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Coverage: Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) Symposium 2017

November 11, 2017 by 4dancers

Performing Arts Medicine Association Symposium, Poster Presentation

by Catherine L. Tully

Each type of conference has it’s own unique atmosphere, and each has it’s own sense of purpose and direction. The Performing Arts Medicine Association‘s 2017 Symposium is no exception, and since this was our first time attending, we’d like to give an overall picture of what this gathering is like, and who typically attends. This way, if you aren’t already familiar with the organization, you’ll get a better picture of what they are all about.

Let’s begin with a basic overview of the organization, and it’s mission statement.

What Is PAMA?

Founded in 1989, the Performing Arts Medicine Association, also known as PAMA, is an organization made up of educators, artists, medical professionals, and administrators that share a common goal – improving the healthcare of the performing artist. Unlike the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS), PAMA is not just dedicated to the art of dance, but rather includes all performing artists – such as musicians, dancers, and actors.

Originally founded as an organization for medical professionals, membership expanded over the years to include others who were becoming more and more interested in the health and well-being of this sector of the arts. Approximately 20% of the organization is currently from outside of the US. PAMA holds a yearly symposium as a gathering place for members and others that serves to share information about the field, provide networking opportunities, and more.

PAMA’s mission is stated as follows:

The Performing Arts Medicine Association is committed to:

  • Promoting the highest quality of care to all performing artists and bringing to that care an appreciation of the special needs of performing artists.
  • Developing educational programs designed to enhance the understanding and prevention of medical problems related to the performing arts.
  • Promoting communication among all those involved in the health care and well being of performing artists.
  • Fostering research into the etiology, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of medical problems of performing artists.

The Symposium

PAMA Symposium
Registration desk at the Westin in Snowmass – PAMA Symposium, 2017

This year the symposium took place in Snowmass – a lovely setting up in the mountains of Colorado. The Westin provided a home base for the event, as well as space for the sessions that took place throughout. For those interested in dance/dancers, there were a number of different presentations to choose from.

Westin Snowmass
The Westin, Snowmass, CO

Here are some examples:

  • Investigation of the Cardiovascular Endurance of Dance Majors
  • Risk for Hearing Loss due to Noise Exposure in Competition Dancers
  • The First Step: Creating a Dancer Wellness Program That Will Engage and Empower
  • Gaze Behaviour in Dance – the Relevance of Spotting in Pirouettes
  • Injury Prevention and Optimal Performance Training in Dancers

This should give you an idea of the types of presentations there are for people who are invested in the care of dancers and their bodies. There were also poster presentations, and informal gatherings during the course of the symposium.

As with most conferences, the chance to network and make new associations during the span of the event is an important facet when it comes to attending. We connected with a wide range of people during our time there, including authors, medical practitioners, a clinical and performance psychologist, and people from all over the world with an interest in dancer health and wellness. There is no doubt that these people are passionate about the work they do, and it’s wonderful to have some space created for them to come together like this and share what they are working on, and what they have learned with one another.

PAMA poster presentation
Poster Presentation at PAMA

It is our hope that with the growth of the dance wellness section of this site, we will be able to continue sharing information about conferences and symposiums such as PAMA (and others), and that our outreach will help create more pathways for dancers and dance teachers to connect with the important information and research that is taking place all over the world.

Those interested in attending the 36th Annual PAMA International Symposium can view more information about the gathering in Orange, CA here. It takes place from June 30th to July 3rd.

Learn more about PAMA membership levels and benefits on their website.


Disclosure: This author is the editor/owner of 4dancers. She attended the PAMA Symposium on a press pass granted by the organization, but no monetary compensation was received for her coverage of the event. All transportation, lodging, and meals were paid for by 4dancers.

Filed Under: Dance Conferences Tagged With: CO, dance conferences, dance medicine, dance medicine and science, dance wellness, dancer health, iadms, pama, Performing Arts Medicine Association, Snowmass, Westin

Introducing Our Dance Wellness Panel

May 13, 2015 by 4dancers

Jan Dunn
Jan Dunn

Aloha to all!

This is a very special post regarding the Dance Wellness segment of 4dancers.org:

In the fall of 2011, Catherine Tully (whom I had never met) contacted me and asked me if I would like to write an article about Dance Medicine and Science – aka Dance Wellness – for her online site, just to introduce readers to that aspect of information in the dance world. I was pleased to do so, and so in January of 2012, we posted that first article. Your response, as readers, was so overwhelmingly positive that Catherine asked me to start a new on-going segment of 4dancers, entitled “Dance Wellness”.  I did, and the rest is history. Over the last 3+ years we have posted, 36 articles, written not only by myself but by guest contributors whom I have brought in.

