Countywide Pre-Professional and Professional Dancer Health Screenings

Health care access

Applying a proven solution to a new issue or sector (using an existing model, tool, resource, strategy, etc. for a new purpose)

The vast majority of LA dancers work as freelancers and often lack access to specialized healthcare resources in addition to employer-based health insurance—both of which are necessary to safeguard and prolong their careers. Approximately 94% of dancers are affected by injuries throughout the course of their career, while 80% incur at least one injury that affects their ability to perform. Day of Dancer Health addresses a core, ongoing issue for the Greater LA dance community: the quest to receive affordable, accessible and specialized health screenings and resources designed to educate and empower dancers; “I have to admit it fills me with a sense of injustice that after dealing with this pain and discomfort most of my life I have only just found a group of professionals who actually heard me and showed real compassion and concern...Thank you again Dance Resource Center and Dance/USA for the free dancer's health screening. It has already ACTUALLY changed my life!” - Participant

DRC’s Day of Dancer Health (DDH) offers a targeted and comprehensive solution to this central community challenge by empowering LA County dancers with access to specialized low/no-cost workshops and healthcare screenings. DDH will feature a 65-minute, one-one-one screening via distinct stations conducted by nearly 60 dance medicine practitioners including Medical Doctors (MDs), physical therapists (PT's), and athletic trainers. Screenings are adapted to include dancers of varying abilities including wheelchair and amputee artists and dancers with other physical limitations. PT's and sports medicine graduate students will serve as scribes fostering training of the next generation of movement medicine professionals. Dancers will complete a detailed health questionnaire before the screening and discuss their health history and screening results via one-on-one consultation with an MD experienced in working with performing artists. The event will also feature workshops to address mental wellness and nutrition pairing guest artists with medical experts for interactive sessions. A restorative movement workshop will be offered to train artists in recovery and joint optimization techniques. Additionally, a Health Fair marketplace will provide insurance guidance, healthcare resources, referrals and products that support the dance and health sectors. Previous support for DDH includes Entertainment Community Fund, Icelandic Water, The Music Center, Azusa Pacific University, and more.

DDH will open up health screening to artists in every stage of their career, significantly increase the number of artists screened in LA County, and conduct research for greater learning - including injury and access barriers. This invaluable health and wellness event provides knowledge & resources to both artists and educators, and contributes to the vitality of performing arts in Greater LA and to LA's creative economy, prolonging a healthy work life of dance artists. Screening results will be collected to study issues artists in LA County are facing including correlations between healthcare and or insurance accessibility, injury prevention and injuries across disciplines. The research will provide a deeper knowledge base surrounding types of ailments, barriers to care and the goal of finding/sharing best practices leading to career longevity for artists/educators, all while simultaneously educating University professors and the next generation of movement physical therapists.

Introduced in 2015 in collaboration with Dance/USA, DRC’s Day of Dancer Health was the first in the country to offer the Dance/USA Task Force screening to a freelance dance community. DRC's DDH has since become the model program around the U.S. with similar events taking place in multiple cities nationwide including: Boston, Houston, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, New York and more. DRC identifies success via multiple formats: intake and exit forms, nuanced surveys, community gatherings, meetings with stakeholders, and medical professional research. All participants, including volunteers, have completed evaluations and shared testimonials as to their experience and the success of their participation in this event; “I could not believe that DRC provided a dance physical therapist for me to speak to and get help from for little or no charge. Being affected financially with the pandemic and being a student, I am truly thankful for DRC’s resources.” - Armita Azizi, DDH Participant