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About Nourishing Dance & Monika Saigal

Nourishing Dance: An Essential Guide on Nutrition, Body Image, and Eating Disorders

By Monika Saigal, MS, RD, CEDS, CDN

Nourishing Dance is an indispensable guide to help dancers flourish both on and off the stage. Written with the unique insights and sensitivity of a former professional dancer and current eating disorder specialist, dietitian, and educator, this much-needed resource provides research-based, practical approaches to support dancers in fueling optimally, nourishing a peaceful relationship with food, and nurturing more balanced and resilient body image.

Under-fueling, body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and disordered eating are far too common among dancers. Despite the prevalence of these issues in dancers across genres, and their negative impacts on dancers’ physical and mental health and performance, they have not been adequately addressed in the dance community. Improving dancers’ health and well-being is necessary for both dancers and the art form to thrive, and everyone involved in the training and care of dancers can play an important role in this mission. Nourishing Dance provides essential information on nutrition, body image, and eating disorder prevention to help parents, teachers, staff, choreographers, leadership, athletic trainers, coaches, and healthcare professionals contribute to making the dance world a healthier and safer place for dancers.

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Praise for Nourishing Dance

Nourishing Dance is a true gem challenging diet culture and offering a comprehensive guide for dancers, and those working with dancers, to stay informed on best practices for supportive care. Monika brings together science, research, and personal experience from her dietitian and dancer perspectives, creating an invaluable body of work and impactful call to action.
Josh Spell, LICSWConsulting mental health therapist at Pacific Northwest Ballet
Monika Saigal's book, Nourishing Dance addresses the difficult subject of how some of the current practices in dance training can negatively affect the health of dancers. It is a comprehensive and thoughtful guide to the problems that can arise around body image, misinformation about food and nutrition, and negative aspects of diet culture in the dance world and in general. The book provides clear nutritional guidelines and concrete steps to address some of the detrimental psychological pitfalls of the dance community's entrenched customs and traditions. I hope all dancers, dance teachers, artistic staff, and dance medicine practitioners read this book and use it as a valuable guide.
Julie DaughertyCompany Physical Therapist, American Ballet Theatre
This is one of those rare books, clearly meticulously researched and written, that we have needed for many years; one that I genuinely feel will change the wellbeing landscape for everyone involved in dance. Monika draws on a huge depth of personal and professional experience which is clearly evident throughout this truly remarkable book, and my hope is that every teacher and teacher-in-training worldwide gets their hands on it.
Fiona Sutherland, MSc (Nut & Diet), RYTNutrition Consultant, The Australian Ballet School
Comprehensive in scope and grounded by scientific research, this indispensable book will serve as a resource for parents and for all those invested in the health and well-being of dancers. It should be required reading for dance teachers, administrators, and artistic directors, as well as for every health professional who cares for dancers.
David S. Weiss, MD, FAAOSPerforming arts medicine specialist, Orthopedic consultant to numerous NYC dance companies and Broadway theatrical productions
Nourishing Dance is a comprehensive guide and a must-read for dance educators, parents, staff, choreographers, and anyone responsible for developing dancers. Monika Saigal demonstrates the importance of education and the use of language as she challenges common practices in the dance industry in the name of "tradition." She provides extensive support for the prevention of eating disorders and provides essential information on nutrition for dancers.
Blanca Huertas-Agnew, MFADance Program Director and Assistant Teaching Professor at Drexel University
Monika reminds us that dancer health can only be meaningfully improved to the extent that the prevailing dance culture improves too. This book provides clear guidance not only for dancers but also for those shaping the culture to better support them. Directors, teachers, choreographers, parents, health professionals - read these words and put them into action!
Philippa Ziegenhardt, MACACounsellor, Stageminded.com and former School Counsellor at The Australian Ballet School
Advising dancers is difficult if you haven’t been in their shoes, but Monika Saigal has this box checked: her dual expertise in dance and nutrition practically jumps off the page. The information she shares is so important for not only dancers to have, but everyone in a dancer’s orbit. I appreciate how she addresses disordered eating in a way that feels both practically useful and honest, and also absent of hyperbole. I wish I had this resource when I was a professional dancer!
Sasha Gorrell, PhDAssistant Professor, Eating Disorders Program, University of California, San Francisco, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and former professional ballet dancer
Monika Saigal’s meticulously researched and essential work is nourishment for the dance field and for the humans who dedicate their hearts, minds, and bodies to its work.
Elizabeth GillaspyProfessor, TCU School for Classical & Contemporary Dance
In Nourishing Dance Monika Saigal has deftly blended her experience as a dancer with the expertise she has gained in her subsequent career devoted to the health and well-being of dancers. The result is a rich, essential resource for parents, teachers, coaches, and choreographers who support or come in contact with dancers at any level. I recommend it enthusiastically!
Mary Margaret HoltDean, University of Oklahoma College of Fine Arts, former Director of the OU School of Dance, choreographer and former professional dancer
Monika Saigal’s Nourishing Dance is the ultimate book for education on and prevention of eating disorders and disordered eating in the dance community. The breadth and depth of the topics covered in this book – how to recognize and prevent disordered thoughts and behaviors, what language to use to communicate skillfully, reality-checking nutrition information to support dancers’ athleticism – will make it a resource you return to again and again. Whether you are a dancer, teacher, dietitian, parent, or director of a dance program, you will transform your knowledge of diet, eating, body image, and how to support the dancers in your life.
Jenna Hollenstein, MS, RD, CDNAuthor of Eat to Love: A Mindful Guide to Transform Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Life and Intuitive Eating for Life: How Mindfulness Can Deepen and Sustain Your Intuitive Eating Practice
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Order Now on Amazon
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When you buy through the Amazon link above, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Learn more.

