• Contributors
    • Catherine L. Tully, Owner/Editor
    • Dance Writers
      • Rachel Hellwig, Assistant Editor — Dance
      • Jessika Anspach McEliece, Contributor — Dance
      • Janice Barringer, Contributor – Dance
      • José Pablo Castro Cuevas, Contributor — Dance
      • Katie C. Sopoci Drake, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Ellis, Contributor — Dance
      • Samantha Hope Galler, Contributor – Dance
      • Cara Marie Gary, Contributor – Dance
      • Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, Contributor — Dance
      • Karen Musey, Contributor – Dance
      • Janet Rothwell (Neidhardt), Contributor — Dance
      • Matt de la Peña, Contributor – Dance
      • Lucy Vurusic Riner, Contributor – Dance
      • Alessa Rogers, Contributor — Dance
      • Emma Love Suddarth, Contributor — Dance
      • Andrea Thompson, Contributor – Dance
      • Sally Turkel, Contributor — Dance
      • Lauren Warnecke, Contributor – Dance
      • Sharon Wehner, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Werhun, Contributor — Dance
      • Dr. Frank Sinkoe, Contributor – Podiatry
      • Jessica Wilson, Assistant Editor – Dance
    • Dance Wellness Panel
      • Jan Dunn, MS, Editor
      • Gigi Berardi, PhD
      • James Garrick, MD
      • Robin Kish, MS, MFA
      • Moira McCormack, MS
      • Janice G. Plastino, PhD
      • Emma Redding, PhD
      • Erin Sanchez, MS
      • Selina Shah, MD, FACP
      • Nancy Wozny
      • Matthew Wyon, PhD
    • Music & Dance Writers
      • Scott Speck, Contributor – Music
    • Interns
      • Intern Wanted For 4dancers
    • Contact
  • About
    • About 4dancers
    • Advertise With 4dancers
    • Product Reviews on 4dancers
    • Disclosure
  • Contact

4dancers.org

A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance

Follow Us on Social!

Visit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On Instagram
  • 4dancers
    • Adult Ballet
    • Career
    • Auditions
    • Competition
    • Summer Intensives
    • Pointe Shoes & Footwear
      • Breaking In Shoes
      • Freed
      • Pointe Shoe Products
      • Vegan Ballet Slippers
      • Other Footwear
  • 4teachers
    • Teaching Tips
    • Dance History
    • Dance In The US
    • Studios
  • Choreography
  • Dance Wellness
    • Conditioning And Training
    • Foot Care
    • Injuries
    • Nutrition
      • Recipes/Snacks
  • Dance Resources
    • Dance Conferences
    • Dance Products
      • Books & Magazines
      • DVDs
      • Dance Clothing & Shoes
      • Dance Gifts
      • Flamenco & Spanish Dance
      • Product Reviews
    • Social Media
  • Editorial
    • Interviews
      • 10 Questions With…
      • Dance Blog Spotlight
      • Post Curtain Chat
      • Student Spotlight
    • Dance in the UK
    • Finding Balance
    • Musings
    • One Dancer’s Journey
    • Pas de Trois
    • SYTYCD
    • The Business Of Dance
    • Finis
  • Music & Dance
    • CD/Music Reviews

Aerobic Fitness for Dancers

June 10, 2020 by 4dancers

Aerobic conditioning for dancers

Dr. Emma Redding, PhD is a longtime colleague in the dance medicine world. She is a dancer, educator, and currently Head of Dance Science at Trinity-Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance,  in London. A  former president of IADMS, and on our 4dancers.org Advisory Board, Emma is also one of the foremost researchers in the field.  One of the many areas she has looked into over the years is the need for aerobic conditioning for dancers, and how dancers who are well conditioned in that particular area can lower their injury risk. Here is an excellent article on that topic — please pass it on!
Take care, Jan
Dunn, Editor, Dance Wellness

by Emma Redding, PhD

As a dancer, I often wondered why technique classes were not sufficiently providing me with all the conditioning and skills needed to meet the demands of my dance performances. I knew intuitively, that I couldn’t rely solely on technique – however I wasn’t exactly sure what I needed to do to train better. It’s because of these answered questions, that I decided to pursue a career that allows me to understand the science of dance.

I’m now Professor of Performance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, England where I lead the department of Dance Science. My colleagues and I wrote the first ever Masters degree in Dance Science in 2001 and since then, we have witnessed an exponential growth in the number of opportunities to study Dance Science at University level, in the UK / USA / and many other countries. Through my research into the physiological demands of dance and as a founding partner of the National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science and Past-President of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, I have become an advocate for increasing awareness among dancers and dance educators of the importance of fitness conditioning for dancers.

