be likely to help. It's upsetting to myself and especially my partner that I'm in a funk in the meantime, but I think we both know that those feelings pass. (My partner has a different burnout pattern: he tends to need a break after competitions, as it seems several of you do.)
 
read thru the thread. have tried to recall any feelings of dance burnout and can't, only times where it was simply "time to rest", and i don't believe that ever lasted longer than a couple weeks. and frankly, those times may have all been inspired by "needing to rest the pocketbook" more than the body or the spirit. never had any thoughts of wanting to quit or feeling weary of a routine or momentum.

sounds like this isn't the norm. but, well, there it is. hiatus or no...can't imagine life without dance, now.
 
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