As announced in March, until August we will be sharing select presentations from our 2020 iConference; free and open access here on the IADMS blog and on our eLearning page. Each month will focus on one of our iConference themes: Dance for Health (March), Dance Medicine (April), Dance Research (May), Interactive/Movement (June), Dance Education (July), and Dance Science (August). 

Presentations will only be available for the specified month, so be sure to share them with your colleagues and friends while you can! All presentations from the 2020 iConference remain available for IADMS members via the IADMS app until September 15, 2021. 

This month we have two presentations from the ‘Interactive/Movement’ theme. We also asked the presenters some questions regarding their experiences of being involved in our 2020 iConference.

Attention unites, ability divides: using mindful attentional focus techniques to enable access to ballet for all 

Clare Guss-West, BHum, MA

Video no longer available on this platform. IADMS members still have access to all iConference presentations until September 15 2021 via the IADMS app.

1. What was your motivation for being part of the IADMS iConference2020?

I was particularly interested to participate in the iConference because of the potential for amazing geographical reach with a virtual medium and a sense of unification of the field across the continents. I’m obviously passionate about the application of attentional focus findings in day to day dance practice – since the tools are so simple to implement and easily accessible for teachers and educators and yet they can bring immediate palpable improvements to dancer performance, movement outcome, learning and wellbeing. I was keen to have the opportunity to share these inclusive teaching tools.  

2. Could you outline the main topic/theme/exploration of your iConference presentation and why this is important for the dance sector/health professionals?

The demand to provide adapted dance practice is a growing challenge for dance educators, particularly when teaching classical ballet with its associated aesthetics. The question of accessibility and the need for inclusive teaching strategies is acute. 

Sports science research has made significant advances in understanding the role of attention and mind in motor performance. This body of attentional focus research concurs with elements of mindful Eastern movement practice, notably that guiding the focus onto the desired movement pattern or effect, rather than attending to self-conscious, body-part control, has an immediate impact on performance results. These robust findings apply to elite performers, but also to performers of all ages, abilities or disability and provide easy to use complementary tools for any teacher and coach. Whether for the beginner, older adult, dancer in recovery or dancer with movement challenges or special needs, a specific guided attentional focus in learning promotes the same immediate benefits as in high performance: deepening breathing, lowering heart rate, reducing muscular hypertension, increased range of motion, diminishing postural sway to re-establish movement confidence. These cross-disciplinary attentional tools promote enhanced learning at any skill level, facilitating the differentiation task of dance educators and unifying any diverse class.

IADMS Blog ‘Ballet for All’: https://iadms.org/resources/blog/posts/2020/december/ballet-for-all-shifting-focus-to-adapt-practice/  

3. What are the key ‘take-home’ messages from your presentation that the dance sector/dance health professionals should be aware of?

• That the mind and particularly attentional skills are known to play a ‘make-or-break’ role in high or improved performance and yet so far it’s a relatively unexplored territory in dance training, where the emphasis has been primarily on physical skills mastery.
• Focusing on physical ability in a diverse class further exacerbates a sense of isolation and ‘difference’.
• Attentional skills can be developed in parallel with physical skills to facilitate learning and enhance movement outcome.
• Whatever our discipline, expertise, and priorities - whether technical or artistic as an educator – then that expertise will simply be rendered more effective by developing awareness around our habitual attentional approach to movement control or the focus of attention that we promote in our teaching.
• The session presents inclusive attentional tools that are appropriate for working safely at any skill level and are capable of enhancing physical performance and speed of learning of any diverse learning group.  

4. Could you tell us what you enjoyed the most about iConference2020 as either a presenter or attendee? 

As per my motivation for participating, I really enjoyed the fact that the virtual medium rendered the conference inclusive and accessible to those who had perhaps experienced barriers to participating in the past. I enjoyed exchanging and connecting with members who would never have had the economic possibility to travel to Japan. The Dance for Health ‘live’ networking event for instance was a highlight, as it fostered the beginnings of an interdisciplinary group of Dance for Health Champions that bridge and unite the IADMS membership and also of a wider, general public IADMS Global Dance for Health Community. The virtual conference catapulted IADMS and its visibility into the 21st century, raised our consciousness and enabled us to reach new, under-served dance populations.

Strength training considerations and safety modifications to produce stronger and more powerful dancers

Emma Faulkner, PT, DPT

Video no longer available on this platform. IADMS members still have access to all iConference presentations until September 15 2021 via the IADMS app.

1. What was your motivation for being part of the IADMS iConference2020?

We still wanted to be able to share information, even if we could not share it in person.

2. Could you outline the main topic/theme/exploration of your iConference presentation and why this is important for the dance sector/health professionals? 

Our presentation was really to show that weight training is completely safe and appropriate for dancers. Developing strength and overall physical preparedness is important in a time when choreography has increasing physical demands and most dancers are required to be multi-genre dancers. Dance health professionals need to be encouraging dancers to engage in physical training outside of dance class and these professionals are the ones that can help dispel myths that weight training is unsafe or harmful to dancers. 

3. What are the key ‘take-home’ messages from your presentation that the dance sector/dance health professionals should be aware of?

Dancers generally don't have an appropriate baseline level of general physical preparedness from just taking dance classes. Weight training can assist with the development of a baseline level of strength and fitness that dancers need. Weight training is safe for dancers, even dancers with excess hypermobility. We, as dance education and dance medicine professionals, are the ones that can encourage dancers to engage in appropriate training to improve their physical fitness and dispel myths of training for dancers. 

4. Could you tell us what you enjoyed the most about iConference2020 as either a presenter or attendee?

We enjoyed sharing information we were passionate about to a group of people also passionate about dancers and their health/wellness.