Your eagerness to learn more about this important field has prompted us to take the next step, to continue “spreading the word” online about the many aspects of Dance Wellness, and how all of this information can help dancers to “dance longer, dance stronger”.  We are so pleased to announce the 4dancers.org Dance Wellness Panel–a distinguished group of people from the Dance Medicine and Science field, who have agreed to join us in this new endeavor.   

Below you will find each of our panel members, along with information about their backgrounds, associations and areas of specialty. We are thrilled to have them on board, and we look forward to sharing more dance wellness information with you in the coming months!

My best to everyone-
Jan

Jan Dunn, MS
Dance Wellness Editor – 4dancers.org


 

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James Garrick, MD

James Garrick, MD., is an orthopedic surgeon and the founder and Medical Director of the Center for Sports Medicine, at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, California. When founded 35 years ago, the Center had the first Dance Medicine department on the West Coast, and had one of only two West Coast Pilates facilities. For forty years he has been one of the leading figures in the dance medicine field, with particular research interests in the epidemiology of dance and sports injuries. His research includes a cost analysis of dancers’ workman’s comp injuries, insurance coverage of independent dance companies in San Francisco Bay area, and injury patterns in young dancers.

Dr. Garrick was physician for San Francisco Ballet Company, founded the clinic for dancers at San Francisco School for the Arts, and is currently on  the physician panel for the San Francisco Ballet School. He also founded the Sports Medicine Division at the University of Washington, and is a founding and former board member of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine. He is a clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and serves on the editorial board of several journals. He has authored / co-authored five books, including Ski Conditioning (1978), Peak Condition (1986), and Sports Injuries – Diagnosis and Management (1990), as well as numerous articles for medical journals and book chapters.

Dr. Garrick is a member of American College of Sport Medicine, American Orthopedic Surgeons, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA), and International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS).

Gigi Berardi, PhD
Gigi Berardi, PhD

Gigi Berardi, PhD has an academic background and performing experience that allow her to combine her interests in the natural and social sciences with her passion for dance, as both critic and writer. Over 300 articles and reviews by Dr. Berardi have appeared in broadcast and print media, including Dance Magazine, Dance International, the Los Angeles Times, the Anchorage Daily News, The Olympian, The Bellingham Herald, LA Style, IDEA Today, LA Reader, LA Weekly, and scientific journals such as Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, Kinesiology and Medicine for Dance, Dance Research Journal, Your Patient and Fitness, and Impulse: The International Journal of Dance Science, Education, and Medicine. She has written as a national advocacy columnist for the Dance Critics Association Newsletter and has served on performing arts panels for the Alaska State Council on the Arts. She currently serves as a contributing editor and writer for and a correspondent for Dance Magazine. She is a founding co-editor of Kinesiology and Medicine for Dance and currently serves as Book Review Editor for Journal of Dance Medicine & Science. Her public radio features (for KSKA, Anchorage) have been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Dance Critics Association, and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

A professor at Western Washington University, she received the university’s Diversity Achievement Award in 2004. Finding Balance: Fitness and Training for a Lifetime in Dance is her fifth book. The completely revised edition appeared in 2005, a seminar on the earlier edition was noted in The New Yorker; both editions had second printings. Her technical training, residencies, and seminars are listed in her resume. In winter, 2000, she was a Fairhaven College Distinguished Teaching Colleague for dance.

Robin Kish, Dance Wellness
Robin Kish, MS, MFA

Robin Kish, MS, MFA, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dance at Chapman University. Robin blends her background in dance and science to creative innovative educational programs supporting the development of safe and effective dance training programs.

She has presented research and developed education lectures for the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) and the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS). In 2013 she developed the first online dance kinesiology class for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). As a product of the private studio / competition environment she is passionate about bringing dancer wellness and safe teaching practices to the industry.

Moira McCormack
Moira McCormack, MS

Moira McCormack, MS, is Head of Physiotherapy at The Royal Ballet Company in London, UK.

After a professional dance career in classical ballet she trained as a dance teacher and then as a Physical Therapist and has worked with dancers for the last 20 years. She teaches anatomy, dance technique and injury prevention internationally, with a main interest in the management of the hypermobile dancer.

Janice Plastino, Dance Wellness
Janice G. Plastino, PhD

Janice G. Plastino, PhD is Emerita Professor from the University of California Irvine (USA) in the Department of Dance. Her book with James Penrod, The Dancer Prepares: Modern Dance for Beginners has been in continual print with revisions since 1970. She has published extensively with papers, journal articles, and several book chapters. She has danced professionally on television, stage, and in dance companies for national and international venues.

