The Savvy Dance Teacher

Applied Dance Science Teacher Training Course

A 2-day live, practical course for dance teachers that teaches the latest in dance science & research so that your dancers can reach their maximum performance potential.

August 16th & 17th, 2024
Friday 11am-6pm
Saturday 9am-4pm

Harbour Dance Studios
Nanaimo, BC

CA$549.00

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DO ANY OF THESE SOUND FAMILIAR?

You care about the health and well-being of your dancers and want to implement the latest in dance science and research but have no idea where to start

You want to take your dancers to the next level and see them excel without risking injury and burnout

You’re tired of the typical syllabus refresher courses and are looking for something fresh and new to meet your CPD requirements

If any of these have you thinking ‘yes’ - this course is for you!

What You’ll Learn

Based on the Dancer Health Pyramid of injury prevention and performance enhancement, The Savvy Dance Teacher will focus on 3 main pillars of the pyramid:

Load Management and Recovery. The foundation and basis of all physical performance, we’ll break down training load management, periodization and recovery strategies for dancers.

Physical Preparation. Ensuring our dancers are physically prepared for the demands of dance, we’ll dive into a proper and effective warm-up, functional assessment tasks to identify areas of weakness or imbalance, and nervous system regulation.

Preventative Maintenance. Just like our cars require regular maintenance to run their best, dancers’ bodies need regular maintenance to perform at the highest level. This section covers topics including functional strength assessment for dancers, implementing cross training programs and active mobility.

Curriculum

Day 1

Background of the current state dance science and dancer health and wellness

Introduction to the Dancer Health Pyramid

Load management, periodization and recovery strategies for dancers

Physical preparation including warm-up and functional movement assessment

Day 2

Physical preparation continued including nervous system assessment and intervention strategies

Preventative maintenance topics including functional strength assessment, introduction of cross training and active mobility

Dance teaching practices are historically based on ‘tradition’ rather than science, anatomy, or pedagogical knowledge. This can lead to practices that are unsafe, ineffective, or inefficient at best. As research and knowledge in the area of dance science has improved, so must our teaching practices. This live course will give you the tools to implement the latest in dance science and research into your classes - so your dancers can reach their highest performance potential.

Why I Created The Savvy Dance Teacher

Over the past 15+ years, I’ve worked with thousands of dancers in the clinic and although I’ve loved every second of it, there’s only one of me and so many more dancers out there who don’t have access to dance specific physiotherapy.

At the same time, there is fabulous work that is being done in the realm of dance science and medicine research, but getting that information to dancers and into the studios where is can be implemented is often a barrier.

Dance teachers already have enough on their plates without trying to keep up with the latest research and attend dance medicine conference, so I created The Savvy Dance Teacher as a practical course that can help bridge the gap between the science/research community and the dance community. The Savvy Dance Teacher will give teachers the tools they need to be able to implement these principles into their studios and classrooms.

Meet Your Instructor

If we haven’t met before, Hi!

I’m Erika Mayall, a dance specific physiotherapist based in North Vancouver, BC Canada.

I’m the founder of Allegro Performance + Wellness and the host of The Dance Physio Podcast. As a former dancer and dance teacher, I was always fascinated with anatomy, human movement and how the body works. This led me to a career in physiotherapy – and ultimately pairing my 2 passions – dance + physiotherapy.

Now, with over 15 years of clinical experience treating dancers and other artistic athletes, I’m in the unique position of being able to use both my dance and teaching experience, along with my clinical expertise to address issues that are so prevalent in the dance world.

Being able to ‘speak’ the language of dance, I’m passionate about sharing this knowledge with the dance community, with the ultimate goal of changing the landscape of the dance industry for the better.