Dance Health

  • Choosing the Right Energy Foods

    By Emily C. Harrison, MS, RD, LD of Centre for Dance Nutrition. www.dancernutrition.com. Choosing the right energy foods doesn’t have to be complicated. It just takes knowing a few key things about how nutrients work in the body and which foods are good sources of those nutrients. Carbohydrates are known to be an energy storehouse […]
  • Injury Prevention 101: Stress Fractures and Spondylolysis

    By Leigh Schanfein of Dance Informa. History and science museums are full of them. Graveyards and memorial grounds are packed with them. Archaeologists study those that have lasted millennia. Bones seem as tough and indelible as stone! And, while our bones are really hard and give our bodies support and protection, they are made up […]
  • 25 Gluten-free and Dairy-free Snack Ideas

    By Emily C. Harrison MS, RD, LD of DancerNutrition.com Trying to reduce your consumption of gluten and/or diary? Here are some great, healthy snack ideas: Popcorn Almonds Walnuts Peanuts Nut butters (almond, peanut, sunflower) “Blue Diamond” brand rice crackers   Corn chips (always buy organic, never buy GMO corn) Hummus Carrot sticks Sweet pepper slices or mini-peppers […]
  • Injury Prevention 101: Sprains and Lateral Ankle Sprain

    Ankle sprains are such a common dance injury. Let’s look at what a strain is, how we can prevent a strain and what we should do to recover. By Leigh Schanfein of Dance Informa. The human body contains more than 200 bones.  To keep us from wobbling around like disjointed puppets, bones are held together […]
  • Foam Rolling for Dancers

    By Laura Di Orio. You may have seen some dancers with a large, cylindrical device poking out of their dance bag, or others laying on what looks like a foam log before class. And you may have asked yourself, “What is that? And what are they doing?” That device is a foam roller, and what […]
  • Easing Pre-Performance Nerves

    By Laura Di Orio. Even though dancers can spend weeks, even months, rehearsing before a performance, sometimes the stage, lights and audience can dig up some deep nerves. Maybe there’s a special someone watching, or it’s a premiere of a new piece, or maybe those butterflies manage to flutter unwillingly every time. Nerves are natural […]
  • Bouncing Back after Baby

    How real life ballerinas return to a life of leotards and tights after having children. By Emily C. Harrison MS, RD, LD. The Centre for Dance Nutrition. www.dancernutrition.com. “You’re Pregnant”!  What two words elicit a more joyful and terrifying feeling than those?   It’s only natural to wonder about getting your body back, having a life […]
  • Injury Prevention 101: Upper Body Conditioning

    By Leigh Schanfein. Dance is a full body activity. We use our lower limbs, upper limbs, torso, head, brains, lungs, heart, muscles, bones, eyes, ears… the list goes on! From the tips of our fingers and toes to the depths of our bowels, every part of us is involved in the dance. Even if we […]
  • Professional Dancers on their Pre-class Routines

    By Laura Di Orio. They say taking class is like brushing your teeth. So that must mean that stretching or warming up beforehand is like flossing. Getting one’s body ready for a long day of rehearsals or performances is important for dancers and may help prevent injury, increase energy level and make for a happier […]
  • Injury Prevention 101: 5 Healthful Fundamentals

    By Leigh Schanfein. Nutrition We often think of using food as fuel: ingest it, burn it, use it for energy. However, food and beverages are what our bodies use for every function, from muscle contraction to nerve impulse to new cell formation! Many foods, especially natural and minimally processed foods, provide us with many nutrients […]