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Thriving Dancers Podcast

Thriving Dancers Podcast

Di: Karina
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Thriving Dancers bridges the gap between holistic wisdom and modern science to help dance moms nurture strong, balanced, and joyful dancers, in body, mind, and spirit. Hosted by Karina Klepach, a doctoral student and Integrative Health educator with a Master of Science in Integrative Health and a BA in Neuroscience, this podcast explores what truly supports a dancer’s well-being and longevity. Each episode blends practical education, compassion, and a healthy dose of humor as Karina dives into homeopathy, herbs, emotional wellness, recovery, lifestyle habits, and how to integrate holistic care with conventional choices when needed. Through expert interviews, personal stories, and relatable conversations, Thriving Dancers helps moms feel informed, supported, and inspired to raise dancers who thrive in the studio and in life.© 2026 2026 Thriving Dancers Arte Genitorialità e famiglie Igiene e vita sana Intrattenimento e arti dello spettacolo Medicina alternativa e complementare Relazioni
Episodi
  • New York City Ballet Legend -advice to dance moms and their dancers

    New York City Ballet Legend -advice to dance moms and their dancers
    Oct 26 2026
    All the guests who grace this podcast with their presence are absolutely amazing! How I wish this podcast existed when my dancer was just starting out as a serious dancer (flashback 10 years...ahhhh), and this podcast existed for ME to help support her as a whole person. Today is no different, AND we elevate this episode with a true legend -Zippora Karz. Dance Moms: honestly, this episode is another must-listen if you have a serious dancer! I sit down with former New York City Ballet soloist Zippora Karz, who trained at Balanchine’s school while he was still alive and has some GOLD wisdom to share with the new generation of dancers and their dance moms! Zippora didn’t even know you could dance for a living. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s, fell in love with the work in her teacher Sheila’s studio, and at 15 was asked to stay in New York as a winter student. Her first thought? “I’m only 15. Are they crazy?” She went anyway, with one month to prepare and no winter coat. By her second year in the company she was dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy. Then at 21, she was diagnosed with diabetes (and misdiagnosed at first). For about 10 years she bounced between opinions, diets, and insulin doses, sitting on the side night after night watching younger dancers take the roles she once danced. She almost quit, every single day. Instead, she made a pact with herself to give the right approach a real chance. She started feeling better, her roles came back, and in time she was promoted to soloist. Today she teaches at the Colburn School and stages Balanchine ballets as a répétiteur for the George Balanchine Trust. And what she tells her own students might surprise you: there’s no need to go too early. We also talked about perfectionism, giving our power away as dance parents (guilty!), what to do when your dancer is in the wrong environment, and why it might be time to fit the world around the child instead of fitting the child into the dance world. This episode answers: Should your dancer leave home for a year-round program at 12, 14, or 15?What happens if the path doesn’t go the way your dancer planned?How do you speak up to a teacher or director without starting a fight?What if the only serious ballet training in your town isn’t a healthy environment?How can you support an 11-year-old who says she wants to dance forever? Inside this episode (00:00) Meet Zippora Karz, author of The Sugarless Plum(00:52) A family of dancers: Vaudeville, Juilliard, and the San Fernando Valley(02:17) Sheila, the teacher with flat feet who caught Balanchine’s eye(04:22) “You have to love the process”(05:12) Why the structure of the studio can be life-giving for kids(07:11) Leaving for New York at 15: “I’m only 15. Are they crazy?”(12:05) Seeing New York City Ballet: “You can do this for a living?”(14:27) Why Zippora tells her students there’s no need to go too early (and why she loves college programs)(16:33) Her friend who quit, went to Yale, and is still performing in her mid-60s(17:49) Chasing the YAGP trophy, and why there’s only one childhood(20:05) The diagnosis at 21, and the misdiagnosis that came first(22:58) “Just tell me what to do”: 10 years of everyone’s opinion(24:28) Almost quitting, every day, and what journaling showed her(27:27) Feeling better, roles coming back, and the promotion to soloist(28:17) Perfectionism, and accepting a new potential(29:58) It won’t be a perfect performance. Is she willing to let that be?(30:46) The perfection carrot, and how corrections land for dancers(34:48) Giving our power away to studios, providers, and the dance world(37:37) Powerlessness, and finding healthy control(40:01) Anger is healthy, and the “When you did this, it made me feel” script(42:20) “I’d be dead without insulin”: medicine plus whole-human support(44:07) Private lessons and mentorship, without the pressure(45:53) What if your dancer is in the wrong environment?(49:10) We can’t save our kids from every hard experience(50:42) Three ways to support a young dancer who wants to dance forever(51:57) Why her mom couldn’t win after a performance (sound familiar?)(54:52) When they can’t get to class: other movement, school dance programs, and many styles(57:52) Full circle: it was never about “making it,” it was the magic(58:54) When a dancer’s health is in question: take care of you first, then work dance into it(01:00:28) Fitting the world around the child first(01:01:53) Zippora’s final word: more colt than Thoroughbred, and it’s okay to fall down(01:04:23) Sitting out injured? Keep them moving in other ways(01:05:30) Baryshnikov on stage, and “I get to be here”(01:06:26) Where to find Zippora, and bringing a Balanchine ballet to your studio Takeaways No need to rush. With good training where you live and a family your dancer is happy with, Zippora sees no reason to send her away young. Companies take dancers a little older now, and ...
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    1 ora e 9 min
  • When the Math Doesn’t Math: Are You Investing in Your Dancer, or Just Spending? with Audrey Borden

