Australian Dance Festival
Monday, December 23, 2024
2024 has been a jam-packed year on the dance physiotherapy front at Physio Inq Sutherland. We were very excited to be offered the opportunity to be a part of the on-site medical team at the Australian Dance Festival.
The Australian Dance Festival takes place annually over a weekend in September at Sydney Olympic Park and is an opportunity for dancers, choreographers and dance teachers across Australia to connect and share their love for dance.
At the event our team of first aid trained physiotherapists who specialise in dance injuries, were offering on site first aid, strapping/taping, physiotherapy assessments and treatment.
On day 1 we were stationed in the Quay Centre where most of the performances took place. Injuries sustained included a few blows to the head (due to limited space on the dance floor) and subsequently our ice packs came in very handy. By the end of the night a few scrapes, cuts and prop malfunction injuries were added to the mix- nothing we couldn’t handle!
Day 2 had us working at the Netball Courts looking after the dancers attending the choreography workshops. We had to do a bit more physio treatment to make sure the dancers could finish their workshops and feel good for the rest of the dance weekend.
Day 3 saw us back at the Quay Centre and the physio treatments ramped up! We mostly treated neck and back pain as an indication of the full weekend of dancing taking its toll. By the Sunday night we were on standby for any first aid need, but also had a prime view of the final performances.
(Check out some of the videos from the ADF below)
From a physio perspective, the weekend was a great success, and it was very fulfilling being able to offer our services to dancers in need. Although we were prepared for the worst, we were grateful to not have needed to issue any crutches or use our defibrillator.
We are thrilled to be back at ADF in 2025! We’re hoping to add a few interactive tests and competitions to the existing services: Think pirouette competition, force plate jumping/landing assessments and more fun social media content!
You can find some of our existing dance physiotherapy content here:
Hip Flexor Stretch
