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Nourishing Dance is an indispensable guide to help dancers flourish both on and off the stage. Written with the unique insights and sensitivity of a former professional dancer and current eating disorder specialist, dietitian, and educator, this much-needed resource provides research-based, practical approaches to support dancers in fueling optimally, nourishing a peaceful relationship with food, and nurturing more balanced and resilient body image.
Under-fueling, body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and disordered eating are far too common among dancers. Despite the prevalence of these issues in dancers across genres, and their negative impacts on dancers’ physical and mental health and performance, they have not been adequately addressed in the dance community. Improving dancers’ health and well-being is necessary for both dancers and the art form to thrive, and everyone involved in the training and care of dancers can play an important role in this mission. Nourishing Dance provides essential information on nutrition, body image, and eating disorder prevention to help parents, teachers, staff, choreographers, leadership, athletic trainers, coaches, and healthcare professionals contribute to making the dance world a healthier and safer place for dancers.
Writing Nourishing Dance was a true labor of love, and I believe this book has the potential to make a meaningful difference in how we nurture, protect, and care for dancers. Change is possible, and it will take our collective effort. I hope reading this book will give you the necessary knowledge, tools, and inspiration to be a part of the way forward. Together, we can shape a brighter future for our dance community.
For the love of dance,
Monika Saigal’s book, Nourishing Dance addresses the difficult subject of how some of the current practices in dance training can negatively affect the health of dancers. It is a comprehensive and thoughtful guide to the problems that can arise around body image, misinformation about food and nutrition, and negative aspects of diet culture in the dance world and in general. The book provides clear nutritional guidelines and concrete steps to address some of the detrimental psychological pitfalls of the dance community’s entrenched customs and traditions. I hope all dancers, dance teachers, artistic staff, and dance medicine practitioners read this book and use it as a valuable guide.
I have been waiting for a book like Nourishing Dance to be written for years, to support my teaching and leadership roles in dance. An essential and compassionate guide, Saigal’s new work offers value-driven, informative, and tangible tools for caring for dancers. This vital contribution to the dance industry breathes hopeful energy into our sector and will galvanize a new era of artist care.
Nourishing Dance is a true gem challenging diet culture and offering a comprehensive guide for dancers, and those working with dancers, to stay informed on best practices for supportive care. Monika brings together science, research, and personal experience from her dietitian and dancer perspectives, creating an invaluable body of work and impactful call to action.
This brilliant book is a must-read for dancers, parents/caregivers, dance educators, and leadership as it offers the best of modern science, social-psychological theory, and comprehensive, practical recommendations, enhanced by Saigal’s unique expertise as a dancer and celebrated dietitian for dancers
This is one of those rare books, clearly meticulously researched and written, that we have needed for many years; one that I genuinely feel will change the wellbeing landscape for everyone involved in dance. Monika draws on a huge depth of personal and professional experience which is clearly evident throughout this truly remarkable book, and my hope is that every teacher and teacher-in-training worldwide gets their hands on it.
Finally, a dance nutrition book that bravely discusses inclusion, diet culture, and the power of language. Nourishing Dance is a must read for all dancers, teachers, parents and health professionals who want to make the dance world a happier and healthier place.
Comprehensive in scope and grounded by scientific research, this indispensable book will serve as a resource for parents and for all those invested in the health and well-being of dancers. It should be required reading for dance teachers, administrators, and artistic directors, as well as for every health professional who cares for dancers.
Nourishing Dance is a comprehensive guide and a must-read for dance educators, parents, staff, choreographers, and anyone responsible for developing dancers. Monika Saigal demonstrates the importance of education and the use of language as she challenges common practices in the dance industry in the name of “tradition.” She provides extensive support for the prevention of eating disorders and provides essential information on nutrition for dancers.
Monika reminds us that dancer health can only be meaningfully improved to the extent that the prevailing dance culture improves too. This book provides clear guidance not only for dancers but also for those shaping the culture to better support them. Directors, teachers, choreographers, parents, health professionals – read these words and put them into action!
Advising dancers is difficult if you haven’t been in their shoes, but Monika Saigal has this box checked: her dual expertise in dance and nutrition practically jumps off the page. The information she shares is so important for not only dancers to have, but everyone in a dancer’s orbit. I appreciate how she addresses disordered eating in a way that feels both practically useful and honest, and also absent of hyperbole. I wish I had this resource when I was a professional dancer!
Monika Saigal’s book, Nourishing Dance addresses the difficult subject of how some of the current practices in dance training can negatively affect the health of dancers. It is a comprehensive and thoughtful guide to the problems that can arise around body image, misinformation about food and nutrition, and negative aspects of diet culture in the dance world and in general. The book provides clear nutritional guidelines and concrete steps to address some of the detrimental psychological pitfalls of the dance community’s entrenched customs and traditions. I hope all dancers, dance teachers, artistic staff, and dance medicine practitioners read this book and use it as a valuable guide.
I have been waiting for a book like Nourishing Dance to be written for years, to support my teaching and leadership roles in dance. An essential and compassionate guide, Saigal’s new work offers value-driven, informative, and tangible tools for caring for dancers. This vital contribution to the dance industry breathes hopeful energy into our sector and will galvanize a new era of artist care.
Nourishing Dance is a true gem challenging diet culture and offering a comprehensive guide for dancers, and those working with dancers, to stay informed on best practices for supportive care. Monika brings together science, research, and personal experience from her dietitian and dancer perspectives, creating an invaluable body of work and impactful call to action.
This brilliant book is a must-read for dancers, parents/caregivers, dance educators, and leadership as it offers the best of modern science, social-psychological theory, and comprehensive, practical recommendations, enhanced by Saigal’s unique expertise as a dancer and celebrated dietitian for dancers
This is one of those rare books, clearly meticulously researched and written, that we have needed for many years; one that I genuinely feel will change the wellbeing landscape for everyone involved in dance. Monika draws on a huge depth of personal and professional experience which is clearly evident throughout this truly remarkable book, and my hope is that every teacher and teacher-in-training worldwide gets their hands on it.
Finally, a dance nutrition book that bravely discusses inclusion, diet culture, and the power of language. Nourishing Dance is a must read for all dancers, teachers, parents and health professionals who want to make the dance world a happier and healthier place.
Comprehensive in scope and grounded by scientific research, this indispensable book will serve as a resource for parents and for all those invested in the health and well-being of dancers. It should be required reading for dance teachers, administrators, and artistic directors, as well as for every health professional who cares for dancers.
Nourishing Dance is a comprehensive guide and a must-read for dance educators, parents, staff, choreographers, and anyone responsible for developing dancers. Monika Saigal demonstrates the importance of education and the use of language as she challenges common practices in the dance industry in the name of “tradition.” She provides extensive support for the prevention of eating disorders and provides essential information on nutrition for dancers.
Monika reminds us that dancer health can only be meaningfully improved to the extent that the prevailing dance culture improves too. This book provides clear guidance not only for dancers but also for those shaping the culture to better support them. Directors, teachers, choreographers, parents, health professionals – read these words and put them into action!
Advising dancers is difficult if you haven’t been in their shoes, but Monika Saigal has this box checked: her dual expertise in dance and nutrition practically jumps off the page. The information she shares is so important for not only dancers to have, but everyone in a dancer’s orbit. I appreciate how she addresses disordered eating in a way that feels both practically useful and honest, and also absent of hyperbole. I wish I had this resource when I was a professional dancer!
