Trash the Trophies to Treasure Triumphs

Go for the gold! We often push ourselves and others to pursue the apex of achievement. We strive to shine in a spotlight where many aspire, however, only few actually achieve. How fair are the highs and lows of competition? How can our true worth accurately be measured by the judges' decision to award a trophy for achievement? Historically, our society embraces a spirited relationship with the concept of winning vs. losing. Trashing the Trophies author, Chasta Hamilton has experienced the inner dynamics of competitive dance. Realizing the baggage and expectations that competition presents, the affirmation of a commitment to success requires balance with the need to teach children to value the process of the performance. Each year, families spend considerable time and money toward physical and emotional investments in activities for performance validation from industry standards evaluations. While trophies are attributed to success and victory, many times they also represent disappointments, stress, toxicity, and anxiety. Fueling her decision to trash the trophies in order to treasure triumphs, Hamilton moved to showcase performance, dance education, and nurturing a supportive community.

Thank you to Chasta Hamilton and her promotional team for the courtesy of providing an Advanced Reader Copy for editorial content purposes. This content my contain affiliate links.

Trash the Trophies to Treasure Triumphs

Trash the Trophies How to Win Without Losing Your Soul by Chasta Hamilton

"In the world of competitive dance—biased scoring, skimpy costumes, and toxic rivalries are the additional line items of a bill that exceeds thousands of dollars. Time and money are at stake for parents, but reputation is also at risk for students and studios. With no regulation, this third-party industry leaves you asking yourself the same question after every competition: Is it worth it?

 

For Chasta Hamilton, six years of sending dancers to competition was six years too many. She swore off competitive dance and rewrote her curriculum to focus on the whole person within each dancer. In Trash the Trophies, Chasta shows you how she challenged preconceived notions of success in the dance industry and embraced camaraderie, effective leadership, and philanthropic initiative to transform her studio. With the four pillars of her intensive training program—technique, performance, community, and character—you’ll learn how to increase ROI for everyone involved.

Dance is a commitment to principles; an art form beyond rankings and judgment. This book will show you how to put meaning back into movement, and joy back into the dance studio." 

Actively championing to bring “meaning back to movement”, by striving for camaraderie, effective leadership, and philanthropy, Chasta created five steps anyone can take to set dance students up for success without the competitions-

- Keep Solid Technique + Explore the Artistry

- Find the Performance Opportunities

- Drop the Devices

- Infuse Essential and Executive Functioning Skills

- Focus on the Teachable Moments. 

Trash the Trophies How to Win Without Losing Your Soul is now available.

About the Author

As Owner and Artistic Director of Stage Door Dance Productions, Chasta Hamilton is reinventing the dance education model by focusing on character development and community involvement in addition to technique and performance attributes. She is Founder and President of the nonprofit, Girls Geared For Greatness, and Founder and former Editor of The Dance Exec. 

 

Chasta was recognized by Triangle Business Journal as a 2014 - 40 Under 40, and in 2016, a Women in Business, Future Star. Proud to call North Carolina home, Chasta lives in Raleigh with her husband, John, and their Scottish terrier, Elvis. 

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