Terry Hyde - Dance councillor and psychotherapist.
- Isobel Arden
- Jun 5
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 14
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Meet Terry Hyde.
In this interview, Mark invited Terry Hyde to create his own fantasy cultural year from the answers to some easy questions where there are no wrong answers. Enjoy his journey below.
Terry Hyde is a UK-based psychotherapist, speaker, educator and former professional ballet dancer who specialises in dance psychology, neurodiversity, mental wellbeing and performance resilience for dancers and performing artists. Which is a very long way of saying: he helps people in the arts keep their brains from staging a full-scale rebellion five minutes before curtain up.
Before becoming a psychotherapist, Terry trained at the prestigious Royal Ballet School Upper School and went on to perform professionally across ballet, musical theatre, film and television. Having experienced the intense pressures of the performing arts industry first-hand — from perfectionism and burnout to identity crises and injury recovery — he eventually realised that the dance world was brilliant at teaching pirouettes but not always great at teaching people how to survive emotionally inside the industry.
That gap became his life’s work.
Terry is the founder of Counselling for Dancers, a specialist psychotherapy and coaching practice supporting vocational students, professional performers, dance teachers and retired artists. His work focuses on performance anxiety, emotional regulation, mindset, confidence, injury recovery, neurodiversity, burnout prevention and the complicated experience of figuring out who you are when your identity has been wrapped around performing.
Alongside one-to-one psychotherapy and coaching, Terry delivers workshops, training programmes and talks internationally, helping dance schools and arts organisations create healthier and more psychologically informed environments. He is particularly recognised for his advocacy around neurodiversity in dance and for challenging outdated ideas about toughness, discipline and “just pushing through”.
In 2024, Terry became CEO of STEPPS CIO, a UK charity working to improve mental-health support, safeguarding and wellbeing culture across the dance sector. Through STEPPS, he leads national initiatives designed to make mental-health education more accessible for dancers, teachers and organisations who often work in high-pressure environments where emotional wellbeing has historically been ignored or misunderstood.
Terry is also the creator of Help4Dancers, a platform producing concise, evidence-informed ebooks and self-help resources for dancers wanting practical support without having to read a 400-page psychology textbook while icing an ankle at midnight.
His media appearances include BBC Radio 4, This Morning, TalkTV and numerous podcasts discussing performance psychology, mental health and neurodiversity in the arts.
Today, Terry Hyde continues to bridge psychotherapy, dance science and arts education, helping performers build sustainable careers without completely sacrificing their mental health in the process.
Terry Hyde's Fantasy Cultural Year ... with a magic wand and time machine to hand.
Mark introduced the idea of a “fantasy cultural year” - a way to get to know each new full member that's far more spontaneous than a traditional interview — allowing imagination, travel, culture and Terry Hyde's creative vision to collide.
This is a hyperthetical, global, fully funded creative journey.
🎭 The Fantasy Cultural Year Begins
Terry chooses not one building, but two.
His heart is shared between the Royal Opera House and the London Coliseum — the theatres that shaped much of his professional life as a dancer. The Royal Opera House was home through his work with The Royal Ballet, while the London Coliseum became synonymous with London Festival Ballet.
Mark imagines Terry sitting at a pavement café opposite the Coliseum on a warm June evening.
🍷 On the table:
• A glass of Pinot Grigio
• Carl Jung’s The Red Book
🎧 In his headphones:
• Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, particularly the dance Terry most enjoyed performing as the featured male soloist
• Or, if not ballet, the blues of Eric Clapton.
🌍 The Dream Mission
A wealthy London family foundation offers Terry the opportunity of a lifetime:
• A year travelling the world
• First-class travel and accommodation
• A television documentary crew following his work
• A book deal
• A TED Talk
• A global university lecture tour
• The chance to become a leading international advocate for dancers’ mental health
Even better, the foundation agrees to underwrite STEPS’ operating costs for three years, removing the constant pressure of fundraising and allowing Terry to focus fully on supporting dancers.
🇺🇸 New York, USA
The imaginative journey begins in New York before continuing to Boston and other major American ballet centres.
One genre only for an entire year
After much deliberation, Terry chooses:
• Cuban jazz
• The music of Buena Vista Social Club
The rhythms, movement and connection to dance make it impossible to resist.
💃 The Ultimate Dance Performance
Given the ability to summon any dancers from any era, Terry creates a dream programme featuring:
• Sylvie Guillem
• Rudolf Nureyev
🍽️ Dinner Afterwards
• Filet mignon
• Chips
• A glass of Rioja
🌏 Hong Kong
After America, his chosen destination is Hong Kong. Having recently delivered workshops and keynote presentations there, he was inspired by the energy of the local dance community, particularly the thriving hip-hop scene.
His goal would be to continue supporting dancers' mental health throughout Hong Kong, South Korea and the wider Far East.
🖼️ Virtual Reality Art Experience
In a futuristic gallery, Terry is invited to step inside the work of any visual artist.
He chooses Leonardo da Vinci.
Rather than exploring the paintings themselves, Terry is fascinated by Da Vinci’s inventions and engineering concepts.
🎭 Cultural Week in London
🎸 Monday — Historic Rock Concert
The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park.
🎭 Tuesday — Play
Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s classic backstage comedy where absolutely everything goes wrong.
🎶 Wednesday — Musical
West Side Story.
A particularly personal choice, as Terry performed in the UK tour in 1972.
🩰 Thursday — Ballet
Études.
One of his favourite ballets and a work he would happily revisit.
🎬 Friday — Film
Sweet Charity.
🏛️ Hero Lunch
If Terry could spend an afternoon with anyone from history, he would choose Carl Jung.
Part therapist, part philosopher, part explorer of the human psyche, Jung’s influence continues to shape Terry’s thinking decades after he first encountered his work.
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Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM AGSM
Chief Culture Vulture
Arts & Culture Network
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