Dance is an intermittent ‘stop/start’ form of activity. In a performance, a dancer may go from performing an explosive lift, or series of jumps, to a more sustained, continuous – or smaller movement phrase, and this repeats over the course of a dance piece. As such, dancing demands the kind of energy that is derived from both the slow aerobic and fast anaerobic pathways.

Unfortunately, dancers cannot rely solely on technique classes to provide them with all the training they need to meet the demands of performance. This is because a technique class typically includes highly skilled exercises that are often quite short, teacher feedback, corrections and discussion – and often, a good deal of standing around.  The technique class is invariably taught at a lower intensity than a performance, and focuses on technical skill and artistry over fundamental physiological development.

Research shows that dancers can train more effectively by supplementing their technical training with fitness conditioning. Aerobic conditioning enhances stamina and endurance improving your ability to dance at moderate intensities for longer periods of time without experiencing early fatigue. Interval, circuit-type conditioning enhancing your ability to work at high intensities, and this sort of training more closely mimics the work-to-rest ratios and intensities seen in dance.

Aerobic Conditioning

To improve your aerobic capacity, you should engage in continuous and repeated exercise for at least 10 minutes (preferably 10-20 min). Swimming, jogging and cycling at a steady pace for are examples of aerobic exercise.   However, any form of physical activity which engages the larger muscle groups and can be repeated over a period of time is likely to be training the aerobic energy system. You may want to keep in mind that running is impactful like dance, while swimming is non-impact, but particularly useful if you have a lower limb injury.

Interval-Circuit Training

To improve your anaerobic fitness and ability to work at high intensities, you should engage in interval-circuit training which  involves a series of exercise lasting between 30 sec and 2 min. The exercises vary in intensity as well as duration and can involve short rest periods. Examples of exercises include sprints on the spot for 30 seconds, moving in and off of the floor very quickly for say 45 seconds, jumping and burpee-type movements whereby the body weight is shifted from hands to feet repeatedly.

These exercises are short in duration and can be near-maximal intensity. It would be beneficial to experiment with the length of rest periods in-between the high intensity bouts as this would help prepare for the varied length of recovery periods on stage. Sometimes, substitute the rest periods with moderate intensity work, then go back to high intensity again to mimic the changing nature of dance.

Summary

Dancers are not given much opportunity to train for the physiological demands of performance. While they may well be technically skilled enough, they are less likely to be fit to perform.

Ideally, the making of a new performance piece should be set several weeks before the first performance. This is so that dancers can run the piece over and over to become ‘match-fit’ to perform. With funding restrictions as they are, however, this is unlikely – particularly for project-based companies and freelance dancers with short rehearsal periods.

To prepare themselves physiologically to meet the demands of performance, dancers should do supplementary training outside of their class and rehearsals –  and if possible, consider the specific physiological requirements of the piece, as a way of preparing themselves physically. (EDITOR’S NOTE:  Emma Faulkner, DPT with Atlanta Ballet, recently devised a choreographic-specific pre-performance training program, to better prepare the dancers for that particular piece.  This resulted in fewer injuries overall.  Dance Magazine highlighted this in the article “Why You Should Tailor Your Cross-Training to Your Rep“)

This could mean acknowledging any unusual lifting required, body-part usage, work-to-rest ratios, jumping and so on, and from there, design a supplementary conditioning program, which incorporates progressive training in those areas of fitness.

Meanwhile, the debate around dancer fitness will continue. It is not certain whether the recommendations arising from the findings thus far apply to dancers of all genres, and much more research is needed. What is clear is that dancers are now working in eclectic styles of choreographic work, and facing increasing physiological demand. These dancers need fitness conditioning more than ever before.

Research findings do at least show that for now, dancers should not rely solely on technique classes to provide them with everything they need to meet the demands of performing. Happy training!


