 | Dancers in the Southern California area were privileged to have renowned Dutch mental trainer and author of Dance to Your Maximum, Maximiliaan Winkelhuis, present a workshop for competitors of all levels and was also available for private coaching sessions. The class was held at the beautiful new studio owned by champion dancer and sought after coach and adjudicator,
Nadia Eftedal, the Rhythm Room Studio located in Sherman Oaks. |
About Max: The topic of the day, “The Charismatic Dancer--the energy that gets you noticed on a crowded floor”, is one that every dancer is keen to learn about and incorporate into their performance. Max has trained many of the top dancesport competitors from around the world to bring out their personal best by strategic planning, using energy, touch and feeling to enhance performance and strengthen the mind for competition. Erik and I personally were grateful to have Max as a mentor during our competitive career, helping us unify our partnership, creating balance and providing insight into how to work better together to reach our goals.
His book Dance to your Maximum is the premier resource for competitors wishing to intelligently plan their careers, and covers all manner of details, from practice schedules, to creating your personal branding look, to preparing the mind and body the day of the event. If you’ve not gotten a copy yet, we highly recommend it.
The Charismatic Dancer:
Max’s presentation today on the charismatic dancer focused on what sets apart dancers (and others) who we find charismatic. Charisma is not defined by the boundaries of law and rules, but touches others by being innovative, unique, groundbreaking and because it is unorthodox, can be both loved by some, hated by others, but not ignored. A charismatic dancer opens your heart and touches you personally by his authenticity, vision, and as Max describes it, the “we” feel, which is makes others feel that they are connected to him or creates a desire to be like him. Part of connecting to others is through the sense of touch and of course as dancers, there’s a lot of touch going on! How the dancers physically touch each other and the energy they use to touch the audience through eye contact and expression draws people to them and will get them notice on the floor.
Through defining the factors that create charisma and practicing the use of positive energy through touch and eye contact, the participants at the workshop were able to see how these ideas will produce an effective method for developing their own charisma. Max’s positivity and encouragement in giving the information to the class makes everyone feel they can take these ideas and make them their own successfully.
We hope to see Max back in the Southern California area again in the near future!
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