My passion is to help dancers master the mental side of dance and truly perform to their fullest potential with confidence, freedom, and joy!

After making the decision to stop dancing professionally in order to heal from a knee injury, I decided to fill the gap I saw in the dance community and become the person I wish I had, hence The Confident Dancer was born!

This began my journey of providing effective mental support for dancers who want to work with a professional who can not only help them perform to their fullest potential with confidence and joy, but offer support from the perspective of someone who deeply understands the unique needs and dreams of high-level dancers.

Though there were many times where I felt like I was soaring with confidence and joy, it was in the times where I felt doubtful of myself and abilities, thrown off by performance anxiety, or alone coming back from injuries that I realized how deeply our minds affect our experience, performance, and career results. I noticed many peers experiencing similar frustrations yet it seemed that dancer-specific support in this area was widely lacking.

Having grown up at a small recreational school and eventually training year-round at the Houston Ballet Academy, graduating from the University of Utah with a BFA in Ballet, and dancing professionally with the Oklahoma City Ballet, I know that the life of a dancer can be so joyful, but also so mentally and emotionally difficult at times.

About Me

I am a Former Professional Ballet Dancer, Speaker, High-Performance Mindset Coach, and Founder of The Confident Dancer

About Me

I am a Former Professional Ballet Dancer, Speaker, High-Performance Mindset Coach, and Founder of The Confident Dancer

My passion is to help dancers master the mental side of dance and truly perform to their fullest potential with confidence, freedom, and joy!

Having grown up at a small recreational school and eventually training year-round at the Houston Ballet Academy, graduating from the University of Utah with a BFA in Ballet, and dancing professionally with the Oklahoma City Ballet, I know that the life of a dancer can be so joyful, but also so mentally and emotionally difficult at times.

Though there were many times where I felt like I was soaring with confidence and joy, it was in the times where I felt doubtful of myself and abilities, thrown off by performance anxiety, or alone coming back from injuries that I realized how deeply our minds affect our experience, performance, and career results. I noticed many peers experiencing similar frustrations yet it seemed that dancer-specific support in this area was widely lacking.

After making the decision to stop dancing professionally in order to heal from a knee injury, I decided to fill the gap I saw in the dance community and become the person I wish I had, hence The Confident Dancer was born!

This began my journey of providing effective mental support for dancers who want to work with a professional who can not only help them perform to their fullest potential with confidence and joy, but offer support from the perspective of someone who deeply understands the unique needs of high-level dancers.

Six years later, I am still deeply invested in providing this service to the dance community, and am grateful to have had the honor of working with dancers from all over the world, including those from some of the world's top companies such as New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and many more.

In additional to working with dancers individually, it has also been a great pleasure to impact hundreds of dancers through sharing mindset seminars at top schools, companies, and universities such as Miami City Ballet School, Estonian National Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, The University of Utah, and many more esteemed organizations.

practical strategies

For training your mind to support you in performing to your fullest potential with presence of mind, focus, confidence, and the ability to manage your mental and emotional state in the moments where it feels like the pressure to perform is on

What results can you expect from working together?

clarity on your plan

for accomplishing your career and training goals so you know what action to take in order to confidently move towards your desired results, whether that be landing a company contract in audition season, coming back into the studio after a difficult injury, or cutting through the confusion and fear around making big career decisions so that you can step into your future with excitement

personal transformation

in releasing the old mental, emotional, and behavioral patterns that have been limiting you from performing the way you want and affecting your emotional wellbeing so you can be the confident dancer you want to be

the confidence to know

the value of what you uniquely have to offer, the boldness to advocate for yourself, and the courage to fully put yourself out there for the opportunities you’ve always wanted

a new level

of motivation, mental wellbeing, and the feeling that you truly do have the autonomy to run your mind instead of letting it run you

the ability

to experience a counter-cultural level of joy, fun, freedom, empowerment, and hopefulness as a high-level dancer. These are so often trained out of us when we get to a higher level in our training and careers, and I am SO passionate about helping dancers to bring it back!

