| Abstract/Notes |
This text is the outcome of an idea I conceived many years ago when I first became involved in training aspiring professional dancers. I hope it will prove to be a useful educational tool for dance, physical fitness and sports teachers, as well as medical practitioners and allied health professionals involed in rehabilitation trough exercise. For as long as I can remember,I have loved music,movement and dance.I began studying ballet as a child in Australia and went on to train as a classical dancer and subsequently performed and taught professionally for several years. However,a back injury during a particularly extreme training session forced me to change direction and I decided to limit my professional dance work to teaching whilst I underwent training in general nursing. This proved to be very important over the years as it gave me a basic underetanding of human anatomy and common medical conditions,and helved to develop my keen interest in jury prevention and health promotion trough lifestyle,correct posture and exercise techniques. There followed an angoing desire to understand how the extraordinary talents and abilities seen in elite ballet dancers and sports persons depends not only on selfsacrifice and drive,but also on inherent qualites of physique,posture and effective movement patterns. I also needed to understand how there would always be a risk of injuries specifically associated with extreme exercise regimens,irrespective of an individual's natural talent and ability. |