Emma Redding, PhD
Emma Redding, PhD

BIO: Professor Emma Redding, PhD Head of Dance Science, Trinity Laban originally trained as a contemporary dancer performing for Tranz Dance Company in Hungary and for Rosalind Newman in Hong Kong. She is now Head of Dance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, England. Emma has played a major role in developing dance science as a recognised field of study at university level, through her research, and through teaching internationally, as a founding partner of the National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science and a past-member of the Board of Directors and Past-President of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. Emma teaches Exercise Physiology and Contemporary Dance Technique at Trinity Laban alongside her management and research work. She supervises undergraduate and graduate student projects as well as PhDs in areas such as dancer health, physiology, talent development, dance training and creativity. She has led and co-led several large cross-institutional projects including most recently, a Conservatoires UK study into musician health funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and a creativity and mental imagery study, in collaboration with Plymouth University and Coventry University, UK.

Filed Under: conditioning Tagged With: Aerobic Fitness for Dancers, dance aerobic, dance training, Emma Redding, iadms, National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science, Trinity Laban Conservatorie of Music and Dance

Dance Medicine & Science In the UK

August 8, 2017 by 4dancers

Aloha to all!

Erin Sanchez is our guest contributor for the article below, and we are so pleased to post the information she has to offer. Erin is one of the strong voices in the current younger generation of dance medicine and science (DM&S) leaders. A US dancer who received her undergraduate degree in dance at the University of New Mexico, she then went to London to pursue her MsC in Dance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She has remained in the UK, and currently is the Healthier Dancer Programme Manager at One Dance UK, and is also affiliated with the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS). It has been my pleasure to get to know her, and her work, over the last five years.

The UK has become a leader in the dance medicine field internationally, and organizations such as One Dance UK and NIDMS have greatly advanced the efforts to bring DM&S information to the nationwide dance community. I know you will enjoy reading what they have accomplished in a relatively short amount of time…….Pass it on!!

(And a side note — you may see a few unfamiliar spellings of familiar words — that is British English, a slightly different version than what we use here in the US !)

Aloha -Jan

Jan Dunn, MS – Dance Wellness Editor


Healthier Dance Program Staff and NIDMS Staff
NIDMS/HDP Road Trip!

by Erin Sanchez, MSc

One Dance UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme and the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science

 

 

 

What is the Healthier Dancer Programme?

The Healthier Dancer Programme (HDP) was launched by One Dance UK in 1993 and is dedicated to improving the performance and physical and psychological health and wellbeing of dancers. We connect with dancers, teachers, choreographers, directors, administrators, healthcare practitioners (both medical and complimentary therapists), fitness professionals, researchers, academics, policy makers, (and anyone else who will listen!) in order to encourage open dialogue and collaborative working.

The National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science and a brief history of the HDP

The Healthier Dancer Programme is a part of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS). NIDMS was launched in 2012, and works to provide three key resources for the dance sector in the UK:

  1. Affordable access for all dancers to high quality, evidence-based, dance-specific health care and dance science support services.
  2. Research in dance to provide an evidence base for training, rehabilitation and healthcare in dance.
  3. Education for dance, healthcare and research professionals.

NIDMS has successfully opened three free dance injury clinics within the UK’s National Health Service in London, Birmingham, and Bath. Research undertaken by NIDMS partners ranges across many subject areas including psychology, talent development, physiology, biomechanics, and strength and conditioning.

NIDMS Partners

NIDMS is a consortium of seven partners: The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, One Dance UK, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, University of Birmingham, and University of Wolverhampton. It was conceived by Helen Laws, who began her work with One Dance UK’s HDP in 1997. Helen undertook the second national enquiry into dancers’ health and injury in the UK, and published the findings in Fit to Dance 2. Based on the findings regarding the rates and causes of injury and access to injury care, she then began a programme of educational ‘road shows,’ information sheets and books, all aimed at providing information for professional and student dancers and teachers which could hopefully reduce preventable injuries. Helen also initiated an online listing of qualified, dance-specific healthcare practitioners across the UK, our Healthcare Practitioners Directory.

Advisory groups of expert medical practitioners and physiotherapists working in dance companies and professional training programmes were assembled to inform the work of the HDP, and now form our Dance Medicine and Science Expert Panel. Partnerships were developed with dance teacher training organisations, medical and research institutions, and dance companies and schools, to help disseminate key research in dance medicine and science.

However, during this time the lack of affordable options for dance-specific health services became more and more obvious. Ms. Laws began fundraising for NIDMS in response to this need in 2007. Since 2012, NIDMS has successfully opened three free dance injury clinics within the UK’s National Health Service in London, Birmingham, and Bath. Research underpinning both training and healthcare undertaken by NIDMS partners ranges across many subject areas including psychology, talent development, physiology, biomechanics, and strength and conditioning.

