Carina Castaneda

After leaving the ballet world, it took me a long time to figure out what comes next. Using my experience as dancer became an asset for me to help and advocate for dancers in the mental health realm. Currently, I have the goal of getting my PhD to help build the research literature around the mental health of those in aesthetic sports, like dance and gymnastics. I love studying perfectionism, body image, and identity loss upon retirement, especially because it's so relevant to my own experience.