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). 

In recognition of her ‘outstanding commitment to educating future professionals in the field of dance medicine and science’, HDC Vice-President Dr. Sarah Kenny has been selected by the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science to receive the 2024 Dance Educator Award. Congratulations Sarah!

HDC Member Jada Kiss, a 4th year BSc Exercise and Health Physiology student, received a Student Research Award for her oral presentation titled: Normative Data for Preseason Screening Assessments in Female University Contemporary Dancers at the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science annual conference in Rimini, Italy. ​

Identifying Cannabis Use In Dancers Across the Globe
• Seeking dancers worldwide
• Online survey, anonymous, approximately 10 minutes to complete
• Questions address the utilization of cannabis within the past 6 months
If interested, please email Joshua Honrado at [email protected].
Primary Investigator: Donald J. Rose, MD, Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Health

Study on Mental Health
The purpose of the study is to examine emotion regulation and mental health among dancers. We are seeking dancers over the age of 16 who are currently participating in dance in Canada and the United States. Dancers can be participating at recreational, competitive, or professional levels.

​Participation in this study involves an online survey that will take 30-45 minutes to complete. The survey will ask questions related to mental health, sport-related distress, emotion regulation, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and performance satisfaction. Participants can leave their email if they would like to receive a $5 electronic gift card for completing the survey; email addresses will not be linked with survey responses.

If you are interested in participating in this study, click on the survey link below for more
information and to provide consent to participate:
https://redcap.utoronto.ca/surveys/?s=4HJN8L93AF4D7Y4L 

The Journal of Dance Education: Vol 23, No 3 (Current issue) (tandfonline.com), Special Issue on the Mental, Emotional and Physical Health and Wellness of Dancers is open-access until the end of October. No miss these articles on dancer wellness, including HDC past-president and founding member Andrea Downie's Equity-Informed Dancer Wellness.

Congratulations to Dr. Bonnie Robson, recipient of Healthy Dancer Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award, 2022. Bonnie E. Robson MD DPsych DCP FRCPC has spent 40 years in clinical adult and child psychiatry and since 1983 specializing in performance arts medicine and performance enhancement for vocal and instrumental music students, dance students, teachers, administrators, and artistic directors. Until her retirement in 2013 she consulted to athletes and artists at Pivot Sports Medicine and Orthopedics in Toronto. She was a consultant to the National Ballet School of Canada from 1983-1995 and Quinte Ballet School of Canada from 2000-2011 and is currently on the Wellness team for Canada’s Ballet Jorgen. Her original arts-related research makes her a popular speaker/presenter at national and international conferences in such countries as Sweden, Spain, Netherlands, Cuba, Singapore, and USA. Recent presentations on Mindfulness approach to performance and Psychological Skills training have been presented university music programs for undergraduates and postgraduates and dance educators. She has published her research in such juried journals as the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science and Medical Problems of Performing Artists where she also serves on the editorial board. She was on the Board of Directors of PAMA and has served on the Board of NETWORK Schools and chaired their research committee. She was honoured by this organization with a lifetime achievement award for her contribution to arts education and from PAMA the Bill Dawson Award. She is a member of the Dance USA Task Force on Wellness, a board member of the Bridge Dance Project, and a founding member of Healthy Dancer Canada, as well as a member of its membership committee.

National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) has made HDC founding member and Past President Andrea Downie's article Equity-Informed Dancer Wellness open-access for the months of August and September. Read the article at Journal of Dance Education: Full article: Equity-Informed Dancer Wellness (tandfonline.com).