Over the past 18 months, dancers have adapted to new ways of training, rehearsing, and performing in the confines of their own homes and smaller spaces. As things slowly return to normal, dancers are returning to the studio and are adjusting to moving in larger spaces with different flooring, new training schedules, styles, and choreography. This time away from the studio can have a significant impact on strength, flexibility, and endurance. Movements that dancers may have excelled at pre-Covid may feel more challenging than expected.
Start Off The Year With Confidence
Whether you are returning to dance after an injury or a long break, or simply wanting to check-in to make sure you are physically ready for the season, a Pre-Season or Pre-Pointe screen may be right for you!
What Is A Pre-Season Screen?
A Pre-Season Screen is a physical assessment to determine readiness to return to dance. Your Strive Physiotherapist will look at your dance technique, mobility, posture, and strength, and ask you about pain and any injuries you may have experienced. Screens are important for injury prevention and identifying any factors that have the potential to contribute to re-injury or injuries that may occur in the future. After the assessment, your physiotherapist will help you to create a plan to improve any risk factors that may have been identified.
Benefits Of Participating In A Pre-Season Screen:
- Goal Setting
- Create personal goals for the dance season
- Eg:improving your splits or your turnout
- Education
- Ask questions about injury prevention techniques to ensure a healthy and successful year in the studio including establishing safe warm up and stretching routines, dance specific strength training and conditioning, or ways to manage hypermobility disorders
- Develop a personalized program
- Once your goals have been set, an individualized program will be created to meet your personal goals
- Identify injury risks to avoid problems before they start
What Is A Pre-Pointe Screen?
A Pre-Pointe screen specifically assess readiness for pointe work. During a Pre-Pointe Screen, specific factors related to pointe work, such as ankle mobility, balance, leg strength, alignment and technique are assessed. Factors including age, years of dance training, number or hours or dance training per week will also be discussed, to determine readiness to progress to pointe work.
Benefits Of Participating In A Pre-Point Screen:
- Determine readiness to start pointe work
- Factors include age, years of dance training, number or hours or dance training per week
- Identify injury risks to avoid problems before they start
Suffering From A Pre-Existing Dance Injury?
- A one-on-one assessment is provided to determine the nature and cause of the injury
- A personalized treatment plan is provided to optimize healing and encourage a safe return to dance
- Common injuries include Achilles tendonitis, patellofemoral pain syndrome, snapping hip syndrome, posterior ankle impingement
Not Sure If Physiotherapy Is Right For You?
Give us a call or use our booking link to book a complementary 10-minute phone consultation with Danna Epstein Marcus, a physiotherapist with a focus in Dance Rehabilitation.
Danna Epstein Marcus
BHSc, MScPT, Dip.Manip.PT
FCAMPT
Registered Physiotherapist
Registered Physiotherapist
Danna received her Honors Specialization in Health Sciences Bachelors Degree from Western University and her Masters of Science in Physiotherapy from McMaster University. She continued her Physiotherapy education by completing her Diploma of Advanced Manual and Manipulative Therapy. To complement her manual therapy skills, she has also completed training in Acupuncture through the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute. Danna has formal training in dance including ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, and tap. She has extensive training in dance rehabilitation in areas including pre-season and pre-pointe assessments, assessment and treatment of dance injuries and hypermobility disorders, establishing safe warm up and stretching routines, dance specific exercise rehabilitation including core stability, strategies to improve turn out, arabesque, développé, and other dance specific techniques. She is a member of Healthy Dancer Canada.