One Dance UK’s Erin Sanchez to support Safe in Dance International's event on positive experiences in dance

Erin Sanchez, Head of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, Lead Specialist Health, Wellbeing, and Performance at One Dance UK, is heading to Melbourne to support Safe in Dance International (SiDI) in an international conversation about creating positive, healthy and supportive experiences in dance. 
 
The event forms a part of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) Annual Conference, where professionals from across dance medicine, science, education, research and the performing arts come together to share knowledge and explore the health and wellbeing of dancers. 

As part of the conference programme, Safe in Dance International’s workshop, ‘Building and promoting positive experiences in dance’, includes a panel discussion exploring ‘The world in which we dance’. 

The session will bring together dance educators, practitioners and specialists to look beyond technique and performance and consider the wider experiences that shape dancers and dance education. 

Who’s on the panel? 

Erin will chair the panel, and will be joined by a group of practitioners bringing different perspectives and areas of expertise to the conversation. 

Julia Barry is an eminent dance teacher and recipient of the IADMS Dance Educator Award, bringing extensive experience in dance education and teaching practice. 

Will Centurion is a former professional musical theatre performer who now works as a wellness and life coach, supporting creative artists with their wellbeing and professional lives. 

Trisnasari Fraser is a community psychologist and dancer whose work focuses on improving mental health support for culturally and linguistically diverse artists and performers in Australia. 

Casey Copeland is a dance educator and researcher focusing on mental health, wellness, neurodivergence and building mental resilience for dancers. 

The panel will bring these different perspectives together to explore how dance teachers, leaders and practitioners can respond to the realities dancers face today. 

The conversation will focus on four key areas: 

• Creating psychologically and emotionally supportive learning environments 

• Respecting diverse social and cultural contexts 

• Promoting equitable and healthy dance practice 

• Understanding the lived experiences of neurodiversity 

The workshop is being delivered by Safe in Dance International (SiDI), co-founded by Maggie Morris. Maggie’s career as a professional dancer, choreographer, artistic director and educator has shaped her commitment to healthy dance practice. She also received the One Dance UK Jane Attenborough Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Art Form in 2021. 

The workshop will also feature a keynote from Kim Walker AM, Executive Director and Head of Dance at NAISDA, and will include questions from the floor, an exploration of the student voice and interactive workshop sessions. 

For Erin, who leads One Dance UK’s work across health, wellbeing and performance, the event is an opportunity to bring together expertise and lived experience and consider what positive change can look like in practice. 

The workshop will give participants the opportunity to share their own experiences, challenge existing approaches and take away practical ideas that can be applied within their own teaching and working environments. 

Rather than asking what makes a dancer successful solely in terms of performance, the afternoon will ask a bigger question: what does it take to create an environment where dancers can genuinely thrive? 

Building and promoting positive experiences in dance 

Sunday 27 September 2026 

2pm–5.30pm AEST 

Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia 

Erin’s involvement comes as part of One Dance UK’s ongoing work to put dancers’ health, wellbeing and performance at the heart of conversations about the future of dance. 

By contributing to this international discussion, Erin will help connect research, professional practice and lived experience, while bringing the conversation around healthy and positive dance environments to an international audience.