From Planning to Studio: A Full Day of Mental Skills Training for Dancers at the Dance Science Symposium

How do you fill an entire day with learning about mental skills training (MST) and keep dancers, teachers, and practitioners energised, curious, and involved? At the 2026 Dance Science Symposium at the University of Wolverhampton, Prof. Jennifer Cumming, Dr. Grace Tidmarsh, and I set out to do exactly that.

Signage at the venue

Arriving in the Space: Best Hopes, Superpowers, and Settling In

With 17 participants joining in person and 11 online, the room quickly became a shared space of curiosity, reflection, and experimentation. To help everyone ease into the day, we split into small groups for quick introductions. Each person shared their “best hopes” for the workshop (something we would return to at the end) along with a superpower they’d love to have.

It was a simple way to break the ice, but it helped people arrive in the space, get talking, and feel part of the room rather than just observers.

Once those first conversations were flowing, we brought everyone together for a short grounding exercise. This not only helped attendees settle after travelling, arriving, and meeting new people, but also set the tone for the rest of the day. 

You can download our free grounding infographics here: Grounding Infographics | The Sprint Project

So… What Is Mental Skills Training?

Jenn talking about the foundations of MST

Once everyone was settled, we eased into the foundations of MST. Simply put, MST is a way to systematically learn and practice how dancers’ manage their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours so they can perform, learn, and grow. Although MST has its roots in sport psychology, it isn’t just for athletes but for anyone. By exploring mental techniques such as goal‑setting, imagery, or cognitive reframing, people can develop mental skills like maintaining confidence, refocusing attention, or managing emotions. Over time, these skills support broader mental qualities such as self‑awareness and confidence, which can benefit performance, wellbeing, and personal development.

Focus cards used during an activity

We didn’t expect attendees to take our word for it, so we had them try some mental techniques themselves. People experimented with grounding exercises, played with cue words, and used imagery to build pre‑performance routines. Seeing and feeling these techniques in action made MST come alive and showed that practising mental techniques doesn’t have to be complicated or time‑consuming. Instead, these tools can be playful, adaptable, and shaped around the dancer in front of you.

To learn more about mental skills, check out this post: https://www.sprintproject.org/post/mental-skills-matter-your-guide-to-learning-applying-and-sharing-them

Planning And Evaluating MST: The Part Nobody Talks About (But Everyone Needs)

After these practical explorations, we shifted our focus to how MST is actually planned and delivered in real dance settings. Grace introduced an implementation checklist designed to help practitioners think through the things that often get overlooked (e.g., cultural fit, available resources, buy‑in from the wider team) and how to evaluate whether MST is genuinely helping or unintentionally causing harm.

Grace presenting the implementation checklist

We then brought these ideas to life through four dance‑specific case studies. Each one reflected a common challenge in the studio: performance anxiety, returning from injury, partnership tension, or perfectionism. After choosing a case study, each group dug into thoughtful conversations about the pressures dancers face and how MST can support them in ways that feel safe, meaningful, and realistic.

The Afternoon: Where Everything Came Together

After lunch, we shifted our focus towards how MST is actually implemented and delivered in dance settings. We explored different ways to evaluate whether MST is effective and meaningful for the dancers engaging with it, and how to create environments where these practices feel safe, supportive, and useful. Using the CARES model, we looked at how delivery style shapes the whole experience. Many people recognised how easy it is, especially in busy studio environments, to slip into controlling habits without even realising it. The model gave everyone a chance to reflect on their own approach and think about small, intentional shifts they could make when delivering MST to dancers.

Michelle talking about the CARES model

Putting It Into Practice

To wrap up the day, we returned to the case studies and added to MST planning by using everything we’d explored together. The room buzzed with ideas as groups shared their insights, reflections, and suggestions for future projects which highlighted needs they felt should be addressed within the wider dance community. We closed the workshop by revisiting the “best hopes” everyone had shared at the start of the day, checking in on how many of them had been met or reshaped through the experience. From there, we ended with a simple reflection: What will you start, stop, and continue after today?

The responses were thoughtful and generous, making for a fitting end to a day built on curiosity, connection, and practical learning.

What We Learned

By the end of the workshop, it was clear that MST really works when people can experience and not just hear about it. The day showed us that dancers and teachers are looking for approaches that are practical, adaptable, and usable in their own settings.

We also saw that when people are given space to talk openly about the pressures dancers face, they naturally start linking MST to dance‑specific needs like confidence wobbles, perfectionism, partnership challenges, returning from injury, and managing difficult emotions. The conversations highlighted that practitioners are not only interested in this work but ready to offer the contextualised support dancers want and need. The day also reinforced that delivery style matters. The CARES model prompted honest reflection about how easily controlling habits can slip into teaching, even with the best intentions. Many participants left with a clearer sense of how to create climates where MST feels safe, collaborative, and dancer‑centred. Finally, the energy and discussions throughout the day implied that dance specialists want more ways to bring mental skills training into everyday practice in ways that fit dancers’ context and every day. 

If this sounds like something you also feel a need for, please contact us in the SPRINT team.

Post written by: Michelle S. Dwarika, Doctoral researcher for the SPRINT project