    When the Math Doesn’t Math: Are You Investing in Your Dancer, or Just Spending? with Audrey Borden
    Oct 5 2026
    “The day you say you’re not doing this anymore, we’re throwing a party.” That’s what Audrey Borden, our guest today, told her daughters. Both are now professional dancers (23 and 25), and both are still dancing because they WANT to, not because anyone is pushing. Audrey never planned any of this. She signed her oldest up for one little class down the street so she could sit with the new baby for an hour, fully expecting the girls to end up in volleyball. Then she watched her toddler take that class more seriously than anyone in the room, and you know how the rest goes. Somebody mentions the competition team, then another class, then intensives. Somewhere along the way she found herself in a competition audience doing the math. With a background in education advocacy, government affairs, process improvement in manufacturing, and part-time work in family law (where she spent her days organizing families’ checking accounts and credit card debt during divorce cases!), she couldn’t stop connecting the dots between the fees, the competitive parenting, the injuries, and the strain on whole families. Those dots became her upcoming book, Our Great Investment. We went everywhere in this one, dance mom. Competition fees, college money, programs that keep accepting tuition from dancers they may never hire, and the closed-door conversation where a teacher shamed my then 14-year-old for choosing a family trip over intensive fees. Wait. WHAT?! Yes, we talked about that too. This episode answers: Is what you’re paying for an investment in your dancer, or just a spend?When do competition fees stop earning their place in the budget?How do you plan for a pre-professional dancer who will need you long after high school?What should your dancer own by junior year (the research, the budget, the dance bag)?What do you want your relationship with your dancer to look like when they’re 25? Inside this episode (00:00) Meet Audrey Borden, dance mom of two professional dancers(00:36) One “temporary” toddler class (and an hour’s break for mom) that snowballed(02:46) Kung fu or dance? Why Audrey always gave her girls the choice(04:27) From government affairs and family law to writing Our Great Investment(06:04) The competition where Audrey started connecting the dots(10:55) The breaking point: competition fees, and stepping back at 14 and 15 (they don’t miss it!)(13:14) Planning past high school: scholarships, loans, professional division tuition, rent, and income reality(15:38) What does your dancer want life to look like at 25 to 30?(17:31) What you ARE paying for: work ethic, structure, and “hire a dancer”(20:25) Why your dancer should be doing the research (and sitting down with a budget by junior year)(21:26) Programs taking in dancers they may never hire, and how long to let them try(22:14) Teaching, choreography, and side businesses(25:35) What feeds competition culture, and when competitions DO work for a dancer(27:00) Taking your power back with studios, competitions, and medical providers(28:46) The closed-door conversation: a teacher shames my 14-year-old over a family trip(30:16) Why studios push intensives so hard, and what a no-guilt competition model looks like(33:06) Siblings, split households, and the New York offer Audrey turned down(41:00) Audrey’s #1 advice: real supports, independence, and who packs the dance bag(44:31) Six hours of sleep as “the life of a pre-professional dancer”? Who decided that?(48:12) The one thing every dance mom should understand: there aren’t enough jobs(49:33) Sunk cost, resentment, and the party(51:09) Audrey’s goal-setting seminars, and why parents need goals too(56:46) Sending a dancer away at 14 for a year-round program(58:26) What the pro dancers and athletes Audrey interviewed had in common: self-directed drive(1:01:26) Final word: success without wellbeing isn’t success(1:04:33) Where to find Audrey Takeaways Start at 25. Before the next fee, ask what life your dancer actually wants at 25 to 30, then work backward. (Hello, Stephen Covey!)Know your kid. Some dancers thrive on competition benchmarks. Audrey’s girls didn’t need them. Neither answer is wrong, as long as it’s YOUR kid’s answer.Hand over the wheel. Who researches the summer intensives? Who packs the dance bag? If it’s still you, there’s your next project.Play the long game. College, professional division tuition, rent, your own retirement. Pre-professional dancers often need family support longer than most kids, so what you protect now matters.Dance is never wasted. Audrey sees her 25-year-old’s corporate success in the traits she built as a dancer. Hire a dancer! Find Audrey Website: https://www.ourgreatinvestment.comInstagram and TikTok: @our.great.investment (TikTok is the livelier one, per Audrey ;) )Goal-setting seminars for studios (with her daughters!) and one-on-one consulting for parents If this conversation had you doing the math too, you’ll feel ...
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    1 ora e 6 min
  • What To Consider When Self-Medicating with Over the Counter Drugs and Supplements

