How to foster positive body image for dancers and safe spaces to thrive with Leslie Kuny

In this episode of "Spirit of an Athlete," host Amanda Smith interviews Leslie Kuny, a renowned dance educator and choreographer with nearly four decades of experience. They explore the intersection of athleticism and artistry in dance, discussing challenges such as body image issues and the impact of social media. Leslie emphasizes the importance of creating supportive, inclusive environments for dancers, particularly neurodiverse dancers. She shares her journey and insights on fostering self-expression and confidence in young dancers. The episode highlights the dance community's need for understanding and support to promote mental and emotional well-being.

In this Episode: 

• 00:00 - The athleticism inherent in dance and its competitive nature.
• 02:15 - Challenges of body image and self-esteem faced by dancers.
• 04:30 - The impact of societal expectations on dancers' mental health.
• 06:45 - The role of coaches in fostering a supportive environment.
• 09:00 - The importance of inclusivity and understanding for neurodiverse individuals in dance.
• 11:15 - The significance of community and trust among dancers for personal growth.
• 13:30 - The influence of technology and social media on dancers' self-perception.
• 15:45 - Strategies for promoting self-love and respect within the dance culture.
• 18:00 - The balance between artistry and athleticism in dance.
• 20:15 - The need for a nurturing and safe space for all dancers to express themselves.

Please connect with Leslie here: 

Website: https://www.lesliekuny.com/

Email: lesliekuny@gmail.com

Instagram: @lesliekuny

Watch Gutsy Chick Podcast on YouTube!

Check out more from Amanda:
Website: Body Whisper Healing
Instagram: @Amanda.G.Smith
Facebook: Body Whisper Healing
Pinterest: AmandaGSmithBWH
LinkedIn: Amanda (Ritchie) Smith

Take the Gutsy Chick Quiz to find out how your athletic mindset might be holding you back from healing your chronic health issue: https://gutsychickquiz.com

