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Sunny D. 2023 | BASIS Independent Silicon Valley
- Project Title: Adolescent Competitive Dancers' Responses to Dance-Related Pain and Injury
- BASIS Independent Advisor: Hal Hansen
- Internship Location: University of Ohio (Virtual)
- Onsite Mentor: Dr. Jeff Russell
Much of the current research in the field of dance medicine and science involves dancers in the pre-professional or professional setting. There is little research and data available for competitive dance, in which many adolescent dancers participate, despite high participation and anecdotal reports of high injury rates in this population. Because most of these competition dancers are still developing physically, mentally, and technically compared to pre-professional or professional dancers, gaining more insight about how they respond to dance-related pain can be very important for ensuring better long-term well-being and wellness habit development. My project is aimed to be a pilot study, determining the prevalence of injuries in adolescent competition dancers, assessing how these dancers perceive dance-related injuries and pain within the sociocultural conditions of competitive dance, and opening a new path for the nationwide discussion and research of this topic of injuries and wellness in adolescent competition dancers. I will work as a community-engaged co-investigator virtually with the Laboratory for Science and Health in Artistic Performance at Ohio University in partnership with a competitive dance studio located in Phoenix, Arizona, with which we will conduct a survey of adolescent dancers and analyze data.