    What To Consider When Self-Medicating with Over the Counter Drugs and Supplements
    Sep 14 2026

    Success without wellness is nothing: the self-medicating conversation dance moms need to have!

    A couple of ibuprofen a day sounds harmless. I'm not convinced it is, especially for a dancer who lives away from home and has no one watching how often that bottle comes out.

    In this solo episode, I talk about why pre-professional dancers reach for over-the-counter pain relievers to get through training, what that can cover up, and why so many of them stay quiet about pain in the first place (fear of getting kicked out of the program comes up again and again). If your dancer is far from home, I share how I'd approach it: talk to her first, then bring the program in together, never behind her back. And because moms in dance groups swap natural alternatives as freely as pills, I get into why "what worked for her dancer" is not a recommendation for yours. The examples are a lidocaine patch, a rose oil I almost added for a dancer with a strawberry allergy, and a curcumin and iron question I'm still researching. If you're only now realizing your dancer may be doing this, no shame here!

    And since when did we decide dancers can't take a sick day to look after their bodies? Wait. WHAT?!

    00:00 Why this episode: dancers, especially those living away from home, using over-the-counter pain relievers to get through training
    01:29 What to teach your dancer about managing pain and reporting discomfort, from the day they decide on dance as a career
    02:28 Why masking pain with a pill worries me: the unstable area, the inflamed area, and the wrong step at the wrong moment
    03:21 A known injury with a plan is one conversation. Popping pills just to get through the day is another
    04:12 Fear of getting kicked out: why dancers underreport injuries, and why it isn't only a pre-professional problem
    05:00 A developing body, prolonged use, and what a boxed warning on a label is telling you
    06:09 What "long term" really means (two weeks counts!) and how that differs from occasional, correct use
    07:17 The questions to ask your dancer, starting with why she's taking it and who told her to
    09:08 When your dancer is away: talk to her first, then bring the program in together
    10:13 A local issue or something underneath? Why the source of the pain matters
    11:01 Facebook groups and "everybody's got their answer": why what's safe for one dancer isn't a recommendation for yours
    11:40 The lidocaine patch example, and why I wouldn't pass it along
    14:03 The rose oil and strawberry allergy story
    15:17 Why "what's the best vitamin?" has no honest answer, and why self-medicating with alternatives has the same problem as pills
    16:28 Curcumin and iron: why I keep researching what I think I already know
    17:28 Building your dancer's toolkit early, and being the support system she can call

    Takeaways

    • Notice. Pain that needs a pill just to get through class is information, and a reason to look at what's underneath it.
    • Ask. Why is my dancer taking this? Did someone who understands the problem tell her to, and for how long?
    • Talk first. If your dancer is away, start the conversation with her, then involve the program together.
    • Individualize. Pills, patches, oils, and supplements all belong in a conversation with a provider who knows your dancer's history.
    • Start early. The conversation begins when a dancer decides she wants to dance professionally, well before she's living away.

    I am an integrative health educator, not a doctor or a clinical professional. This episode is health education only. Every dancer is different, and your own licensed provider is the place for questions about your dancer's pain or any medication.

    Questions or topics for a future episode? Send them through Instagram (instagram.com/thrivingdancersco) or email team@thrivingdancers.com.
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    21 min
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