IADMS offers dance health course in USA

The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) is offering a day of sessions covering the basic essentials and practical strategies for designing and delivering dance training that promotes dancers’ health and wellbeing. The Healthy Dance Practice and Performance course will take place on Sunday, July 14 in Seattle, Washington USA.

Session topics will include alignment and anatomy, sequencing the dance class, injury prevention and management, promoting healthy environments and bone health.

The session on alignment and anatomy will give an overview of anatomy and will describe alignment for dancers that may reduce the risk of injury while enhancing technique. Common misalignments and muscle imbalances will be discussed.  The session will also provide teaching strategies for assessment and correction, including exercises and imagery work. 

The session focusing on sequencing a dance class will look at the importance of age-appropriate and physique-appropriate work, and how differentiation could enhance the training experience to optimize studio time. It will consider movements that are contraindicated for varying dance populations, and how to judge fatigue levels while providing sufficient challenges for all. 

Next, the session on injury prevention and management will provide up-to-date information regarding basic first aid to help teachers respond to acute injuries in the studio. The secondary topic will focus on prevention and rehabilitation for some of the most common dance injuries and will include exercises for improving proprioception. 

Subsequently, the session on promoting healthy environments will be a discussion of the practical components of creating healthy surroundings. The primary topic will include facilities: flooring, ambient temperature and appropriate dress. The secondary topic will include personal aspects of the dance environment: warm-up, cool down, nutrition and hydration for dancers. 

Finally, the last session on bone health will be a discussion of appropriate nutritional considerations for dancers and insight into developing and maintaining good bone structure during the developmental years.

For more information or to register, click here. The IADMS course will be held at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. An opening reception will be hosted for attendees on Saturday, July 13.