Raising Happy and Healthy Dancers

Today’s blog is written by Shannon McGregor. With 15 years of dance experience, Shannon's passion for ballet, dance, and gymnastics led her to focus on improving the health of performing artists. She has over a decade of experience as a physiotherapist and now runs Element Physiotherapy and Wellness in Tauranga. Shannon shares her top tips for setting dance students up for success.

As a parent, navigating through all the different information on health must be overwhelming and with busy dancer, that’s another thing! Essentially, the dance parents I come across are trying their best to raise happy and healthy children.

Dance is such a demanding industry, and the pressures can start when children are quite young and that includes self-imposed pressures as a driven young person. Trust me I have been there too. So, what can we do the help keep dancers healthy?

Let’s start with doing the basics well. Some key points I like to use to help set students up for success are:

Rest – One to two rest days per week would be best but I completely understand competition season can take over! Reducing high impact activities (like running and jumping), long sessions or altering weekly activities can help prevent injuries. Micro-rests? Naps? Marking routines? Whatever you can fit in or think of!

Nutrition – This is not my area of expertise, some general advice I can give is to eat enough and diversly, so your dancers body is getting lots of nutrients – if in doubt speak to a dietician. I once saw a women’s health dietitian who emphasised food is fuel! Dancers require fuel for function!

Sleep – Did a parent yawn as they also need more of this? Sleep improved function and this includes dance, school and interacting with friends/relatives. Overuse of devices can cause reduced sleep and poor concentration – we don’t want that.

Community – A local healthcare professional that you trust can be worth their weight in gold, a recommendation from a mum at the studio for snack tips, an online resource shared by another parent and list goes on. Build your community. I’m hoping to provide more education on dance injuries, Pilates, strength and more this year too. You can access free online resources from the International Association of Dance Medicine & Science for parents, teachers, and more by clicking here. https://iadms.org/research-publications/

One of my goals this year is to bridge the gap between healthcare practitioners, parents and dancer teachers. I look forward to working together to keep your kids and teens dancing!

Shannon

Shannon McGregor
Element Physiotherapy & Wellness
www.elementphysiotherapy.co.nz

Follow Shannon on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/elementphysiotherapy/