What results can you expect from working together?

practical strategies

For training your mind to support you in performing to your fullest potential with presence of mind, focus, confidence, and the ability to manage your mental and emotional state in the moments where it feels like the pressure to perform is on

clarity on your plan

for accomplishing your career and training goals so you know what action to take in order to confidently move towards your desired results, whether that be landing a company contract in audition season, coming back into the studio after a difficult injury, or cutting through the confusion and fear around making big career decisions so that you can step into your future with excitement

personal transformation

in releasing the old mental, emotional, and behavioral patterns that have been limiting you from performing the way you want and affecting your emotional wellbeing so you can be the confident dancer you want to be

the confidence to know

the value of what you uniquely have to offer, the boldness to advocate for yourself, and the courage to fully put yourself out there for the opportunities you’ve always wanted

a new level

of motivation, mental wellbeing, and the feeling that you truly do have the autonomy to run your mind instead of letting it run you

the ability

to experience a counter-cultural level of joy, fun, freedom, empowerment, and hopefulness as a high-level dancer. These are so often trained out of us when we get to a higher level in our training and careers, and I am SO passionate about helping dancers to bring it back!

credentials

*Qualifications earned at the Trainer level of NLP, coaching, hypnotherapy, EFT, and T.I.M.E. techniques through the IBCP indicate that I have successfully completed over 400 hours of supervised trainings and evaluations in order to be qualified to train and certify other practitioners in these modalities. This means that I have received education and have demonstrated an understanding of these modalities for helping others at a level that far exceeds what is necessary to work with clients individually.

What is NLP? To learn more, click here.

• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of Neurolinguistic Programming
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Success and Life Coach
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of T.I.M.E Techniques
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Practitioner of Emotional Freedom Techniques
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of Hypnotherapy
• IPEC Certified Professional Coach (program accredited by the International Coach Federation)

• International Professional Speaker at top ballet companies, schools, and universities
• Founder of The Confident Dancer, an online community of 20k+ dancers
• Advanced Ballet Instructor and Guest Masterclass Instructor
• Former Professional Dancer with Oklahoma City Ballet
• BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah (graduated with top honors)
• Graduated from the top levels of Houston Ballet Academy

Click to Verify IBCP Membership

Credentials

• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of Neurolinguistic Programming
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Success and Life Coach
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of T.I.M.E Techniques
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Practitioner of Emotional Freedom Techniques
• IBCP Board-Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of Hypnotherapy
• IPEC Certified Professional Coach (program accredited by the International Coach Federation)

*Qualifications earned at the Trainer level of NLP, coaching, hypnotherapy, EFT, and T.I.M.E. techniques through the IBCP indicate that I have successfully completed over 400 hours of supervised trainings and evaluations in order to be qualified to train and certify other practitioners in these modalities. This means that I have received education and have demonstrated an understanding of these modalities for helping others at a level that far exceeds what is necessary to work with clients individually.

• International Professional Speaker at top ballet companies, schools, and universities
• Creator of The Confident Dancer (an online community of 20k+ dancers)
• Advanced Ballet Instructor and Guest Masterclass Instructor
• Former Professional Dancer with Oklahoma City Ballet
• BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah (graduated with top honors)
• Graduated from the top levels of Houston Ballet Academy

What is NLP? To learn more, click here.

Click to Verify IBCP Membership

I want dancers to know that they don’t have to wait for the system to completely change for them to truly have an experience in this art form that they are proud of and grateful for. The heart behind my work is to support and advocate for dancers in helping them to become the most empowered and healthy version of themselves while acknowledging that we still exist within a very imperfect industry. My belief is that as each of us embodies the change we want to see, we actually become a part of creating the larger change.

As I continue to serve the dance community throughout my professional career, I desire for my work to play a role in creating a culture shift in the ballet world by actually speaking hope and life into dancers' lives individually. I know that there is so much work to be done in creating systemic change in the ballet industry, and I am so thankful for and supportive of those who are doing that work to create top-down change. For me, my personal sense of calling is to stand side-by-side with dancers while we still have life to live in the midst of this imperfect industry taking a new shape.

my vision

I want dancers to know that they don’t have to wait for the system to completely change for them to truly have an experience in this art form that they are proud of and grateful for. The heart behind my work is to support and advocate for dancers in helping them to become the most empowered and healthy version of themselves while acknowledging that we still exist within a very imperfect industry. My belief is that as each of us embodies the change we want to see, we actually become a part of creating the larger change.

As I continue to serve the dance community throughout my professional career, I desire for my work to play a role in creating a culture shift in the dance world by actually speaking hope and life into dancers' lives individually. I know that there is so much work to be done in creating systemic change in the dance world, and I am so thankful for and supportive of those who are doing that work to create top-down change. For me, my personal sense of calling is to stand side-by-side with dancers while we still have life to live in the midst of this imperfect industry taking a new shape.

my vision

Photos by Jana Carson Photography

Kirsten Kemp