What is Healthy Dancer Screening?

Screening collects information about your health and wellness using both surveys and physical tests. Ideally, screening is performed before any pain or injury. This is the optimum time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, and come up with goals together with parents, teachers and health professionals. Screening has become commonplace in professional dance companies and university dance programs. Organizations such as Healthy Dancer Canada and The Performing Arts Medical Association are now encouraging young pre-professional dancers to participate in screening to promote goal-setting, injury prevention, effective and efficient dance training, and life-long dancing.

Why should I participate in Healthy Dancer Screening?

• To objectively evaluate your strengths and weaknesses
• To help you set goals and reach your full potential
• To encourage positive communication between you and your parents, teachers, and health care professionals

Please go to the Dancer Screening page for more information.

Choreographer Lisa Sandlos is working with Guelph Youth Dance students on her research project.

Lisa Sandlos is creating a production using research with young dancers for her PhD dissertation in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University.

Sandlos, a dancer since she was five years old, is working with 15 girls from a our Guelph Youth Dance studio for a creation based on her focus groups, which included dancers aged seven to 20.

Read the full rabble.ca article here:

http://rabble.ca/columnists/2015/02/regirling-girl-phenomenal-feminist-dance

The Guelph Youth Dance Company performing at Dance Ontario Weekend, Harbourfront Centre, January 2015. The first piece is High Tide by Jordana Deveau, the second is a DansEncorps, our SEVEC Exchange partners from New Brunswick performing Afro Blue and the third is the GYD Company performing Robert Desrosiers’ Seascapes with the Concorde String Ensemble.

A little look into a performance day when in the company! Auditions for next season are June 1st! Mark your calendars.

Thank you to videographer Michele Ayoub.