Joe Lott Dance – dance – marketing

Award-winning Choreographer
Arts Marketing
Wellbeing in Dance for Every Body

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(CW: ED) When we’re bombarded with gym ads, fat

(CW: ED) When we’re bombarded with gym ads, fat phobia, and constant ‘new’ diets, (etc etc) it can make it really hard to just enjoy moving our bodies.
I love dance, but in my 20s, my dance practice got tangled up with the desire to be ‘the best’, thinner, worthy etc. The more rules I gave myself about how I should be training, the less joyful dancing became.

I’m switching up my thinking on this now, but it’s an ongoing practice not something that happened magically one day.

These are 3 questions that helped me:

1. If you struggle to move for joy, who or what are you doing it for?
For me, I realised I was trying to prove to myself and others that I was ‘good enough’. Like, if I wasn’t super thin with a solid triple pirouette, I wasn’t enough. Good enough for what though? I realised no one was ever going to give me a certificate saying “Josephine has passed the ‘good enough’ exam with gold stars⭐️⭐️⭐️”. Feeling enough was more about how I treated myself. (Hint, more self-compassion and self-kindness)

2. How do you set yourself up for success, to enjoy moving/exercising?
For me, I realised I needed rest days, proper sleep, seeing my friends, wearing workout clothes I felt good in, and having realistic training aims. (Your mileage my vary) I realised I didn’t actually ENJOY getting up at 6am for spin class - it actually made me nauseous 🙄

3. What activity is so fun for you, sometimes it doesn’t even feel like exercising?

Even though I love dance, this wasn’t dance for me. I still have too much emotional baggage around dance. A few years ago, I discovered I love bouldering, it doesn’t feel like exercise at all, even though it’s a great workout. Now I go to the Boulder gym 2-3 times a week. I keep it as my fun thing, that also happens to be good exercise. I try not to give myself any rules or expectations, I just go and play at the climbing gym with my friends ☺️

Btw - how do you add captions to a post video?

I’m really interested to hear if these thoughts resonate with you?

#eatingdisorderrecovery #moveforjoy #danceforjoy #choreographerlife #healthydancers #happydancers #happydancerslife #dancementalhealth #dancermentalhealth #dancerwellbeing

Up early this morning for strength training. These

Up early this morning for strength training. These days I often go bouldering as it’s great fun and amazing for all over joint stability and strength. But when I started warming up my body was saying ‘nope, not today’. And I listened.
Instead of training, I foam rolled, gently stretched tired muscles, and did a bit of turnout muscle isolation - then I wrapped up in my fave scarf, bought a cappuccino, and watched the world waking up.
There’s a time I would have forced myself to train - coz that’s what dancers do right? Push through the pain! Work hard! Commit! But not anymore. Now I know our muscles need rest days so they can grow back stronger. Dancers need rest days to repair micro-tears, increase bone density, strengthen neural connections, and prevent overuse injuries. (And us older dance people in particular really need to work smart, not hard ☺️)
Rest days are part of dance training, whether you are a pro or a beginner ☺️
We know this from sports science, but culture change in dance can be slow.

In case you need it, here is your permission slip for rest days 📝💚

#dancetraining
#dancerlife
#choreographerlife
#danceprehab
#dancerehab
#strengthtraining
#boulderinggirls
#strongwoman
#restdays
#danceishealing
#danceforjoy

That’s right, I bought the kitten leo and I wore

That’s right, I bought the kitten leo and I wore it to ballet class.
And I love it. 😻
Until recently I would’ve told myself - that colour doesn’t suit you, that neckline isnt ‘flattering’, your legs look too thick in shorts, it’s too silly.
But these days I’m practising choosing joy and defining success for myself 💚

I realised that talking that way to myself just perpetuates a mindset of excluding those who don’t fit the eurocentric, underweight, able-ist, white ballet body ideal.

I want dance to be inclusive, and that starts from including myself.

We all have bodies deserving of joy.
We all deserve a kitten leotard if we want one. 😉🐈💚

@cloudandvictory
#dancerlife
#equalityindance
#danceuk
#defineyourownsuccess
#balletforall
#danceforlife
#danceforall
#everybodyisadancebody

Can we normalise not discussing weight or weight l

Can we normalise not discussing weight or weight loss in dance class?

I took ballet today, alongside some STUNNING ex pro ballet dancers. It’s an absolute joy taking class with them, except today there was lots of chat about weight gain and weight loss.

Can we aim for a world where ballet and dance is for all bodies? As @cloudandvictory say, Every Body Is A Ballet Body!

Personally, I enjoy watching healthy, happy dancers on stage/film. Dancers who appear underweight make me worry, I watch them dance but I just worry about their bones, their hormones, their mental health.

Can we normalise discussing health and happiness in the dance studio, not weight? 💚💚💚

Meet Bonnie. She was kind enough to work with me o

Meet Bonnie. She was kind enough to work with me on the Unfurl project. 💃🏻Hope you enjoy the films, catch them at the Link in my bio. @bonniesimonsdance_

Can you make a dance film without a choreographer?

Can you make a dance film without a choreographer? Meet Tingting Yang - the second dancer to feature in my dance film portrait project for @offbeatoxford - Catch all 4 short films at Link in Bio. They’re available free online til Sunday. 👍 hope you enjoy them x

Live today at link in bio. These films were such a

Live today at link in bio. These films were such a fun project and thank you to everyone who sent me such warm feedback on them.
They’re intended as a brief moment of escape, joy and connection. Hope you enjoy them 💛💛💛 watch at Link in Bio @offbeatoxford

Dancer is Karni Ishai, a regular at @flexersandiland Acting Our Age classes! A pleasure working with Karni. 👏👏👏

#unfurl dance films go live on Tuesday @offbeatoxf

#unfurl dance films go live on Tuesday @offbeatoxford online.
Link In Bio 💚
Editing dance from my cosy sofa with a whiskey + soda = My version of bliss.

Improvisation and filming by Tingting Yang. Editing and direction by me.

Are you an artist or arts professional? Can you sp

Are you an artist or arts professional? Can you spare 4 mins to answer my questions and help design simple, affordable marketing support for artists and arts professionals?
Pls complete my 4 min survey! Link in bio.

So often when I’m talking to my inspiring clients I find myself giving similar advice - things like; focus on the benefits to your audience, use a Call To Action, simplify the booking process, use images that tell your story… I could go on ☺️ The thing is, marketing for the arts is NOT complicated, but it’s usually not covered in most creative/arts degrees or training.
IMHO this leaves artists and educators at a disadvantage - having so much to offer, but not being clear how to cultivate the audience that loves what they do.

So, I’m developing something simple, useful and affordable to help artists and arts professionals like you to Grow An Audience that Loves Your Work. I’m right at the early stages of planning - I’d be so grateful if you can please spend 4 mins answering my survey questions - Link in bio
Thank you! 💚💚💚

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