Health Events and Conferences

Conferences and Networking Events 

Each year, One Dance UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme (HDP) organises a conference and two professional networking events highlighting key issues in health, fitness and well-being for the dance profession and providing opportunities for discussion and debate.

COMING UP from the Healthier Dancer Programme in 2020…

• 26th February 2020, 5:30-7pm – One Dance UK Open Networking Event: Our bi-annual networking event held in Birmingham, venue and programme to be announced soon.

Recommended events 

• TICTA Emergency First Aid at Work: Bespoke for dance, performing arts and physical activity
  • Venue: Curve Theatre, Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1SB
  • Date: Saturday 18th January 2020
  • Time: 10am – 6pm
  • Cost: £55 includes Emergency First Aid Certificate, first aid manual, Certificate of CPD from Safe in Dance International (SiDI). Payment to be made by BACS bank transfer upon booking. A booking form must be completed.
  • To book please email tomlinson@hotmail.com
• ‘Dissecting Aerial’ 2020. A 2-Day Healthier Aerial Symposium – a springboard for practitioners to come together to discuss aerial techniques, performance and pedagogy and will include lectures, practical sessions and round table discussions.
  • Venue: The Point, Leigh Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 9DE
  • Date: Saturday and Sunday 25th and 26th January 2020
  • Time: 10am – 6pm
• Royal Society of Medicine conference – Sports injuries and sports orthopaedics – this conference will provide you with a comprehensive update and review on the current provision of orthopaedic care for sports injuries in the UK. Join a host of featured experts and key opinion leaders discussing innovation, progress and current practise within their sub-specialities.
  • Date: Tue 28 – 29 Jan 2020
  • Time: 8:30am-6pm
  • Location: Royal Society of Medicine, London
• Musculoskeletal examination: A masterclass – Develop your musculoskeletal examination skills through lectures, demonstrations and practical sessions led by specialists in their fields
  • Date: Mon 24 Feb 2020
  • Time: 8:30am-5pm
  • Location: Royal Society of Medicine, London
• The British Association of Sports Exercise and Medicine (BASEM) 2020 Spring Conference: Hip & Groin Vision Day – Adding Focus in an Unclear World
  • Date: 19 March 2020
  • Time: 9am-6pm
  • Venue: Macdonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham
• The Royal Ballet and St Mary’s University Conference on Scientific Support in Ballet
  • Date: Wednesday 22 April 2020
  • Time: 9.30am – 5.30pm
  • Venue: The Exchange, Twickenham TW1 1BE
• Dance Science Research Days – University of Wolverhampton
  • Date: 9-10 May 2020
  • Time: 9.30am – 5.30pm
  • Venue: University of Wolverhampton, Walsall campus
  • To register or submit presentations, email: wyon@wlv.ac.uk
• Royal Academy of Dance Conference 2020 – Mapping Dance and Dance Teaching: Past(s), Present and Future(s)
  • Date: 4-5 September 2020
  • Venue: University of Roehampton Elm Grove Conference Centre, London
• International Association of Dance Medicine and Science Annual conference 2020
  • Date: 22-25 October 2020
  • Venue: Makuhari International Training Centre at Tohto University, Chiba, Japan

Recommended online CPD

• Dance Knowledge: Online, on-demand CPD courses made for dance teachers
• Youth Protection Advocates in Dance: includes training for dance teachers on topics including sexual abuse awareness, social media, media safety, artistic elements that are developmentally appropriate, body image, and bullying/conflict resolution
• Safe in Dance International: Certificates for dance students, dancers, dance teachers and leaders are devised and structured so that you can evidence your healthy dance knowledge in a variety of ways. Each one asks you to evidence your understanding of the SiDI Core Principles ©
• The Harkness Center for Dance Injuries offers both a Digital CME/CEU Certificate Course and live CEU courses as part of its Principles of Dance Medicine curricula
• NSPCC Child Protection in sport course
• Dance Knowledge: Dance Knowledge was formed to connect the dance profession with the wealth of knowledge that is now available to help dancers improve their training. Over the past decades research and academic studies in dance have been building. Dance is becoming ever competitive and the need for new approaches that expedite dance training is ever important. At Dance Knowledge we make the connection between research and practice. We translate research into easy to understand formats that can be viewed at any time and taken straight to the studio with online, on demand CPD courses made for dance teachers.
• British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) and Human Kinetics webinar series: These online webinars address a variety of topics relating to sports, fitness, nutrition, coaching, training, physical education and more. These live web-based presentations are conducted by BASES members who are leading minds in their respective areas of expertise. By watching a BASES webinar members will also attain 2 BASES credits. (you will need to sign up to Human Kinetics website, but well worth it!)
•  International Association of Dance Medicine and Science videos: Featuring full sessions from the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS).For more information about upcoming conferences, visit: www.iadms.org
•  DanceWell Podcast: Dedicated to exploring 360-degrees of health and wellness for dancers. We believe that health and wellness isn’t just about physical well-being, but encompasses the whole self. From this belief, we bring you bi-monthly episodes in which we talk with all sorts of practitioners including: dietitians, body-workers, medical doctors, athletic trainers, physical therapists, conditioning experts, psychologists and more. We hope these conversations bring you enhanced understanding of health and wellness to support fulfilling experiences in dance!

