We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wendy Reinert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Wendy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
My 20+ year professional dance career was marked by many ups and downs, from self-doubt and perfectionism, to magical moments on massive stages. I performed with dozens of companies, including the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and Mark Morris Dance Group, while supporting myself financially as a babysitter, personal assistant, waiter, and eventually, strength coach. There wasn’t one defining moment for me…it was more of a slow burn, a spark that started in 2007 (4 years into my professional career) when I was diagnosed with my first 2 injuries in the same doctor’s appointment. Those injuries led me to discover aerial arts, and while I couldn’t dance on the ground, I learned to dance in the air. A wrist injury several years later forced me back into dancing on the ground. Rather than being upset about so many injuries, I rode the waves, and continued to find my own path through the dance world. I was injured a few more times throughout my career, and came back stronger after every single one. Every injury taught me more and more about myself, my values, what was important to me, and how I wanted to use all the lessons I learned the hard way to help younger dancers navigate their own careers. Getting injured – setbacks in general – are inevitable when you’re a dancer. If you can use those challenging times as an opportunity, then you become unstoppable.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have been a dancer my whole life. There was never a time I *wasn’t* going to be a professional dancer. Every decision I made as a young adult allowed me to dance more. Despite how much I LOVE dance, I also see how harmful and problematic the industry can be, so much of my work is in changing the industry itself, from the top down – working with other educators, leaders and directors in the field to provide more reliable and effective resources to students – and from the bottom up – empowering young dancers to advocate for themselves, find their own voice as an artist, and recognize they are HUMAN first, so they can confidently demand change. Being A Dancer was born out of MY need for resources, support, encouragement for all the aspects of the dance world that aren’t taught in a dance studio: stress-management, time-management, perfectionism, the emotional impact of injury, motivation, constant competition. So I’ve combined my personal training certifications and life coach certification to help dancers thrive as humans inside and outside of the studio. For dancers, I am a strength coach incorporating both physical AND mental strength work. Most of the people I work with have complicated histories with their bodies because of perfectionism, injury or other factors (like simply societal expectations of what your body is supposed to look like). We work together to build a healthier relationship with your body. I especially love working with people in their 40s who have complicated injury histories and feel like they’ll just never *not* be in pain. I help them look at ALL the pieces of the puzzle, find the missing links, and we’re able to get them feeling stronger and healthier. I want the people I work with to be realistic about what’s possible, and I don’t just tell them what exercises to do. I help them find new ways of relating to their body, healthier ways of communicating with their bodies, ways to incorporate self-care that *actually* has an impact on how they move through life. I want you to have a healthy, strong, capable, mobile body, but more importantly, I want you to have a healthy relationship with your body. That means I’ll push you, but I’ll also teach you how to know when to push yourself and when you need to rest. I’ll be your biggest cheerleader, and I’ll also listen to your challenges. Strength is important for longevity as a dancer and as a human. And so is vulnerability and self-compassion. Being a dancer is one thing. Being yourself is everything. You are a human first.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I grew up as a classic ballerina perfectionist. It’s embedded in the way I was trained in ballet, and I LOVED the fact that there was a “right” and “wrong” to almost every step. My brain loved that black and white way of thinking and the pursuit of perfection. I was high-achieving, driven, smart, loved putting in the work. But over time, the constant “not good enough” messaging that was seeping into my psyche from directors who didn’t like me, or the times I got cut from auditions started to do a lot of harm. Every audition cut, every little mistake I made in a class or in a rehearsal felt like a cut to my self-worth, and I struggled for many years. Mid-way through my career, and a couple injuries in, I started to really hear the way I was talking to myself, and couldn’t believe how mean I was being. I was already working as a personal trainer, and I spoke so differently to my clients than I did to myself, and I realized I needed to start giving myself more grace. Over time, I started to realize how important it was to let go of perfection. I could continue to strive, and be ambitious, but I couldn’t do it because I “wasn’t good enough.” I had to believe that I was already good enough, AND I could achieve more. It doesn’t matter what you’re striving for…it matters WHY you’re striving. I’m proud to say I’m not a perfectionist anymore. I’m living a messy, beautiful, imperfect, confident life, and loving every moment of it.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Failure is not a bad thing!! I was always a dreamer. My AIM handle back in the day was “dancindreamer” and my main dream was being a professional ballerina in a full time, touring ballet company. *Spoiler alert* I never achieved that dream!! And I consider myself a BIGGER success because of it. I came to realize that the things I thought I would get out of a full time touring ballet job, I could get in other ways! I wanted to travel…so I booked myself tickets all over the world (Nepal, Patagonia, Peru, The Alps, Costa Rica, Paris, Hong Kong) and had AMAZING adventures. I wanted a community…so I focused on building my own network of friends. If I had become a full time ballerina, I may never have discovered personal training, life coaching, aerial arts, and how much I LOVE working with other people. I have had SO MANY experiences that have made me a more compassionate, caring, resilient, curious person, and I’m so glad I failed! I have learned so much navigating MY life, the one that I’m living now, every moment, every day, rather than lamenting the one I wish I’d had, the one I’d dreamed of that never happened.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wendyreinert.com
- Instagram: @onbeingadancer
Image Credits
Headshot: Chris Comfort
Subway Leap: Paul McGrath
Backbend: Andrew T Foster
Pull up & Plank: Holly Roberts