Transcript

0:19

Welcome back to spirit of an athlete. I'm your host, Amanda Smith, and on this episode I interviewed Leslie Kuny, who is an award winning dance educator choreographer adjudicator, which I had to go look up. She's a judge, but she hates that word because it doesn't feel right to her in what she does for her athletes, her dancers. She's also a studio director who has immersed herself in the dance community for nearly four decades. This episode was so beautiful and inspiring and organic, and I absolutely love talking to Leslie because she gave me ideas about how I coach my kids and how I can do some things differently. We also touched on body dysmorphia. That seems to be something that dancers struggle with and have been struggling with for many years. And now that kids are able to watch themselves on video. They're starting to see these issues in other sports. Dancers are in front of mirrors now. Players are in front of videos. We also touch on neurodiversity. I love that Leslie calls it neuro spiciness because we are seeing across the board more letters being thrown at our kids and learning how to better facilitate and help them. In her experience, she has found ways to help athletes get back into their bodies when they start to get very heady. You'll learn a couple of little tidbits that she drops in this podcast that I hope you can use with your athletes. If you're a coach or a parent, I would love to hear how this episode landed for you. Please drop a comment, like the episode or subscribe to the entire podcast. Thanks for listening. Leslie Kuny thank you so much for joining me on spirit of an athlete and sharing your experience as a dance professional. Thank you Amanda, I am very excited to be here and considered an athlete. Yeah, right. Okay, let's go there for a second, because it's worth talking about. When I watched the cheerleaders in high school. So they won nationals in a dance competition, and I never once did not consider them athletes. Yeah, they were doing things that were so unbelievably impressive. And when you're raising your heart rate, I'm pretty sure that's what we consider an athlete. I like that, I like that that should be a new definition. Um, right. Because I mean bowlers and golfers and people playing darts. Our athletes, um, not to throw those people under the bus. I do not want to throw those people under the bus, but, um. Yeah. Dance, dance rides a fine line between artistry and an art and and a sport. And it's a continued conversation in the community. And I honestly just think it's a blend of both. That's what makes it so special. And like you say, right? Like bringing those elements in, um, you know, make the dance elements, make the cheerleader stronger and the athleticism makes dancers stronger and vice versa. So it all works. It all works together. I don't know, I'm not into these like black and white labels for that sort of stuff. Yeah. Uh, okay. So you bring up darts and and bowling and I've just got to say, like when you're in the moment and you're working a skill. Yeah. And your heart rate. I mean, when you're in the moment, your heart rate is rising. Yeah. Yeah. Granted, those athletes aren't doing an endurance sport. They're not doing a major power sport. But like, my high school again won nationals in bowling. And I'm just like, I didn't even know there was nationals for bowling. But they've won a year over year over year and it's so cool. Right. That's very cool. Yeah. And I think those, those, um, those sports, those activities, those sports show you how much is a mental game. And that goes right. Like those are the sports where it's like, you've got to get in control of yourself. So much so because you don't get to burst with energy and burn off that adrenaline and burn off that, like those like stress hormones that you have. No, you've got to hone them down. Like nailing these small things. I you know what? I've never really considered that. And I'm really I'm thankful. I'm really thankful for, like, being like, you know what? It's just like a different kind of thing. I love it. It is. And you brought up the fact that dance is athleticism and art. Yeah, I could say that about like, I was a pitcher in softball and that's how I always saw what I was doing. Yeah, yeah. Because you there's there's the strategy piece to it. Right. So choreography would be the strategy piece in my humble opinion when it comes to dance there. And it's this coordinated movement. Now with softball I'm doing the same movement over and over and over again. Yeah, in dance there is so many different moves that you have to do, right? Yes. And remember and remember them in order. My ADHD brain ADHD brain would just go, nah. You know, it's so, so just jumping onto the ADHD train, I think dance attracts neuro spicy kids because we get to focus and get into our perfectionist space and like, the repetition is like dopamine until it's not right. Um, yes. So it's so funny because I'm always like my my big question if I was to ever like, maybe do a research thesis is like, does dance attract ADHD perfectionists or does it create them? Or is it a blend of both? Because, um, yeah, there is a lot there's a lot to learn and doing proficiently and with technique and then and then put the artistry on top of it. And like you say, remember, although I mean, having music