Saskatchewan Dance Teacher Demographics and Practice (Madison Rajchyba)
Objective: The main purpose of this study was to explore the profile of dance teachers and their demographics such as age, sex, location, dance and teacher training and experience, teaching volume, work or education outside of dance, style of dance, number of studios, and recommendations to their students for accessing the health care system.
Study Design: This is a cross-sectional exploratory survey. Data was gathered utilizing an electronic questionnaire distributed via email and social media available from January 1-February 24, 2021.
Subjects: 87 dance teachers from any genre completed the study questionnaire with a mean age of 33.11±10.8 (range 18 -73) years.
Results: 82.8% respondents have obtained a qualification or certificate to teach, therefore, 17.2% teach dance without certification. (p<0.001) Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) was the most common technique taught without obtaining qualification at 13.8%, and Canadian Dance Teachers Association (CDTA) 10.3%. Note, 43.7% do not teach without first obtaining a formal certification, which means 56.6% teach dance technique without certification. (p- 0.51). Of all respondents, only 36.4% have more than 1 year of professional dance experience, therefore, 63.6% have less than or equal to 1-year experience as a professional dancer. (p<0.001) 68.9% of dance students are less than 18 years old. (p<0.001) 50% of teachers do not have a process for reporting injuries, 46.7% do not have a protocol for injury recovery, and 20% do not modify classes for that injured dancer.
Conclusions: There is a large variety of dance genres being taught in this province.
A significant number of teachers do not obtain teaching certifications and a large majority do not have professional dance experience. Most dancers are under the age of 18 years old. Half of the respondents do not have a reporting process or protocol for injured dancers. Further research with a larger sample size and a multicentre setting is warranted to explore dance teaching practices and injury prevention protocols to learn how to keep dancers safe.
Study Design: This is a cross-sectional exploratory survey. Data was gathered utilizing an electronic questionnaire distributed via email and social media available from January 1-February 24, 2021.
Subjects: 87 dance teachers from any genre completed the study questionnaire with a mean age of 33.11±10.8 (range 18 -73) years.
Results: 82.8% respondents have obtained a qualification or certificate to teach, therefore, 17.2% teach dance without certification. (p<0.001) Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) was the most common technique taught without obtaining qualification at 13.8%, and Canadian Dance Teachers Association (CDTA) 10.3%. Note, 43.7% do not teach without first obtaining a formal certification, which means 56.6% teach dance technique without certification. (p- 0.51). Of all respondents, only 36.4% have more than 1 year of professional dance experience, therefore, 63.6% have less than or equal to 1-year experience as a professional dancer. (p<0.001) 68.9% of dance students are less than 18 years old. (p<0.001) 50% of teachers do not have a process for reporting injuries, 46.7% do not have a protocol for injury recovery, and 20% do not modify classes for that injured dancer.
Conclusions: There is a large variety of dance genres being taught in this province.
A significant number of teachers do not obtain teaching certifications and a large majority do not have professional dance experience. Most dancers are under the age of 18 years old. Half of the respondents do not have a reporting process or protocol for injured dancers. Further research with a larger sample size and a multicentre setting is warranted to explore dance teaching practices and injury prevention protocols to learn how to keep dancers safe.
Madison Rajchyba
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Madison Rajchyba has over 20 years of dance training and over 10 years of experience in various Pilates methods. She grew up participating in dance competitions in Saskatchewan and Alberta while studying CDTA jazz and tap, as well as receiving a grade of Distinction in her RAD Advanced 2. Her dance pursuits paid off when she was offered a full tuition talent scholarship to Adelphi University's Dance Program run by Frank Augustyn in New York. While there, she studied ballet, Classical Pilates and various modern dance techniques including Graham, Taylor, Mueller, and more. She is one of the few Adelphi dancers who have been in all eight possible performances throughout her degree. Alongside her dance schedule, she partook and excelled in science-based classes to aid in her goal of medical school. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and received a prestigious, outstanding dancer award, the Ruth St. Denis Award. In 2017, alongside the medical school application processes, she found the time to complete a teacher-training course for the Pilates Mat Repertoire in Edmonton under her first Pilates mentor, Steven Bryson. Currently, she is in her fourth year of medical school at the University of Saskatchewan.
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