Be a part of the change you wish to see.

Writing Nourishing Dance was a labor of love, and I believe this book has the potential to make a meaningful difference in creating a healthier, safer, better dance world. Change is possible, and it will take our collective effort. I hope reading this book will give you the necessary knowledge, tools, and inspiration to be a part of the way forward. Together, we can shape a brighter future for our dance community.

For the love of dance,

Monika

Writing Nourishing Dance was a labor of love, and I believe this book has the potential to make a meaningful difference in creating a healthier, safer, better dance world. Change is possible, and it will take our collective effort. I hope reading this book will give you the necessary knowledge, tools, and inspiration to be a part of the way forward. Together, we can shape a brighter future for our dance community.

For the love of dance,

Monika

More About Monika

Monika Saigal, MS, RD, CEDS-C, CDN (she/her) is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, and former professional dancer. She specializes in nutrition for dancers and performing artists; the prevention and treatment of eating disorders, disordered eating, and under-fueling; and a non-diet approach to improving health and well-being. In her nearly two decades in the field, Monika has helped thousands of clients develop more nourishing eating habits, improve athletic and artistic performance, and heal their relationship with food and their body.

Monika is passionate about building a dance world that better supports and nurtures dancers’ health and well-being. She has extensive experience providing nutrition counseling to dancers and performing artists in her private practice and working with dance organizations—from small studios to world-renowned schools, conservatories, and companies. Monika currently works with the San Francisco Ballet School and Company and has been the dietitian for the American Ballet Theatre JKO School and Studio Company for the past four years. Prior to this, she spent eight years as a member of the Performance Nutrition team at The Juilliard School.

To better address the health needs of dancers, Monika created and regularly delivers the Head to Pointe® Workshop series, which includes workshops for dancers as well as specialized trainings for dance educators, staff, parents, and health professionals. Monika has been featured as a nutrition expert in various dance publications including Dance Magazine and Dance Spirit. She has presented on the prevention and treatment of eating disorders in dancers at multiple academic conferences including the International Conference on Eating Disorders, the Performing Arts Medicine Association International Symposium, and the past five Annual Conferences of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science.

Work with Monika!

Nutrition Counseling

One-on-one sessions tailored to your personal needs, preferences, & goals

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SPEAKING & WORKSHOPS

Presentations for groups on a variety of topics, offered in-person or virtually

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CONSULTING & SUPERVISION

Case consultation and supervision for health professionals & consulting services for organizations

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DANCER WELLNESS

Workshops for dancers and those who train and care for them & consulting services for dance schools/companies

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