Teaching Through Chronic and Terminal Illness

These two words echoed in freelance dance teacher Jennifer Gordon’s mind following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her intestines. Even while recovering in a New Jersey hospital, she was working on class plans and choreography, returned to rehearsals the day after surgery, and then to teaching three days later, driven by a fear of losing work that has followed her through her last five surgeries.

Dance teachers are often taught that dedication means never missing class, pushing through pain, and always saying yes. But what happens when a serious chronic or terminal illness makes that impossible?  

Chronic illnesses such as depression, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease vary widely in severity and may never be cured, and terminal illnesses like certain cancers or ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) ultimately shorten life. Both can dramatically affect a dance educator’s ability to teach, yet many continue working by adapting their schedules, teaching styles, and expectations.

We spoke with three educators who share very personal stories and also received professional advice from Dr. Daniel Hall, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, to discuss balancing a teaching career while battling a chronic and/or terminal illness.  

Teaching During Treatment or Flare-Ups

Gordon, who is also the founder of Allegory Dance Theater in New Jersey, learned to “adapt nearly every aspect of daily life to continue teaching and functioning.” She also has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as well as Chiari malformation, and finds the real challenge lies in the instability of a teaching schedule while managing chronic illness. 

Though Gordon felt supported by several peers, she often was responsible for finding class coverage and experienced significant mental, physical, and financial stress surrounding recovery periods: “There’s been an ongoing fear of being replaced. However, I truly believe [that] dance has not only prevented my conditions from worsening, but, at times, helped bring me back from complete disability.” 

Hall encourages teachers living and working with chronic illness to start by “opening their hearts to self-compassion because teaching and living with chronic illness requires a lot of [it].” 

He also recommends that teachers find a separate support network outside the classroom or studio, whether that’s a teacher who can act as a mentor or a therapist who gives them the space to be outside of the role of teacher.  

Putting Health First

Julie Dupas, founder of Amsterdam Amateur Ballet in the Netherlands, teaches while navigating autism and chronic depression. “Getting diagnosed helped me a lot because it explained so much about my childhood and about how I work. That was helpful to realize that actually I’m on a different operating system than others, and it’s not like I missed an update or something. I’m just different.”

For educators with similar conditions, Hall emphasizes the importance of having a mind–body practice. “In our day-to-day life, we are so in our thoughts that it’s so easy to forget we are encapsulated in a body the whole time. A mind–body practice can be dance-related, but it could also be mindfulness meditation, yoga, seated breathing, gardening, and just awareness of the body, even for a few minutes [each day].”  

Dupas prioritizes her health through daily naps whenever possible and taking regular ballet classes. Despite the tougher days, she says, “dance is my savior, my happy place.”  

Planning Ahead for the Toughest Days

In Michigan, Suzanne Kirsch—a staff member at The Dance Academy in Westland; LaShelle’s School of Dance in Oak Park; and Fearless Dance Academy in Redford Township—lives with bipolar disorder. “Due to the stigmatized nature of mental illness, I’m open about my condition with studio directors after some time has passed, and they see that I am a valuable team player who is organized and reliable.” Kirsch, who is also a guest teacher at Genesee Dance Theatre in Perry, New York, admitted to having to leave a job she loved for her own well-being, resigning from a studio where she felt unsupported following hospitalization.  

“Whether things are going well or not, it’s always helpful to have a professional who you feel comfortable talking to,” says Hall. “It could be a nurse, a social worker, or therapist. It’s a wonderful gift if you can establish that, especially when things are going well, because inevitably there will be hard times in life.”

And remember: Be your best on the days you can, give yourself grace and compassion every day, and rest on the days your body forces you to rest. Despite your diagnosis, you are a worthy and important presence in your community. And, you are not replaceable.