Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Milner
Hi Jennifer, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started as a professional ballet and Broadway dancer. As I dealt with injuries, I learned Pilates and fell in love with it. When an injury ended my career, I became certified to teach Pilates and started working with the clinic that trains the New York City Ballet. I began training dancers from all over the world and felt useful in the dance world still. When my husband and I moved back to the Dallas area, I reached out to local schools and companies and began training dancers in the DFW area. Now I work with dancers from Prosper to Arlington, Southlake to East Dallas. I travel the world teaching at conferences and schools everywhere, but love coming back to my clients in Dallas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Transitioning from being a dancer to being a coach and Pilates trainer was definitely difficult psychologically. When you’re working so intently in the dance world, your whole identity can be caught up in being a dancer. Figuring out who you are after that can absolutely be a challenge. That’s why I love working with this generation of dancers, and mentoring them through some of the rocky roads I already traveled.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work one-on-one with dancers to help them become healthier humans and more elite dancers. I specialize in pre-and post-injury rehab, as well as working with dancers with hypermobility and hypermobility disorders such as EDS or Marfan’s Syndrome. I’m a co-host for the Bendy Bodies Podcast, which gets information about hypermobility disorders out to a huge audience across the globe.
I also have a passion for helping neurodivergent dancers, as I believe they’re highly prevalent and under-supported in the dance world. I offer courses for dance teachers and trainers on how to support neurodivergent dancers, and have presented on the topic at dance medicine world conferences.
Mental health support for dancers is another bit passion of mine. I’m on the advisory board for Minding the Gap, a for-good company that seeks to bring support for dance mental health into all companies and studios. I’ve co-written and co-hosted many workshops with them for dance teachers, dance parents, and dancers themselves.
I currently work a lot one-on-one with dancers, but also love going in to a studio or company as a guest ballet or conditioning teacher. I believe that science and artistry are not mutually exclusive, and supporting a dancer through science makes them a better artist.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
For Pilates teachers just starting out, I encourage you to continue studying and training with other people. You grow so much as a teacher your first few years – I’ve been certified for 23 years, and I still sometimes feel like I don’t know what I’m doing!
For dancers, it’s a really hard road. Just remember that the only thing you can do better than anyone else in the world is be yourself. Don’t try to be like Tiler Peck or Beckanne Sisk – the world already has those dancers and they’re definitely better at being themselves than you are! Think about what you have to offer, and show that. I guarantee you, someone wants to see that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jennifer-milner.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer.milner/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxhecMI6eyVHzSvtVxuTugQ
