Self-love by Company dancer Lindsay McGivern
Photos by: Kitoko Chargois
“ It’s as simple as waking up earlier to stretch your toes and enjoy a cup of coffee. It’s prepping your meals to alleviate the question of what you’re going to eat day to day. ”
Do you ever find yourself struggling to make it to Friday? Ready for the weekend, solely just to catch up with yourself and do it all again. For weeks on end, I would find myself in this never-ending cycle of go go go… getting by each day instead of enjoying each for what it was. From what I could tell, I had two options.
Learn how to cope with a busy lifestyle OR
Burn out
As a dancer, burnout is something I’ve become all too familiar with. Being mentally and physically exhausted can lead to injury which for a professional dancer… is not an option.
Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly building a care system to set myself up for as much success as possible. I’ve learned that a few small implementations can make the biggest differences.
“Taking the time to put your needs first isn’t always the easiest feat”
What do these things look like you may ask? It’s as simple as waking up earlier to stretch your toes and enjoy a cup of coffee. It’s prepping your meals to alleviate the question of what you’re going to eat day to day. Maybe it’s putting the time aside to catch up with friends and family. Or finding the time outside of work to learn something new like listening to a podcast on your way to work.
Taking the time to put your needs first isn’t always the easiest feat. It is however when lack of self-care begins to reflect on your work ethic and weigh on the people around you. Burnout is real, but there are ways to avoid it. Just remember to take a deep breath and live each day thinking, “how can I make the next one better.”
Lindsay McGivern
Lindsay McGivern is a local artist with a BFA in dance performance and choreography from Slippery Rock University. During her undergraduate expereince, Lindsay performed repertoire from various artists to include Helen Simonaue, Ursula Payne, Teena Custer, Jennifer Keller, Matthew Schaeffer, and Matt Pardo. Post graduation, Lindsay performed with SPDP & Soy Sos as an apprentice in their production of “worx”. Choreographically, Lindsay has presented work through Millennium Dance Complex Pittsburgh/ Salt Lake City and the Koresh Dance Showcase Series in 2020. Most recently Lindsay taught at Seton Hill University as an adjunct faculty member. During her time instructing, Lindsay was able to create a body of work called “Step Out: Stay Alive” as well represent SHU at the National High School Dance Festival hosted by Point Park University. Lindsay currently teaches at Intensity Dance Academy in Mars, PA and continues to share her artistry as part of the Staycee Pearl Dance Project.