Development of a Dance Studio Network for the Protection of Dancer Health (Alli George)
Purpose: To create an Alberta based network of dance studio owners, teachers, dancers, and parents for the purposes of professional development, and sharing best practices that focus on the protection of dancer health.
Population: The target population consists of dance studio owners, dance instructors, dancers, dance parents, choreographers, independent dance artists/performers, and health care professionals.
Outcomes: Network development has included a multi-phase, market research approach to engage the Alberta dance community in conversations through surveys and one-on-one meetings. Feedback has been received from 23 respondents with the majority aged 19-34 years (61%), representing dance in urban centres (91%). Key themes have been identified regarding who would be interested in a provincial dance studio network, why, and what resources are needed. Market survey responses emphasized the need for change to current dance culture related to the mental, emotional, and physical health of dancers, as well as increased training and accountability for dance teachers and studio owners. Specific insights included: (1) current concerns for injury risk, (2) beliefs that some dance-related injuries are preventable, (3) willingness to use safe practice resources, and (4) insufficient knowledge/training is the greatest barrier to incorporating safe practices. Following market research, 33 community members have expressed interest in joining the network. Member benefits are: increased studio/teacher credibility, less student attrition, increased parent support, and referrals. Future work includes: providing evidence-informed professional development/information workshops with accessible online resources that may lead to specialized teacher certifications.
Conclusions: The core mission of the Alberta based dance studio network is to protect the health and well-being of dancers. This will be accomplished by serving dance educators/parents who are eager to learn through specialized training and safe practice information sharing. Relevance: A dance studio network will provide access to training resources and information centered around dancer health (mental, emotional, and physical). It will allow the dance community to connect with each other for inter-studio networking, resource sharing, job openings, and certification standards. The network will provide an avenue to advance the dance community to be a healthier environment for dancers.
Population: The target population consists of dance studio owners, dance instructors, dancers, dance parents, choreographers, independent dance artists/performers, and health care professionals.
Outcomes: Network development has included a multi-phase, market research approach to engage the Alberta dance community in conversations through surveys and one-on-one meetings. Feedback has been received from 23 respondents with the majority aged 19-34 years (61%), representing dance in urban centres (91%). Key themes have been identified regarding who would be interested in a provincial dance studio network, why, and what resources are needed. Market survey responses emphasized the need for change to current dance culture related to the mental, emotional, and physical health of dancers, as well as increased training and accountability for dance teachers and studio owners. Specific insights included: (1) current concerns for injury risk, (2) beliefs that some dance-related injuries are preventable, (3) willingness to use safe practice resources, and (4) insufficient knowledge/training is the greatest barrier to incorporating safe practices. Following market research, 33 community members have expressed interest in joining the network. Member benefits are: increased studio/teacher credibility, less student attrition, increased parent support, and referrals. Future work includes: providing evidence-informed professional development/information workshops with accessible online resources that may lead to specialized teacher certifications.
Conclusions: The core mission of the Alberta based dance studio network is to protect the health and well-being of dancers. This will be accomplished by serving dance educators/parents who are eager to learn through specialized training and safe practice information sharing. Relevance: A dance studio network will provide access to training resources and information centered around dancer health (mental, emotional, and physical). It will allow the dance community to connect with each other for inter-studio networking, resource sharing, job openings, and certification standards. The network will provide an avenue to advance the dance community to be a healthier environment for dancers.
Alli George
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Alli George is a MSc student at the University of Calgary, supervised by Dr. Sarah Kenny and Dr. Amanda Black. She received her Diploma in Exercise Science from Lethbridge College in 2008 and her BA in Dance from the University of Calgary in 2013. She has been working as a dance instructor since 2005 teaching at various studios throughout Alberta, and in Calgary since 2009. She is also a CSEP-CPT certified personal trainer (since 2008) and works with various clients throughout Calgary including the general public and dancing athletes. Throughout her years as a dance instructor and her added knowledge from fitness, she began to see similar injuries occurring in dancers of all ages and sought more information on safe practices and common issues. She found the available information lacking, particularly when examining the private dance studio population and developed an increasing interest in dance research, which encouraged her to return to academia. George’s Master’s thesis will examine the burden of injury in recreational and competitive studio dancers aged 8 to 12 years.
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