Dr. Plastino’s choreography of over 50 works includes 15 years as co-director of Penrod Plastino Movement Theatre, directing opera at Lincoln Center, New York, and creating works at NBC and the BBC television. She is regarded as the founder of the field of Dance Science, and established the first dancer screening / wellness program in an educational setting at UCI in 1982. She introduced the Pilates Method in the UCI Dept. Of Dance in 1983, the first such program in higher education.

She was instrumental in the formation of the National Dance Education Association (NDEO), and a leader during the organization’s early years. She has been a member of Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) since 1989, served on the BOD for four years, and in 2013 was awarded the Dawson Service Award. In 2015, she became the first recipient of the International Association for Dance Medicine’s (IADMS) Dance Educator Award.

Dr. Plastino has reported her findings in dance science to scientific societies and medical associations throughout the United States and abroad. She was an invited guest of the USSR government in 1988 (before détente), observing the Bolshoi and Kirov ballet companies while consulting and lecturing about dance injuries. The Olympic Committee invited her to lecture on dance injuries at the 1984 Olympic Scientific Congress held in Eugene, Oregon and in Seoul, South Korea in 1988. Her pioneering and continuing work in the pre-participation screening of dancers has been lauded by the medical, research and dance communities. Many of her students have established wellness programs at their colleges, universities, private studios, and private practices.

Dr. Plastino is currently adapting her movement theories for use in for the private dance studio. She is most passionate about the private studios having easy access to new research in training methods of the young dancer. Currently she consults on dancer wellness, evaluation of public and private dance programs, gives dancer wellness workshops, and continues to present papers at conferences.

Emma Redding
Emma Redding, PhD

Emma Redding, PhD is Head of Dance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Emma originally trained as a dancer and performed with the company Tranz Danz, Hungary and for Rosalind Newman, Hong Kong. She teaches contemporary dance technique at Trinity Laban and lectures in physiology alongside her management and research work. She has been Principal Investigator for several large-scale research projects including a 3-year government funded study into dance talent identification and development as well as studies into the physical and mental demands of music playing and the role of mental imagery within creative practice.

She has published her work in academic journals and is a member of the Board of Directors and a Past President of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS). She is also founding Partner of the UK National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS).

Erin Sanchez
Erin Sanchez, MS

Erin Sanchez, MS is the Healthier Dancer Programme Manager (job share) at Dance UK in London, administrates the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation’s Medical Website for healthcare professionals and dancers and manages the Dance Psychology Network.

Erin pursued vocational dance training with American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet School and the Alvin Ailey School. She also holds a BA (Hons) in Dance and Sociology from the University of New Mexico and an MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

Erin is a registered provider for Safe in Dance International, a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science and holds the qualification in Safe and Effective Dance Practice. She has lectured in dance science and taught dance technique in the United States, UK, Egypt and Malta.

Selina Shah, MD, FACP
Selina Shah, MD, FACP

Selina Shah, MD, FACP is a board certified sports medicine and internal medicine physician and the Director of Dance Medicine at the Center for Sports Medicine in San Francisco, CA and Walnut Creek, CA. She has lectured nationally and internationally on various dance medicine topics and has published papers in medical journals and books including her original research on dance injuries in contemporary professional dancers. She is the dance company physician for the San Francisco Ballet School, Liss Fain Dance Company and Diablo Ballet. She is a physician for Berkeley Repertory Theater, Mill’s College, St. Mary’s College, and Northgate High School. She takes care of the performers for Cirque du Soleil and various Broadway productions when they come to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has taken care of several Broadway performers (i.e. American Idiot, South Pacific, Lion King, Book of Mormon, MoTown, and Billy Elliot). She is a team physician for USA Synchronized Swimming, USA Weightlifting, USA Figure Skating and travels with the athletes internationally and nationally. She is also a member of the USA Gymnastics Referral Network. As a former professional Bollywood and salsa dancer, Dr. Shah is passionate about caring for dancers. She continues taking ballet classes weekly and also enjoys running, yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, and plyometric exercise.

Nany Wozny
Nancy Wozny

Nancy Wozny is editor in chief of Arts + Culture Texas, reviews editor at Dance Source Houston and a contributor to Pointe Magazine, Dance Teacher and Dance Magazine, where she is also a contributing editor. She has taught and written about Feldenkrais and somatics in dance for two decades.

 

Dance Wellness Contributor Matt Wyon
Matt Wyon, PhD

 

Matthew Wyon, PhD, is a Professor in Dance Science at the University of Wolverhampton, UK and a Visiting Professor at the ArtEZ, Institute of the Arts, The Netherlands.

At Wolverhampton he is the course leader for the MSc in Dance Science and Director of Studies for a number of dance science and medicine doctoral candidates. He is a founding partner of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, UK.