PREVIOUS EVENTS since 1990…

Session lead by Dr Benjamin Rosenblatt at HDP Strength and Conditioning Conference, 2015. Photo by Erin Brown-John.

Previous Healthier Dancer Programme events:

One Dance UK

• 3 March 2019 – Dancers’ Health Networking Event: Our bi-annual networking event held CloudM, CitizenM Tower of London Hotel and including key discussions and opportunities to be a part of strategic planning for the future of dancers’ health – working together to reach shared goals.
• 23 and 24 November 2018 – One Dance UK’s annual conference season ‘Leading the way – a stronger future for dance’ hosted in Leeds, including Northern Ballet and Yorkshire Dance, and at Leeds Beckett University featuring sessions on Leading the Way in Dance Healthcare Management – the Science Behind the Arts, Addressing Barriers to Mental Health in Training and Performance, and The Art of Scheduling in Dance Training and Performance.
• 23 September 2018 – Dancers’ Health Networking Event: Our bi-annual networking event held at the Hospital Club featuring speakers Dr Jessica Eccles: Hypermobility and the brain: Implications for practice, and Dr Nicky Keay: RED-S and dancers.
• 27 May 2018 – Dancers’ Health Networking Event: Our bi-annual networking event at CloudM, CitizenM Tower of London Hotel featuring Dr Siobhan Mitchell: Maturity timing in dance and Gary Carter: What is fascia and what is its importance when treating dancers?
• 11 March 2018 – Preparing to Fly: a day on safe practice for aerial artists presented by One Dance UK and All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre and Hosted by Dance Base, Edinburgh
• 13 and 14 January 2018 – Dissecting Aerial a 2-Day Healthier Aerial/Dance Symposium presented by Gravity and Levity in partnership with One Dance UK and The Point Eastleigh
• 26 November 2017 – Healthier Dancer Programme Conference as part of One Dance UK’s Conference Season, Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance, London
• 7 September 2017 – Dancers’ Health Networking Event: Our bi-annual networking event held at The Royal Opera House, London and featuring presentations from Greg Retter, Clinical Director, The Royal Ballet and Helen Laws, Head of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS)
• 26 May 2017 – A Healthier Dancer Day on The Adolescent Dancer, IADMS Regional Meeting, DanceEast, Ipswich
• 11 May 2017 – Mind the Gap: Train Smart, Improve Performance Stratford Circus Arts Centre, London
• 19 February 2017 – First annual Dancers’ Health Networking Event with One Dance UK and National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) held at The Hospital Club, Covent Garden.
• 25 November 2016 – Collaborative Forum Stratford Circus Arts Centre, London

Dance UK (became One Dance UK in April 2016)

• October 2015 – Strength and Conditioning in Dance: Power, Performance, and Rehabilitation, Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham
• April 2015 – Dance UK’s Industry Wide Conference: The Future: New Ideas, New Inspirations
• April 2014 – Aesthetic Athletes and Dancers: Training and Optimising Performance, Royal Society of Medicine, London
• November 2013 – Beyond the Body: Dance UK Psychology Conference, Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham
• April 2012 – Nutrition and Disordered Eating in Dance: Artistry, athleticism and the role of the multidisciplinary support team, Royal Society of Medicine, London
• April 2011 – From Injury to Performance: Lessons to Share in Dance and Sports, Royal Society of Medicine, London
• April 2009 – Dance Medicine: The Female Athlete Triad and Hypermobility, Royal Society of Medicine, London
• October 2000 – Moving Matters (The second Healthier Dancer Conference) Royal Opera House, London
• September 1993 – Training Tomorrow’s Professional Dancers, Arts Educational Schools, London
• September 1990 – The Healthier Dancer (The first Healthier Dancer Conference) Royal Opera House, London

Videos, programmes, reports, and abstracts from many of these conferences are available via the links above or on our resources pages.

Also available in ‘resources’ are informative reports of other dance medicine and science conferences that have taken place around the world over the years.