The Ballerina Mindset

Learn how to thrive in intense, competitive environments with these secrets from one of America's premiere ballerinas--and get a sneak peek at what her life is really like.

Ballet may look glamorous and effortless to audience members, but it requires grueling discipline. It's a competitive and physically and mentally demanding career that combines elite athleticism, artistry, and performance. Not only do dancers rehearse for six to eight hours a day before performing at night, but they also must make it all look easy!

As a principal ballerina with New York City Ballet and a one-time Broadway star--not to mention a mother of three and an MBA student--Megan Fairchild is all too familiar with these challenges. In The Ballerina Mindset, she shares all the wisdom she's learned from her nearly two-decade career, drawing upon her own experiences to show us how she learned to overcome challenges ranging from stage fright to negative feedback to a packed calendar to weight management--and how we can do the same. Inspiring, warm, and revelatory, The Ballerina Mindset is the perfect how-to guide for dancers, athletes, artists, and anyone struggling to stay sane in a high-pressure environment.“Encouraging and full of common-sense advice, Fairchild's book will help readers trying to fulfill their true potential. Even those who aren't pursuing ballet will find it helpful.”
—Library Journal

“A compendium of hard-won wisdom . . . Fairchild provides type A readers eminently practical and practiced advice for dancing ahead in life without the drama.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Fairchild has struggled with anxiety, self-doubt, and the crush of external criticism. She discusses all of this, and more, with wit, openness, and a bracing straightforwardness in this slim, well-written volume of essay-like chapters, in which she confronts both the challenges and the rewards of being a dancer at one of the world’s great ballet companies.”
—Fjord ReviewMegan Fairchild is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. After moving from Utah to New York City at the age of sixteen to study ballet full-time, she was offered an apprenticeship with NYCB, and was promoted to principal--the highest rank--just three years later. In 2014, she took a temporary leave from NYCB to play the lead role, Miss Turnstiles, in the Broadway musical On the Town. She is also the host of the YouTube series Coversations with Megan, a former brand ambassador for Cole Haan, and an MBA student at NYU's Stern School of Business.