ongratulations to the 2026 HDC BIPOC Emerging Dance Artist Scholarship recipient, Sherecia Mclean-Leslie. Sherecia is a Hip-Hop freestyler and Afro-Diasporic dance enthusiast from Montreal, Canada. After being introduced to Montreal’s street dance community in 2015, she learned Hip-Hop and continued to develop a strong foundation in improvisation, better known as “freestyling”. Through practice and research, she later came to understand the importance of preserving and transmitting Black dances so they can continue to thrive across generations.

In 2022, a dance intensive training program at École des Sables in Senegal, West Africa, deepened her connection to African and Afro-diasporic dance traditions. The experience transformed her artistic practice, introducing new rhythms, postures, and movement that reshaped her relationship to her body and expanded her body language. Continuing her research in Black dance, in 2026, she later received a dance residency in Martinique, where she further explored her connection to African heritage through the traditional dance form known as Bele. Together, these experiences have profoundly influenced her artistic identity and continue to fuel her exploration of dance as a vehicle for storytelling, cultural memory, and self-discovery.

Follow Sherecia on Instagram: shereeces_

Join Jo-Anne La Flèche, clinical and dance psychologist, for Body Image and Self-Esteem in Dance: Challenges and Self-care Tips. This interactive webinar reflects on body image and self-esteem issues frequently encountered by dancers and other members of the dance community. Participants will learn to identify risk factors and warning signs about how they relate to their own body and self, and how they perceive other dancers. Attendees will also see how practicing daily self-care may nurture body and self-satisfaction. Webinar is recorded and available for one month to those who register but are unable to attend the live webinar.

Jo-Anne works as resident psychologist in a vocational ballet school in Montréal. She provides workshops and lectures on dancer mental health and dance psycho-pedagogy and has written many articles and informational papers. She does research on dancer maltreatment. Jo-Anne takes part in several international working groups on dancer mental health. She serves as HDC Board member and Co-chair of the Continuing Education Committee, as well as Past President (2021-2022).

May 22 2026 from 1-2:30 ET. Register at Body Image and Self-Esteem in Dance Webinar.

​Join HDC founding members, Donna Krasnow and Andrea Downie, for the Level 1 and Level 2 C-I Training™ Teacher Certification Courses, this spring in Toronto. 

C-I Training™ (conditioning-with-imagery), created by Donna Krasnow, is an evidence-informed body conditioning system designed for dancers. It incorporates exercises and imagery work to develop strength and flexibility, and to improve alignment and mind-body connections. C-I Training™ provides dancers with an excellent daily warm-up, and promotes improved dance technique and prevention of dance injuries.

For more information and to register visit C-I Training Courses. Profits of these courses support the Healthy Dancer Canada Dancer's Necessity Fund.

Congratulations to this year's recipient of the Healthy Dancer Canada research award Alyssa Hughes for the presentation Surveying the Silence: Exploring Mental Health and Psychological Skills Needs in Competitive Dance Training. The HDC research award is granted in recognition of a research quality and significance to Healthy Dancer Canada’s mission to empower dancers and all who engage with the art of dance by nurturing a culture of wellness within a vibrant dancing community.

Alyssa is a Master’s student at the University of Lethbridge in the Psychology for Active Living and Sport (PALS) Lab. Growing up as a dancer, she is passionate about bridging her academic background in kinesiology and psychology with her personal experiences in the arts. Her research focuses on understanding mental health in youth competitive dance and identifying ways to enhance resources and supports available to both dancers and educators. Alyssa is committed to advancing knowledge that helps foster psychologically safe and supportive environments in the dance community.

Congratulations, Alyssa, on your outstanding research achievements. We look forward to seeing what you do next.

​Healthy Dancer Canada is accepting applications and nominations for the 2025 BIPOC Emerging Dance Artist Scholarship. This scholarship supports emerging BIPOC artists pursuing careers in dance in Canada. It is open to artists aged 18-30 who self-identify as emerging/early stage professional dance performers and/or choreographers in any and all genres. For additional information visit BIPOC Emerging Dance Artist Scholarship - Healthy Dancer Canada. Applications are due by May 1.

The Annual Healthy Dancer Canada Conference, coordinated by HDC Conference Coordinator Jamie Hawke, was held in Calgary AB on November 30 and December 1. Over 60 people joined us in-person and virtually from around the world, including Australia, Italy, and USA! Lecture presentations, workshops, performances centred on building community and collaboration in dance research and practice. We also welcomed guests from Dancer’s Studio West to speak about the role of community and collaboration in the creative process.

Additionally, we welcomed the National accessArts Centre as part of the Thomas Poulsen Symposium on Dance and Disability led by founding member and Past President Andrea Downie. The symposium included a panel discussion, a workshop, and performances by Meg Ohsada (AB), Propeller Dance (ON), and All Bodies Dance (BC).