that goes with the like, that goes with the moves is like my saving grace. That's why I know every lyric to like every song from the 90s. And I'm like, what do I, what am I supposed to buy for dinner tonight? I don't know, can we put it to like, an old NSYNC song? That's the only way I'm going to remember it. Um, so the music is helpful. I mean, like, shopping now is great because it's just truly the music and the grocery store is just truly like for us. Um, right now the music does help with the memory part and and it's repetition. I think any, any athlete knows you are practicing to get it right as often as possible. And because we're humans, it's just not going to be right 100% of the time in any game, on any stage. But that's what we're working towards is consistency. Oh yeah. Wow. Okay. I love this so totally off track from what we're going to talk about. I'm so sorry. No, this is great I love this. So I love that you bring up that you get more of the neurodivergent kids in dance. Because I am seeing that trend right now. It's more overtly obvious. Yeah. Whereas I feel like in the in the 90s and, and early 2000, We didn't have all these labels. We didn't have all these letters after you know who we are, right? ADHD, PTSD, all of like, all of these letters that come all the acronyms. Yeah. But at the same time, it makes me it makes me really wonder, like, I, I didn't feel like I had good rhythm as a kid. I love music, I memorized 1,000,000,001 songs just like you. All of the words and then memories are tied to all of those songs. But when it came to actually mastering the movement, for me, it was never something that my body was like, yep, that feels really good. And now when I dance with my husband. So we've attempted to do swing dance a couple of times. That is challenging. I applaud you for that. Yeah. It's challenging. Oh, he's really great at it and I'm not. And and it's it, it becomes for me because you mentioned it. Perfectionism, ADHD. Like there's a part of me that constantly is resistant to just feeling the music, going with the flow, and being in the moment. Yeah, that's dance to me. And yeah. Yeah, that. I wish was something that went smoother for me because I love to move my body. I think there are so many people that are going to resonate with that phrase. I love to move my body, and then the next thing that goes to their brain is, but I can't dance. Yeah. And not going to get emotional about it. But I made a motion. Oh my gosh. Because and not to be like a, like a, like an anthropology like let's go back in time. Look at all the things. But it's like music and movement prior to written language, prior to spoken language, that is communication. We all know body language. So it's something that's so inherent within us as people, I think. And because we've monetized and commodified it just like anything. Right? Like it's same like we play games like. Right. That's how we learn. Um, and then it's like then, then there's the organized sports and there's, it's a, it's a spectrum. So but but it does make me sad when people like, I love I love moving, I love music, but I feel like I've got two left feet or I can't dance. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. That's just your brain trying to keep you safe from like, making a fool of yourself on the dance floor, which, like, I respect. And I get it. And also, let's make a safe environment for those people to figure that out, because that's what you need is time and space, uh, to go somewhere to explore that. And even with my like, I teach competitive dance students. So we are drilling, you know, we're we're working at a certain level. And it is always my mission to continue to have fun and and keep that sort of lightness. So we do lots of improv where I'm like, you're on your own and I don't. And I always challenge them because I'm like, I don't really want to see any real dancing. So I kind of make them stay like on the real dancing. So I make them stay on the floor. I'm like, you have to hear your guidelines. Here's your scaffolding. You're going to travel from one corner of the room to the other corner of the room, and you're going to stay low to the floor. And that's about it. Go. And you can't choreograph. You can't think it up like you've just got to go. And it it's a challenge for these kiddos at first because they're so the same way where you're like, let's just have a fun, you know, game. And it's like, no, no, no, I'm training at this level. Like, this is where my brain goes when I do this thing. Um, but keeping that sense of fun and improvisational skills gets kids and people, not just kids, back in their body and feeling confident. Oh my gosh, I love that. Okay, this is a perfect, perfect segue. Give us a little background on your experience as a dancer. Yeah. Um, great. Everyone's like, I'm tuning out now. Um. No, no, because it sets us up for the fact that you you are a teacher now. Yeah. Yeah, that's so much. More than that. Um, my self-deprecating humor is my. It's my crutch. Um, so I started dance when I was wee little, like, 2 or 3 years old, like a lot of, um, young self-identifying girls. And, um, and then because you're two and a half, you're like, I don't want to do this, and you quit. And then, you know, a few weeks later, I was like, mom, I want to go back to dance. And she's like, we can't