Key moments in the development of the HDP

The HDP has become the education and dance sector advocacy arm of NIDMS’ work. Specifically, the HDP provides dissemination of advice and information, delivery of workshops, and talks and conferences aimed at those working in the training and professional dance sector. Our work exists solely to educate and empower dancers and those working with dancers at every level. Further education work is carried out in partnership with Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance (London), and the Universities of Wolverhampton and Birmingham, who provide master’s and PhD level studies in dance science.

The Team

Dance Medicine Staff UK

The current team in the HDP is overseen by Helen Laws, the Head of Industry and Artist Support / NIDMS, and includes 3 team members: Claire Farmer and Stephanie De’ath, who are the Managers of NIDMS, and Erin Sanchez, the Manager of the Healthier Dancer Programme. There are also two emeritus team members, Dr Sarah Needham-Beck, who has just moved on to pursue a new position as a Research Fellow in the Occupational Performance Research Group at the University of Chichester, and Niamh Morrin, who is currently undertaking her PhD at Bucks New University.

Resources and information

NIDMS provides clinical care and strengthens the evidence base of dance medicine and science through research activities, as well as by taking a leadership role on postgraduate education in dance science. Dancers in the UK can access specialist dance injury clinics, which are entirely free, and provide for dancers’ medical needs throughout their injuries – this includes physiotherapy, MRI and bone scans and surgery, if necessary. NIDMS also provides preventative musculoskeletal and fitness screening and a health cash plan that provides up to £800 of injury care treatments, dental and optical cover, and GP, medical, counselling and legal helplines. Details on these services are available here.

One of the key activities of the HDP is Healthier Dancer Talks. These are educational workshops delivered to professional dancers, students, teachers and artistic and support professionals, and cover a broad range of topics – for example:

  • Nutrition and hydration
  • Rest
  • Overtraining
  • Psychology of injury
  • Dance specific conditioning
  • Interval and circuit training
  • Safe dance practice for teachers

In particular, the HDP has partnered with Safe in Dance International (SIDI) as a Registered Provider of courses leading to their Certificates for dancers and dance leaders. In addition, they have partnered with the University of Birmingham to provide training in developing healthy motivational climates, through the Empowering Dance training. To learn more about all our talks, visit this page.

Healthier Dancer Conferences

Another of our focused activities is an annual conference on a particular topic in dancers’ health. Our healthier dancer conferences are filmed and highlights, clips, interviews, and more are available via our YouTube channel. Our next conference in November 2017 will be a part of a conference season; 3 conferences, 2 days, 1 venue, and will feature specialist days for teachers, choreographers and health. The focus will be on mental health and the psychological and social aspects of injury.


Erin Sanchez

Erin Sanchez is the Healthier Dancer Programme Manager at One Dance UK in London, and with her colleagues within the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, organises dance science and medicine focused conferences and workshops for dance professional and students, as well as researchers and healthcare practitioners; advocates to government, employers and stakeholders in the dance sector; and develops resources to support dancers’ knowledge of physical and psychological strategies for health, wellbeing and performance enhancement.

Erin’s main interests in dance medicine and science are psychology, talent development and mental health. She pursued a BA (Hons) in Dance and Sociology from the University of New Mexico while training as a dancer. She moved from the US to the UK in 2009 to pursue an MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

She is a registered provider for Safe in Dance International (www.safeindance.com), a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (www.iadms.org), and holds the qualification in Safe and Effective Dance Practice. She also manages the Dance Psychology Network.

Filed Under: Dance Wellness Tagged With: Birmingham Royal Ballet, Claire Farmer, dance medicine, Dance Psychology Network, dance wellness, Dr Sarah Needham-Beck, Erin Sanchez, Healthier Dancer Programme, helen laws, iadms, National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, NIDMS, Once Dance UK, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Safe In Dance International, Stephanie De’ath, Trinity Laban Conservatorie of Music and Dance, University of Wolverhampton

Dance Artwork

Get Your Dance Career Info Here!

Dance ebook cover

Podcast

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

This site sometimes features advertising, affiliate marketing, or affiliate links, such as Amazon Associate links and others. When you click on these links, we get a small sum that helps to support the website operations. Thank you! There’s more detailed information on ads and our disclosure policy under the About tab in our navigation at the top of the site. We clearly mark any and all posts that contain these features.

Copyright Notice

Please note that all of the content on 4dancers.org is copyrighted. Do not copy, utilize, or distribute without express permission. We take cases of infringement seriously. All rights reserved ©2022.

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in