Hi dancers, and welcome back to The Reel Deal! Today we are talking about training over winter break! As school, work, and dance come to an end for 2024 and the holiday break approaches, it’s easy to see the holiday break in two different ways. The first is seeing it as free time to work really hard so you can come back stronger after the break. The second is seeing it as a free pass to rest while you’re away from regular dance classes. One of these options sounds more like you, right? Instead of choosing one of these two options, I would challenge you to do a little bit of both. 

You want to be able to take advantage of the flexible practice time AND have downtime. During Winter Break, I recommend doing half (or even a little less than half) of what you would normally do in that amount of time. For example, if your studio's winter break is two weeks, then your time spent dancing and training at home should be close to the amount you would do in one week normally. That way, you are taking advantage of the practice time and making sure you rest. Plus, having a lighter training schedule means you can be more flexible, and you will be able to spread the time you spend dancing around based on your holiday plans and other commitments you have during the break. 

Another good thing about practicing over a break is that you have more options for what you can practice. Since you don’t have the structure of your regular classes, you can kind of mix and match what you’re working on at home. Instead of doing an hour of soft shoe and an hour of hardshoe like you do in the studio, you could just spend 30 minutes on the hardest step in your reel and 30 minutes on the toughest 8 bars of your set dance. Or if you’re working on your stamina and you normally run fulls in class and drill at home, maybe you prioritize running fulls during your time off so that you know you won’t be tired first class back after the break, and set the drills aside until then.

Whatever training you decide to do over the break, don’t overload yourself. Especially with time off of work and school, I know it can feel like the perfect opportunity to pack in tons of dance. But you want your break to be productive, and being productive doesn't mean being busy. Rest is productive too, and winter break is a great time to prioritize rest. If you read my blog post about sore muscles a few weeks ago, you probably remember reading how soreness comes from little tears in the muscles, and that resting your muscles repairs those tears with new muscle tissue which ultimately makes your muscles stronger. That’s one great example of how rest can be productive: you’re giving your body the time it needs to repair itself and get stronger. Rest is also productive for your mind. You’re coming out of a very busy time of year with school, work, and also dance, and winter break is a built-in opportunity to step away from all of that. It’s a good time to refocus on your goals for the new year and think about the mindset you want to have towards your dancing after the break. 

It’s also healthy to take your mind off dancing once in a while, as hard as that is. If you’re like me, you probably catch yourself thinking about your steps during school or work, when you’re driving, running errands… you name it. It’s one of those things that becomes a habit so quickly. But thinking about dance outside of time dedicated to dance, whether it’s intentional or not, uses up mental energy. Then when you go to dance class that night, some of the energy that you could have put towards that class has already been spent. Taking winter break as an opportunity to shut your brain off from dance, even just for a day or two, can replenish your energy stores so that you have 100% of your attention and focus there when it’s time to walk back in the studio. 

If you’re not sure where to start with planning your winter break training so you have time to dance AND time to rest, here’s my suggestion. Try to focus your training time towards the beginning and end of the break, and have your rest time in the middle. Practicing at the beginning will be most productive because you’re coming off of a week of regular classes, and then practicing again at the end of the break can help you ease back into dancing so that the first class back in the studio isn’t a shock to your system. Having rest time in the middle ensures that you will have multiple days of uninterrupted time away from training, instead of randomly dispersed rest days. Plus, it works out that most of the winter holidays fall towards the middle of the break, and that way you can spend that time with family and friends.

I hope you all have a wonderful Winter Break, and happy holidays to all who celebrate! The Reel Deal will be back in 2026!