you quit. It's the middle of the season. And of course, I was grumpy and sad, and then I and then my mom enrolled me the in the fall, um, dance runs like school from September to June. And, um, it honestly, Reader's Digest is like the rest is history. I continued to dance. I fell out of love with ballet. Um, probably around. Oh, I would probably say 7 or 8, you know, where you're. And I would say that's like a clutch year where you're kind of ramping up, like, ballet isn't like fun. Skip, twirl the twirl the scarves anymore. It's like, oh, now we have to buckle down. And the music was kind of not as exciting, and jazz looked like a lot more fun. And so I just stuck with jazz. Um, and then, um, my family moved. I wanted to get back into it. I recognize that I really loved it, and I saw that the kids were excelling, had ballet training, so I was like, rats, I've got to catch up. So I remember being like, you know, ten, 11. And I hadn't taken a ballet class in like five ish years. And I was like, I gotta catch up. So I did that, and then it just took off from there, like fell in love with it got. I mean, I was always in love with it, but as I felt more successful and I was able to accomplish more things as I got older, um, I really grew. I always had self-esteem, self-confidence issues, um, which still nagged me to this day to be, to be honest. Uh, but in dance, I did find some success. I was not the superstar of my studio, by no means, because I was not a ballerina. I was a jazz dancer and a lyrical dancer. Um, but I had an incredible teacher, an incredible mentor who made me feel valued and seen at the same time as I had a ballet teacher who didn't make me feel quite as valued and seen, um, just again, I always talk about this 90s different space, different time, different culture. Um, and I did not have a traditional quote unquote dancer body. I still do not. It's so funny because I look back at the person in the photos who is me, and I'm like, who thought that this was a problem? Who thought that any like. And I'm mad at myself because I'm like, I had 100% normal, normal body. I just happen to be a little bit taller than most of the girls. And I had very powerful legs and a booty. That's it. And a giant noggin, which I've always had. So I was just like, the proportions were different then, you know, sort of the lithe, tall, um, long necked ballet dancers. Um, and my feet were fine. They were. They weren't great. They weren't. They got better when I was permitted to go on point. That is how my belly got, um, but. Well, even though for a long time my dream, I was like, I would take everything to be a professional ballerina Because that seemed like it was the epitome of like, what it meant to be a dancer. Um, you know, in my training, I recognize now that I'm like, oh, I wouldn't trade and I wouldn't, I might trade it all to be Justin Timberlake's backup dancer, but I would not trade it to me. FYI, Justin's gonna put that out there. Um, yeah. And then, so after after high school, then I went to university and post-secondary, um, dance training because I wanted to continue dancing. It wasn't really sure like what the best pathway was. I grew up in a in a rural town, um, in the middle of Canada, and not a super arts, um, scene. Not it was agricultural and and, um, right leaning and so navigating, loving the arts and being like, oh, I know this is going to be my job. Like probably from like ten years old was a conflict, and I was like, I got to figure out what the next step is. So it was university because I was able to get a degree and dance at the same time. Right. Yeah. Okay. Do you do you remember the movie Center Stage? Yes. Of course. That was. I hope so. That was the first time that I realized, like, ballet could actually be not the the perfection. And, you know, white swan, black swan type. That's always what I pictured. Was that ballet? Yeah. That was the first time that I said, oh, you can actually incorporate a little bit of jazz into it. You can actually dance to really fun music because you mentioned that you were like, I didn't like the music. And I was like, yeah, that was one of the reasons that I was never down with ballet. Yeah. It's tough. I mean, again, 2024 so life is different now. And like, I know for myself because now, now I like, adore teaching ballet. Juliet. You're welcome. Um, that's my ballet teacher for when I was a kid. Um, and I recognize they are thinking they might be thinking how I was thinking. So how can I make this interesting for you? And there's so many great, like, um, ballet music that's like pop music, but, like, done on a piano. And so it's so it's really, really fun. And like, crazy things happen. Like, I played a song that I, I assume the kids wouldn't know because it's from my era, but it was an instrumental version and I was sort of marking something up. And then all of a sudden I had to turn all of my kids who are like 14, 15, 16, are belting out the words to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. And I just truly right. I just truly had to, like, hold on to. I like, literally had to stop class. I was like, I am so sorry. Mom, help! Help me, help me. I'm very confused. So I was like, how do you know this I know so so. So that is how we can stay engaged with like, youth and keep them in the places where they need to be so that they