Upon reading this article, I went through a series of different opinions. The article title itself automatically shows a positive doing in the world, that was the writer’s intention.
The writer has also highlighted the fact that even those outside of the dance industry have shown interest in the project and have even contributed towards making it possible. The writer points out that an ex-football player now working as a manager expressed interest in the project. Although he trained as a footballer whom is completely different to a dancer, the reason why his football career ended was due to the fact he suffered from an injury which prevented him from continuing to play. However, this shows that on his own wave length, he is able to relate to how a dancer must feel if they are unable to continue with their chosen profession due to an injury.
He stated: “Dancers, like footballers, are elite athletes who train intensively from a young age to work in a fiercely competitive arena, and their careers can be ended at any time by injury. I was shocked to discover the lack of health facilities in place to look after dancers, compared with that available to sportsmen and women. What Dance UK and their partners are trying to achieve in setting up a National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science will make a huge difference to dancers across the country.”
The article also goes on to state that a discussion was held between a group of professionals, these were Dr Emma Redding (dancer and Head of Dance Science, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance), Rambert Dance Company dancer, Angela Towler, Kate Prince, Artistic Director of ZooNation and Camilla Dallerup, TV presenter and 2008 Strictly Come Dancing champion.
I fully support the idea of forming a discussion on the topic, especially one that includes such a variety of different roles within the industry. It is a good way to voice your own opinion, listen to others and to create solutions to problems. In the previous module of this course we were recommended to create a discussion group on our chosen topic. Personally this helped me to develop my enquiry and helped me to develop my knowledge of my chosen subject even further. I believe there is still much to learn from this industry and talking to people is one way of acquiring that knowledge. I commend Dr Emma Redding for holding a discussion group as it reflects what I and the rest of the students have done on this course so far.
It is important for an article such as this to establish what the foundations intentions are with the money, or they called it, “their vision”. However, it was at this point that my opinion changed. It was not the writer’s intention to do this; however I let my own views and experiences cloud my judgment; however I feel others in my situation would reciprocate this feeling.
The article stated: “The vision for the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science is that all top level dancers will have access to the high quality, comprehensive, dance specific healthcare and dance science support services they need, on a par with those enjoyed by elite athletes and dancers in the largest ballet companies.”
Although this was written with a positive outlook in mind for those who read it, it did not have that effect on me. Only top level dancers are to benefit from this cause, is this fair? What about the dancers who are at the highest quality but have not yet been recognized? What about those who have just graduated from their vocational schools? And what about those who have made a career out of dance but are not in the top companies? In the last module this was something which I investigated as part of me enquiry, I wanted to know how many support groups/ charities were out there for injured dancers. However, although this is a good cause, it only helps a minority of those who are suffering in the industry.
Although this article continually states how the organisation can do a lot to help the “top dancers”, and have found evidence that their strategies and ideas will work, I cannot help but think of those that they are not helping. Although one organisation alone can only do so much, are there organisations out there specifically helping dancers with no financial aid?
This is something I am passionate about as I feel everyone should have the same rights. If a dancer has done their sufficient training and is making a career out of dance alone then they should have the option of knowing that they will have support/ the right medical treatment if they should become injured.
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