ReCharge week (RW) is a collaboration between the Dutch National Ballet Academy (NBA) and Health&Performance: a week where regenerative practices are integrated in formal ballet training with the aim to cross train body, mind and emotions while allowing the individual resources that students usually exhaust to be replenished. 

The first iteration of ReCharge Week was delivered to NBA level 1-7 (100+ students) in February 2025 with sessions led by teachers, practitioners and researchers both internal and external to the ATD and the Lectorate (see ReCharge week booklet below). 

This project is a continuation of “NBA Health Awareness Week” developed through a 2019 grant from Comenius and, honouring the NBA previous investment, and its conservative culture, it was important to build rapport through complementary interactions of key NBA teachers and guests. The Personal Plan now takes place within RW, showing connection with existent NBA care practices and gives space to casually talk about the week.  

While RW aims to counterbalance the motor development impairment and emotional strain associated with early specialization, this is a long-term initiative and this pilot’s first focus is trialing the format and get a feel of how the NBA population perceives it: both structurally and in content. As an informal approach of data collection, students were asked to rate their energy levels before and after each session with colourful stickers in posters; informal feedback was collected from NBA teachers and students as well as from RW teachers.