can gain those skills and be successful. Right. Music. What I love about music and and there's a play here with music. So for me as an athlete, I got to listen to music in little clips, like I'd get like maybe three lines of it. Yeah. And then it's off because that's, you know, we had to go on and play and they didn't play the songs during our matches during our games. Right. Yeah. But it it's, it's that memory piece as well. And the fact that the younger generations listen to what we listen to are. Yeah. How they know our parents. Thank you for helping. And I also feel like that's like part of my like job. Like I have a student who is like probably 26, 27 now. And I taught her when she was a teenager. And she is like as much of a diehard Justin Timberlake fan as I am, and I'm like, I like to think that I had a tiny bit of responsibility for that. We both just went to his concert and we, like texted each other the next day talking about it, and I'm like, I'm doing good for the world the same way that like, our teachers played like, you know, Michael Jackson like these, like really good Prince, like that sort of music so that we can appreciate it. Yes. All right. Let's go back to the the, um. My body wasn't the typical dancer body. Did you feel like you had body dysmorphia? Yes I do, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I did too. And I didn't realize it until later in life. But like I was always told, you have really strong legs. And. And in my mind's eye, I had tree trunks for legs. But when I go back and I look at the pictures, I'm like, no, those were normal. Like, I, I have a booty. I've always had a booty. I had a softball booty and then a volleyball booty. So we had to jump. We had to, you know, move laterally, forward and backward, you know, all the things. But I, I always thought to myself I looked more like what Kim Kardashian looks like now with the waist trainer at the Met Gala where she's got itty bitty waist. And then there's the booty, right? That was how I saw myself in high school, and it was like looking back, even in college, looking back, I'm just like, wow. Like there's definitely some body dysmorphia issue going on there. But I feel like especially in dance, this is a big deal. Yeah, I think there are a lot of contributing factors, um, to that. I know some of that, um, sort of body dysmorphia was neat. Putting that on myself, like you say, like you're kind, you're you look at your you are not seeing a fair representation of who you actually are. Mhm. And you're also like teenage hormone riddled brain is like really going to town. Trying to be okay with everything as a teenager. And um, and I spoke about this on a um I talk about it a lot to be honest is like, so we've got primarily self-identifying girls in dance. Um, a group of them. It's just dangerous to start, um, in a space where everyone wants to be great. And I don't think this is. I should say, I don't think that these sort of things, um, are inherently just for dancers. Right? If you're in competitive sport, I think that the difference is, um, where they start to, to differ is one. The required uniform for dance should be successful. Now, you will see gymnasts and swimmers and even like volleyball. Like when I watch volleyball, like in the Olympics, we just. Girl, I was a volleyball player. I know we had, um. We wore spandex, uh, spin that they were they were briefs. I mean, in it, everything's hanging out. Yeah. It's like, could we have some board short, like Diana Boardshorts Princess Di like, give me those long bike shorts, you know? Um, so, so the the clothing. Those things rub together. So uncomfortable. Tell me about, um. Yeah. So the clothing starts to, like, play into it and what we're required to wear. Um, and then is the mirrors being in a, you're constantly. But. Wall of mirrors, um, that is giving you feedback. Okay. Now it's supposed to be a helpful tool, but when you're combining that stew of, like, teenage hormones. Spandex. Uh, a group of girls all together, and then it's like. And then here's this giant feedback loop for you to just make up, let your brain go for a ride, and then you look in the mirror, it's just like, oh, it's it can sometimes really feel like a recipe for disaster. And then it and then it, um, and when we've got dancers who maybe identify as perfectionists or they tend to be a little narrow, spicy, it just heightens it even even more. I feel, um, and it can get really, really out of hand and really scary. And then we see students and and again, I think this goes for a lot of athletes, not just dancers who because of what they're hearing and or seeing and or believing about themselves and or telling themselves about themselves is they start to make unhealthy choices to fit an ideal or a standard that no one has outrightly told them to. But it's also bubbling under the surface, which has to be dealt with like straight up. Um, so we get disordered eating. We get like, really mean people, you know, like there's just like a stew of things that can happen. Um, and, and just general lack of self-esteem and confidence, which these organised sports and these things are supposed to build kids up and they do. And there is this piece that, like, can really, really take out a chunk of who they are and it takes a while to rebuild. And so being really cognizant of that is