You might not notice it, but emotional intelligence is a trait that everyone has that affects you in everything you do. Your emotional intelligence influences how you navigate social situations, make decisions and even work toward achievements! Unlike your IQ, your emotional intelligence can be improved over time. It is a set of skills held together by your personality (you know, that thing that tells you to put glitter on everything). Good news! Dancers are masters of emotional intelligence.
Performing
From your ability to handle stress to time management, emotional intelligence affects your performance abilities. As dancers, this means your ability to dedicate time to practicing your routines, how determined you are to reach the next level and your confidence in your talents. You probably know that dancers are known to have more confidence than the average person and that dancing helps young dancers develop their social skills. This all comes down to each person’s emotional intelligence.
Developing Emotional Intelligence Through Dance
There are many ways that you can develop emotional intelligence! Some of the most important are introspective thought, perspective, and observation. These are all things dancers exercise on a regular basis! Whether you are in the studio or on stage, each movement in a performance gives way to all of these things. When you dance, you are conscious of every movement and the way each movement should convey an emotion or a piece of a story to your audience. Dancers are keen observers. You can’t learn a dance without watching someone do it first! These tools seem common to a dancer who uses them every day, but they are not things that everyone possesses! Take advantage of them!
What is Your EQ?
The best way to work toward better emotional intelligence is to find out what level you are currently on and go from there. There are many online tests that can help guide you toward finding out what level your emotional intelligence is (chances are it is pretty high!). From there, you want to exercise your emotional intelligence in the following ways:
1. Reflect on your emotions
2. Observe!
3. Ask “Why?”
4. Understand other perspectives
5. Make use of feedback
6. Practice!
We know that dance makes everything better, but seeing the real ways dance effects a person’s life is amazing! Working toward higher emotional intelligence is as important as stretching before class. What are you waiting for? Go stretch your emotional intelligence!
