Why Rest is Where Training Sticks
A few years ago, I had a student who was struggling with her turns. She was practicing endlessly, drilling pirouettes over and over until she was red in the face. One day, after watching her frustration build, I suggested something radical: stop. I asked her to sit down, close her eyes, and simply breathe and imagine herself doing the turn for a minute before trying again. When she stood back up, she nailed the turn. She looked at me like she couldn't believe it. At the time I thought it was doing ideokinesis, imagining the turn that did the trick, but now I know there is maybe more to it.
Her nervous system needed that pause.
As teachers, we know the drive to “do more” is strong. We give our dancers new combinations, fresh imagery, creative drills — all with the hope of breaking old habits and integrating better ones. But the truth is, the change doesn’t happen while they’re working hard. It happens later, when they stop.
Think about the nervous system like a note-taker in rehearsal. During class, the brain is scribbling down all the raw data — the balance exercise, the new spotting drill, the coordination pattern. But the decision to actually keep that new information happens later, during rest. In sleep, or even in short moments of stillness, the brain is replaying, sorting, and wiring in what’s worth saving. That’s when movement patterns become permanent.
We know this with the body too. Muscles don’t get stronger while lifting weights — they adapt afterward. Joints, tendons, and ligaments remodel best in the quiet after effort.
The nervous system plays by the same rules. Without rest, novelty is just noise; with rest, novelty becomes transformation.
The hard part is that dancers often resist stillness. Many feel like rest equals falling behind. But in truth, rest is one of the most productive training tools they have. Even pausing for 20 seconds after a tough sequence helps consolidate what they just practiced. And of course, sleep is the powerhouse — research shows that motor skills, memory, and even creativity improve after sleep.
So maybe the most radical thing we can do in our studios is allow space for recovery. Normalize stillness.
Teach students that “rest isn’t the opposite of training — it’s where the training sticks.”
To your success,
Deborah .