something that I'm yeah, yeah, hyper aware of. I try to be. That's on the coaches, that's on the adults that are surrounding the children and I that one I can't preach that one enough. Yeah. So it's it's really interesting now that we all have cell phones and we can watch video of ourselves. All athletes are capable of having the mirror now. Yeah, right. Yeah. That's true. That's right, that's right. Yeah. And I know in in lessons with me, I have girls who are like I don't want to see myself. That's me. And I'm just like, listen, the video is about the movement, not about your body and what you don't like about your body right now. Yeah, but we've got to teach how. Self-love. Yeah. Self respect. Yeah. Play in as coaches and most coaches do not know how to handle that. I feel like in dance you guys are confronted with that way more often because they're constantly in front of a mirror, because they're worried about how they're going to look in their uniforms, their outfits, their, their they might have to be lifted, and they don't want to kill the person that's lifting them. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It is a it is so interesting that it is embedded into what we do. And even if you're not being lifted, I was just talking about how my kids improv because I teach modern technique, modern dance technique, and contemporary dance technique. And so we do something called contact improv where you're improvising, but you give your weight to another person. And I had to do that at school and I lost my mind. It was horrible for me. I was terrified because I was like, I'm a whale. I'm going to crush anyone I dance with. There's absolutely no way anyone is strong enough to hold my weight. It also brought up like I don't trust anyone to hold my weight, like there was just so much. And there was one person, Emily, you beautiful soul who I absolutely adore dancing with her. And she had a totally different body type than I was. She was tall, kind of lanky. Um, had gone to school for like, computer programming and then, like, fell in love with dance and was there and was just like, so in it. And that was the person I trusted. And that's how I built that, um, you know, giving weight. But I've experienced that with my students, just, like, truly like in the last few weeks. Um, we have an improv jam, and there are a handful of kids who haven't taken that step to go in. And so we have a little feedback discussion afterwards. And I'm like, okay, I got to ask you guys, we've done this for a while. What's if you're comfortable sharing like what's up? And one kid was like, I don't trust that anyone's going to be able to hold my weight. And I'm like, I asked everybody else in the group. I was like, do you think that she's going to destroy you? Like, does anyone else feel like that person? Like you can't handle that person? And everyone was like, no. And I was like. So now you know. The feelings aren't facts, the feelings aren't facts. Let's check in with everybody else. And I also wanted to bring that up because I was like, who else feels that way? Like, who else feels like, oh, you can't take because there was a handful. We've got some really strong dancers and I'm, I'm like, you're always in control of your own body. That's the rule. They're going to be fine, but it's building that trust is is huge. I love loved that. I couldn't imagine doing. Trust falls across a room with a bunch of people like that. That's basically what it is. I'm not into it either. Oh. Oh, like my whole nervous system got sweaty thinking about that. Yeah, but, I mean, the nice thing is, and again, like with teams, is like, you build this camaraderie and trust throughout the season. And if you're able to walk through like multiple seasons together, it really bonds. And you can see the success of everyone because of that continued and growing trust and support within the team. It goes for like everything dance, anything. Yeah. Our in community, that's what that is. That's exactly what that is. It's as long as you have a community that you can lean on, trust them. You have to build that trust obviously. But then to be able to be like, okay, give me your reflection on me so that I can better see myself. Yeah, that is powerful. I've been in communities where that's that's possible. You don't see it as much in sports. Dance is probably one of those areas where you can point to it and go, yeah, I can. I need to be lifted up by my team physically, mentally, emotionally. Yeah, yeah. Spiritually even. Whereas like, I'm thinking about team sports where you're playing volleyball, basketball, softball. Those were my sports track. Like you don't have those opportunities other than if the coach is cognizant. And I had probably a handful of those coaches growing up that were cognizant that we need that self-reflection. We need the team to reflect back to us how it's going. Yeah, and in kind and healthy ways, because it happens both ways sometimes. Oh, yeah. You know, I've had the negative to for sure. And, and I and I have to agree with you, I think it's I mean, it's something that just is so innate for me as a coach and something I wish I would have had a little bit more of is like, you know, give your peers feedback, you know, and it's and I always say, I, I never say what was good, what was bad like give one, you know, and some