Healthy dancer workshop, New Blue Emerging Dance Festival, Toronto 2018 EnhanceDance's Andrea Downie presented a workshop in Toronto, Optimizing Dance Performance, with Nicole Hamilton of Inica Dance Industries and Kiah Brubacher-Cressman on behalf of Healthy Dancer Canada - The Dance Health Alliance of Canada at New Blue Emerging Dance Festival 18, June 4, 2018. Topics include physical tools to optimize dance performance, injury prevention and management, and psychological tools to optimize dance performance.
Are you aware of the signs of concussion? Dancers get concussions, too. You do not have to hit your head to get a concussion. A concussion is a brain injury. Signs can include headaches, irritability, sleep disturbances, and difficulty thinking clearly. Consider baseline testing before you get a concussion and be sure to follow all your health provider’s instructions if you get one.
- Andrea Downie Dance conditioning workshop, Quinte Ballet School, Quinte 2018 EnhanceDance's Andrea Downie was at Quinte Ballet School of Canada in again this winter, working with the dancers in the professional division. We discussed how to safely and optimally warm-up and cool-down. We also did C-I Training classes and discussed the importance of supplementary fitness and conditioning for dancers.
The goal is for young children to enjoy learning through music, movement and dance. Have them explore a variety of movement activities and skills, using their senses (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic) to learn about themselves and the world we live in. Incorporate activities that will help them learn fundamental movement skills, observation and listening skills, as well as how to conduct themselves in a group. Strive for a balance between novelty (introducing new movements/activities) and repetition (practicing things they already know). Maintaining a predictable lesson structure is important; children will feel more comfortable to try new movements and activities within a familiar structure.
- Andrea Downie Do you know the difference between excellence and perfection?
"The pursuit of excellence can sometimes morph into the pursuit of perfection. As a group, dancers exhibit higher than normal levels of perfectionism. Like those who strive for excellence, perfectionists are highly driven and set particularly high standards/goals for themselves. Perfectionists, however, are inclined to pursue unrealistic or unattainable goals and thus experience a sense of inadequacy and self-doubt. Perfectionists are overly self-critical of themselves and others, and tend to ruminate on their mistakes and disappointments. Such dancers are at risk of suffering from low self-esteem, anxiety, disordered eating, injury, and burnout." (Andrea Downie, 2015) Learn more about perfectionism in International Association for Dance Medicine and Science's resource paper, Perfectionism, by Sana Nordin-Bates. |
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