Prof. Wyon is Vice President of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science and a past chair of the Research Committee. He has worked with numerous dancers and companies within the UK and Europe as an applied physiologist and strength and conditioning coach.

Filed Under: Dance Wellness Tagged With: dance medicine, dance wellness, dance wellness panel, Emma Redding, Erin Sanchez, gigi berardi, iadms, James Garrick, jan dunn, Janice G. Plastino, matthew wyon, moira mccormack, nancy wozny, NIDMS, pama, robin kish, selina shah

Competition Dance: Maximizing Peak Performance Part I

August 9, 2012 by 4dancers

This month’s guest contributor to the Dance Wellness column is Robin Kish, MS, MFA, who is on the dance faculty at Chapman University in Orange County, CA. She is a leader in the field of dance medicine, and is especially focused on competition dance.  

Robin comes from that  background herself, and most of the students she trains come from competition studios as well.  Many of them graduate to teach in that same environment. Others  have become professional dancers in shows such as “Wicked”, competed at the highest levels of “So You Think You Can Dance”, and joined such top notch companies as Momix.

Robin’s passion is to help competition dancers look for ways to be able to dance / compete / teach without feeling broken.  We are so pleased she has joined us here on 4dancers.org, sharing information especially for this important segment of our dance community.                                   

– Jan Dunn, Editor, Dance Wellness

Photo by Catherine L. Tully

by Robin Kish, MS, MFA

Olympians, professional athletes, and even collegiate athletic programs have something in common….they all provide a team of medical health professionals to promote wellness and maximize peak performance.

Where is there anything similar for competition dance?

Choreography, music, costumes, hair, make up, technique class and 100’s of hours of rehearsing make up the day to day life of young competition dancers.  The bread and butter of private studios today are competition teams, with students ranging from ages 5-18.

Competition organizations have been around for a while, however; in the last decade the level and interest in competitions have reached an all-time high.  In addition to the increased opportunities to compete, there is also a continuous stream of conventions and workshops available for dancers to take technique class and learn choreography from the latest and greatest artists.  Reality TV shows such as “So You Think You Can Dance” and “America’s Best Dance Crew” have helped promote dance in the public arena. That said, the missing factor supporting a dancer’s longevity and maximal performance is wellness…i.e, what this column is all about!

Beyond the rhinestones and sequins, the most important instrument the dancer has is their body.  The hours of hard work take a toll on the body and sensations of pain may increase; therefore, a decrease in performance may develop.  Since the focus of training frequently is toward the final product and the tricks necessary to score big at each competition, dancers forget to listen to their bodies along the way. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Competition, conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: anatomy for dancers, chapman university, choreography, dancers, department of dance, iadms, injury prevention, pama, pilates

Keeping Dancers Dancing: An Introduction to Dance Wellness in 2012

January 2, 2012 by 4dancers

Join me in welcoming Jan Dunn who is going to be with us this year writing about Dance Wellness. Ms. Dunn has an extremely impressive background in the field and I’m really excited that she will be sharing her insights with us here at 4dancers… 

by Jan Dunn, MS

Jan Dunn, MS

 

Welcome to the world of Dance Wellness!  (also sometimes called “Dance Medicine and  Science”).  Dance Wellness is a fairly recent branch on the dance family tree; thirty-five years ago, the field did not exist at all. But the last three decades have witnessed tremendous growth in our knowledge of how to keep dancers dancing,  longer and stronger than ever before.  This is the first in a series of on-going articles about dance wellness, integrating recently learned information to help teachers, dancers, choreographers, and directors.

What IS “dance wellness”, or “dance medicine and science”?   The “dance medicine” part is comparable to sports medicine – the care and prevention of dance injuries – just as sports medicine serves the same function for its participants.  “Dance science” draws on research in the last thirty years (most of it in dance itself, as opposed to sports or other fields) from such areas as:

  • kinesiology and anatomy
  • biomechanics
  • exercise physiology
  • motor learning
  • nutrition
  • psychology

Both areas are concerned primarily with how dance injuries can be prevented / minimized, and how to integrate these findings into dance training. “Dance wellness” incorporates all of these concepts — i.e., keeping dancers healthy, to be able to have long, viable careers with decreased risk of injury. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Dance Wellness Tagged With: adf, american dance festival, dance medicine, dance medicine seminars, dance wellness, dr. eivind thomasen, dr. james garrick, dr. james sammarco, dr. janice plastino, dr. justin howse, dr. sally fitt, dr. william hamilton, harkness center for dance injuries, iadms, jan dunn, marika molnar, martha myers, nda, pama, rachel rist, ruth solomon

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