BY ROSEANNA LENEY
Roseanna Leney is a Principal Dancer with Scottish Ballet and is passionate about all things health and wellbeing. Alongside her ballet career, Roseanna is a yoga instructor, personal trainer and nutrition advisor. Inclusivity and kindness are at the heart of her teaching, and her classes are a safe space for everyone. Outside of the wellness space, I am a lover of food, travel and basset hounds!
My name is Roseanna Leney and I am a principal dancer with Scottish Ballet. I trained at The Royal Ballet School before moving to Poland at 19 years old and dancing professionally with the Polish National Ballet for 5 years. In 2016, I moved back to the UK and joined Scottish Ballet as an artist and made my way up the company until I was promoted to principal dancer in 2022. Alongside my career I am hugely passionate about all things health and wellness, which has led me to become a personal trainer and yoga instructor.
As a ballet dancer, wellbeing isn’t something that is often thought of as being a priority, but it is something that is valuable. I have been a professional ballet dancer now for 15 years, and it is really only in the last few years of my life that I have realised just how important it is to learn about yourself and understand what self-care means to you.
Everyone is unique and everybody is continuously evolving, so what worked for me 10 years ago is not necessarily what still works for me now.
I want to share a few things with you that I am passionate about, and even though some things might resonate with you, others might not, and that is totally normal!

Those that know me, know that yoga has become a huge part of my life in the last few years and this has helped me in many ways. If you’d told me 10 years ago that I would now be a yoga instructor alongside my ballet career, I would never have believed you, especially as I used to find it so boring! As dancers, we are constantly on the go, and we never really stop to rest or notice how we are managing, both physically and mentally. Yoga forces me to slow down and turn my attention inwards, and I believe the personal growth I have found from doing this has been enormous. Yoga is not about being good at something, but rather it is about being good at being yourself. Once I realised that, I was able to acknowledge my self-worth and stop constantly comparing myself to others. Having said that, I am only human and so these habits are very easy to slip back into, especially in the performing arts. However, yoga has also helped me recognise and appreciate these behavioural patterns, and sometimes even move past them far better than I used to. As I mentioned before, yoga has helped me in more ways than I realise, in both my ballet career and my personal life. I used to believe that if I wasn’t sweating, the workout wasn’t hard enough and how wrong I was! You can get as much benefit, if not more, from strength and conditioning and correct stretching than from crazy, hard sweaty workouts. Don’t get me wrong, cardiovascular training is incredibly important, as is passive and active stretching, but these are not the only things that you could be doing to supplement your ballet training. There is a time and a place for all activities, which are designed to improve the work in the studio.
For example, sitting in the splits for an extended period of time pre warm up is not going to get your body ready for the day. Active stretching, however, will be much more beneficial before class as it involves muscle engagement, so it helps strengthen and lengthen the muscles simultaneously whilst also increasing blood flow and preparing the body.
If you love to sit in a stretch for an extended amount of time then I would recommend doing this at the end of the day when your body is warm, and use it as part of your cool down routine.

Ballet demands strength, technique, precision and flexibility, but without taking proper care, the body can easily become susceptible to fatigue and injury.
Incorporating a routine to nurture both physical and mental health can help unlock your full potential to prolong your professional career. Regular body maintenance includes things I’ve already mentioned such as stretching and strength & conditioning, as well as eating a well-balanced diet and rest. Fuelling your body with nutritious food, vitamins and minerals is absolutely essential for aspiring young dancers to be able to perform optimally. The body is constantly developing, and so proper balanced nutrition provides your body with the energy needed to train at its’s best, support muscular recovery and prevent injuries. Equally important is the need for rest days. As dancers, we are taught to never stop pushing, but allowing your body time to recover and rebuild is just as crucial as the hours spent in the studio. Animals hibernate, trees shed their leaves, nature rests, and so dancers should too! Rest prevents burnout, reduces the risk of overuse injuries, and helps maintain long-term performance.
I believe in working hard at resting!
If I think about how I rest and what a day off looks like to me, I’d have to say it starts with a small lie in (when possible!). I like to sleep and would definitely love to spend most of my morning doing so, but I also want to make the most of my day off and so I would probably aim to wake up around 9:30am. I am a real foodie, so I love to make a big breakfast or go out for brunch with my partner. Sometimes I teach yoga in the mornings on my days off, so I use the class as a way of stretching out my body and de-stressing from a week of rehearsals. If it is a dry day (a rarity in Glasgow) then I enjoy getting a coffee/hot chocolate and going for a walk in the park to make the most out of being outside in the fresh air. I am a real list-maker and organiser, so I would most likely then try and get myself sorted for the week ahead by food shopping, preparing yoga classes and planning my next week. So boring, I know, but I have learnt that it is the most efficient way for me to reset and slow down. The real self-care for me is my skincare routine and having an Epsom salts bath for my muscles, so I will always try and make time for these non-negotiables!

Self-care should be seen as a necessity, not a luxury, and the best type of self-care is proactive, rather than reactive.
It is in the small things you do every day because you know your future self will thank you, and it is understanding to prioritise what your mind and body needs. Whether it’s having an Epsom salts bath like me, going for a soothing walk, meal prepping for the week ahead, watching your favourite TV show, getting a good night’s sleep or even gaming (like my partner), these things will help you create the kind of life that you want and not one you feel you desperately need a break from. I call these my ‘non- negotiables’ as they are the things I will always try to make time for, helping me to regulate my nervous system and helping me to soothe some of the stress from the everyday life.

Self-care doesn’t have to be at home, it can also be within the studio too! I find writing my notes into a notepad helps clear my mind and allows me to focus on what’s necessary. Arriving to class 15 minutes earlier to make time for some mindfulness or yoga, or taking a little extra time at the end of the day to stretch and roll out my tired muscles, are also examples of my in-studio self-care.
One final thought I will leave you with is to try to not rely on validation from dance to feel good about yourself. This career is all consuming and it takes a tremendous amount of discipline and motivation, but you are allowed to have an identity other than being a ballet dancer. Fuel yourself as a person and as an artist outside of the studio, discover what makes you happy and whole, and watch it enhance everything you thought you knew about ballet.