teachers do that. And I'm like, let's just talk about what we actually saw with our eyeballs. What did we see? What did we observe. Because again, taking the value judgment away, it's not. Well, I saw Sarah and she wasn't really pointing her toes. Yikes yikes yikes yikes. Which like or you know, they should choke up on whatever it is, right? Or like they weren't playing the right position. And that's why we missed that, like return. And it's like, yo, that's not helpful. So what are we observing? What are we noticing with our eyeballs? I mean, it still gets to well, some people aren't closing their fifths. And I'm like, you are right. And also shady. Shady. And also you're right. So having that opportunity to be like what did you observe? What are you seeing. What are you seeing that then you're noticing that you're doing like you don't even have to call it out in others. You're like, oh, I saw that, and I know I'm not doing that. I get a lot of that from my kids, which I'm like, oh, I am in to where that is. As long as it doesn't get to I'm a piece of trash like that. Just can't go that far. Right, right. But, um, giving them the opportunity and, and also the expectation of when we're doing when we're working in groups. Um, your job isn't to have a break. You are still involved in the learning. Because by observing, like you as as a doer, if you're part of a group number, you don't get to see what you're doing until you watch the video. And even then, it's not really, you know, video is not the same. It's it's beneficial. So to do it in groups and to be actively aware of what's happening is like another way to learn and integrate. Yeah. Yeah. Leslie, I love how you teach. I could I could see myself being in one of your classes, especially the improv gym, and. And you just saying, okay, get low and move from here to there. And I'm like, my brain immediately was like, who I would want to crawl, like on all four. Not on my knees, but my hands and my my feet on the ground like a monster. Like immediately that's what popped into my head. I love it. And then as soon as you do, like, three of those, I'm gonna be like, okay, now show me something else, because I don't just let the kids repeat. That's the other thing, too, is I'm like that comfort zone of like, let's. And I'm, oh, I'm bad at this. I'm bad at it. I'm working on it. To be like, this is comfortable. I know how to do this. I'm like, yeah, it is. Now we're gonna try something else, like that mistake or that ugly thing. I'm like, that's an opportunity to, like, do something different. And like, I don't know, that totally new move you've never experienced before. Time to learn and grow. That's where we learn and grow, for sure. Oh, Leslie. Wow. Thank you so unbelievably much. I can't wait to tell everybody the rest of your story about what you're doing now with dancers and and all of that in the bio. You betcha. Check me out. I exist online as well. And in your ears. Where are you? Yeah. Where can you. Can find everyone? I'm findable. Sorry. What's that? Where can everyone find you? Where can you find me? I was like, in the ether. Good luck. Um, in an encyclopedia, you have to go to a library. Wouldn't that be great? Um. That's like my millennial heart dream. I'm like, I'm in an encyclopedia, and you have to go find it. Um, I am on Instagram under. Yeah. I'm like, what? I want to be under. Um, no, I'm on Instagram at Leslie Kuny. Just my name. Uh Leslie Kuny blanked on my own name there. And, uh. Leslie Kuny. Com um is my website. On my website, there's a link to my YouTube channel where you can watch, uh, I don't have any videos of myself, but I do have videos of my students and my choreography. Um, and that's now I've just finished, um, this most recent season. So I'll be putting up some of those solos now that they're, um, done competing. And I get to share them there. Very. You will see a whole bunch of wild stuff. It runs the gamut from like ballet to the goofiest musical theater to the sassy jazz and back again. So there's there'll probably be something fun for anybody to watch or. Yeah. I love it. I love that you're using your YouTube channel in that way. And and now, of course, you have this episode from spirit of an athlete that you can put on there and everyone can see your lovely face. Oh, lovely. You can see my face. Self-love, self-love. Leslie, it's a work in progress. It is always. Right. Always. I hear that one on so many levels. Oh, Leslie, thank you again for being on spirit of an athlete and sharing what it's like to be a dancer and what that world is like from a coach's perspective and a dancer's perspective. Thank you so much. This was amazing. Thank you Amanda. Appreciate it. Can't wait to do it again. You bet. Thanks for listening to spirit of an athlete podcast. If you're struggling with your own gut issues and want more direction, you can get an initial body scan from Amanda at Body Whisper Healing. Com. In 20 minutes, you can find out what's wrong. Get clarity. Map the path forward. You get on track to get back in your game. If this episode hits the spot, please let us know by rating, reviewing, and sharing it with a friend. Subscribe now to hear more inspiring stories from other female college athletes who overcame their health issues. Want more Amanda? Get inspired by finding more at Body Whisper healing.com.