About
Stretch & Strengthen
strength & flexibility; mentally & physically to achieve your goals
ABOUT
Welcome to Stretch & Strengthen!
As competitive Irish dancers for over 20 years, we have experienced everything: injuries, setbacks, inflexibility, technique issues, mindset blocks, you name it. In through it all, it never felt like there was a landing place with people who fully understood what this world was all about.
In 2024, we came together to develop a program that had the dancer in mind and would be a holistic approach to training and wellness. With that in mind, we hope to maximize your training experience in both the physical and mental training worlds.
Mission
At Stretch & Strengthen, our mission is to empower Irish dancers to reach their full potential by enhancing both physical and mental performance. Through a dynamic and tailored approach, we strive to build flexibility, resilience, and endurance, enabling dancers to perform with strength, grace, and confidence. Committed to fostering a supportive and challenging environment, we aim to equip every dancer with the tools they need to excel on stage and beyond. Together, we push boundaries, cultivate discipline, and celebrate the artistry and athleticism of Irish dance.
Vision
Our vision at Stretch & Strengthen is to inspire a new generation of Irish dancers to embrace excellence in both body and mind. We envision a world where dancers achieve peak performance through unwavering resilience, enhanced flexibility, and enduring stamina. By fostering a culture of empowerment and discipline, we aim to redefine the limits of Irish dance, cultivating individuals who perform with strength, grace, and confidence, both on and off the stage.
Meet Your Coaches: Maria
My name is Maria Maxwell and I am the co-creator and coach behind Stretch & Strengthen. As a dancer for over fifteen years, my body has been through a lot. I found yoga, mindfulness, and strength & conditioning during a time in my career when I was battling injuries and needed other ways to train and become stronger. These were the missing pieces that allowed me to take my dancing to the next level and have helped bring me a lot of success both on and off the competitive stage. I have a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Alberta, focusing on Sports Performance. I’ve spent the last year working in a sports rehab facility, executing rehab exercise coaching with a wide variety of clients and working alongside physiotherapists to help clients return to sport and activity successfully. Currently, I am completing a diploma in Massage Therapy. I am also a certified yoga teacher (200hr YTT) and an EXOS Performance Specialist. I love to help people reconnect to their bodies and create a space to find stillness in their busy days. I firmly believe movement should be functional and make sense for the activities we do on a daily basis. My main goal is to help dancers and athletes become the most successful version of themselves. This means helping them identify and eliminate gaps in their training. I truly believe everyone can become a champion and I can't wait to work with you to get there!
Meet Your Coaches: Mac
My name is MacKenzie Mahler and I am the co-creator and coach of Stretch & Strenghen. I am a Sports and Performance Psychology Consultant. I have been a competitive dancer for over 20 years and have been fortunate enough to have a long competitive career during which I have learned so much. Towards the later part of my career, I started to learn much more about the mental component of performance. I found the more attention I paid to working on my mindset, the more I was able to get out of my training, I was better able to translate my training to the stage, and the more I enjoyed dancing. This experience inspired me to pursue an education and now a career in Sports and Performance Psychology. I just recently completed a Master's degree in Sport and Performance Psychology and am currently working on a Doctoral program. Through my experiences as a competitive dancer and education, I have developed a theoretical grounding in cognitive behavioral theory, placing the individual as the expert on themselves and promoting a sense of agency. I aim to help dancers develop mental resilience and strategies to support their unique needs to get the most out of training, reach their potential, and enjoy their dancing journey as much as possible. I can’t wait to get to know and work with dancers at all points of their journeys, and share just how much attending to the mental side of performance can benefit all dancers and performers.
