EXPERIENCE CFAC 2020 WINNERS – Sarah Duffin

Merging Anatomy and Science with Expression and Aesthetic: a Dancing Student’s Journey to a Healthier Art

In October 2019, I was privileged to receive funds from the Mary Lou Fulton Endowment to attend the annual conference of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) in Montreal, Canada. The mission of the conference is to explore the latest research and evidence-based practices to further the performance and well-being of dancers, something that has fascinated me since taking a dance kinesiology class at BYU.

As I arrived in Montreal, I was more than a little nervous. I was alone in a foreign country, and there were no professors here to direct my learning. But despite my nerves, the following days would turn out to be an intensive period of experiential learning that not only exceeded my expectations, but also gave me career-defining perspective on dance.

My eyes were opened to an entire world that I had previously only seen a sliver of. All around me,  physical therapists, teachers, performers, and medical professionals from around the world shared research and resources. I had never been to an academic conference before, and the breadth and depth of knowledge there astounded me.

I attended lectures on diverse topics ranging from hypermobility disorders to effective conditioning programs to language as a pedagogical tool. I participated in hands-on workshops where I learned to incorporate elements of yoga, somatics, and anatomy into my dancing in ways that I hadn’t thought of before. As I applied what I learned, my movement became freer, safer, and more efficient. I listened to panel discussions about the relationship between dance and mental health, slightly awed that so much research existed on this. Everything I saw and heard deepened my understanding of just how miraculous the dancing body is.

The human body is the medium used in the art of dance, which is both its beauty and its challenge. Dance has greater power, and dancers greater versatility and longevity, when working harmoniously with the human body. At IADMS learned that the science and the art of dance are deeply intertwined, and that each benefits from an understanding of the other. I learned that dancers, myself included, perform better when they understand the anatomy and mechanics of movement. I learned that dancers too often suffer in silence, when there is a wealth of psychological and medical research available to help them be healthier and happier. Perhaps most importantly, attending IADMS taught me that much change is needed in the world of dance, and that I have the privilege and the responsibility to be part of it.

As I engaged in a conference all about dance medicine, I was surprised to find that, as a dancer, I was in the relative minority. There were plenty of physical therapists, doctors, and athletic trainers. Several of the presenters were retired dancers who have devoted the rest of their careers to research and advocacy. But I was disheartened by the lack of choreographers and professional dancers present. Weren’t they the ones this information benefited the most? Would pursuing my interest in dance science mean giving up dancing and choreographing? While I was fascinated by everything I was learning, I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to make that sacrifice.

It was then I realized that the crucial yet underdeveloped link is teachers. Teachers who not only understand the specific artistic and technical demands placed on dancers, but who can also instill in them practices of safe and efficient dancing. Teachers who can translate the anatomical and scientific into the expressive and aesthetic. Teachers who can bridge both worlds to build holistic dance artists.

This realization marked a turning point in my career aspirations. I want to be that teacher. I want to be the choreographer, the artist, who brings new scientific knowledge into the centuries-old and ever-evolving fabric of dance. I want to use informed teaching and creating to bridge the gap I found between research and practice. In that kind of dance teaching, all my passions come together; choreography, performance, and dance science can all be beautifully cohesive parts of my career. Attending the IADMS conference helped me to see this, and because of it, I am ever more committed to furthering the holistic art—and science—that is dance.