An Investigation of Dance, Dance Injuries, and Dance Medicine within the Tucson Community

Abstract

This paper is an investigation of dance, dance medicine, and dance injuries in the local community. Tucson is uniquely rich with dance culture and has been for many decades. Interviews conducted with local professionals Ashley Bowman and Claire Hancock capture authentic standpoints on dance in Tucson and provide insight into the rough, demanding nature of professional dance. To this day, the national dance community struggles as underserved artist-athletes, socioeconomically and medically. Fortunately, recent years have shown progress in closing the gap between the worlds of dance and medicine. Dance medicine is a developing practice that aims to study dance epidemiology and protect the dancer's body. Dr. Daniel Latt and Professor Amy Ernst at the University of Arizona currently foster dance medicine research at the UA School of Dance through its dance medicine clinic. In March 2017, the clinic launched a long-term dance injury project that captures general and injury-specific demographics of UA Dance students. By presenting and discussing journalistic and scientific entries of dance and dance medicine within the Tucson community, I hope to inspire genuine interest in Tucson’s vast involvement in dance as well as an appreciation for the dance profession itself.