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Dance Medicine Education Initiative (DMEI)

@dancemedei

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Founded by Andrea Zujko PT,DPT,OCS,COMT
DMEI aims to strengthen the bridge between the healthcare and dance communities via collaborative coursework

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We’re almost ready for take off!!! 🛫 Creating the Finding Flight series and getting the third course ready has been a heavy lift but I wouldn’t have “jumped” Into this project with anyone else but the three of you.

@marimbamoves @onbeingadancer @jennifer.milner @andreazujko

🔗 in BIO

#dancemedei #findingflight #dancemedicinecontinuingedcuatiom #returntojumping by @dancemedei

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3 days ago

Good morning everyone ☀️

The July newsletter is out.

Take a look when you have a moment and stay up to date with what DMEI has been up to this month.

I’m also introducing a new section in this edition called DMEI Field Notes.

This section is meant to create space for practical questions from the field: specific clinical situations, dancer-related challenges, teaching questions, footwear questions, return-to-dance questions, or anything else that feels relevant to the work we do with dancers.

I love digging into specific clinical situations to create dialogue, challenge our clinical reasoning, and collaborate with other professionals in the field as we think through dancer care.

Stay cool everyone 😎

🔗 in BIO

#dancemedei #DMEINewsletter #pointeshoes #findingflight #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation by @dancemedei

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8 days ago

Another awesome post from Wendy Reinert, one of the four collaborators of our upcoming course! Thrilled you are a part of the group. I have learned and continue to learn so much from you! 🙌

Repost from @onbeingadancer
•
When you’re coming back from injury, there’s this point where the injury is technically healed, you’re back to taking class (but probably not fully yet) and feeling generally ready, but there’s still a gap before you’re back to peak performance.

You can probably tolerate *some* jumps, but not *all* jumps. Your coordination and patterning may still be lagging, but not enough to stop you from dancing.

For a dancer who is coming back from, say, an ankle sprain, who has already added back parts of class and has maybe done enough pliés and rélèvés and tendus that week, this exercise is a great way to prepare the WHOLE body to absorb the force of the landing, without putting *all* the onus on the lower leg.

We’ll be diving MUCH deeper into the hows and whys of exercise selection for dancers coming back from injury (and a whole lot more) in our workshop:

*Finding Flight: a return to jump protocol for dancers*
August 1, at Arrive Wellness
Co-taught by @dancemedei , @jennifer.milner and @marimbamoves
This workshop for PTs, trainers, Pilates instructors, and other movement professionals who work with dancers. (Complete with continuing ed credits!!)

We’re so excited to be bringing this into the dance world, and we hope you’ll join us!! DM me with any questions! Link with more info and sign up is in my bio! by @dancemedei

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11 days ago

The glamorous side of course development. 🤓

Two people on a studio floor, surrounded by phones, laptops, notes, and a lot of opinions about how to make return-to-jumping progressions clearer.

Wendy and I spent a few hours downtown @tischdance last Friday working through the teaching arc for Return to Flight: Build the Spring, Course 3 in the Finding Flight series.

This course intentionally begins in the middle of the return-to-jumping progression, which is actually one of the reasons I love it. It gives us room to look back at what should already be in place and look forward toward what the dancer needs next.

Because at this stage, the question is not simply:

“Are they ready to jump?”

It is more like:

➡️ Can they manage dynamic load?
➡️ Can they stay organized as movement becomes more complex?
➡️ Can they repeat the work?
➡️ Can they recover from it?
➡️ Can they move toward the next phase with enough strength, control, coordination, and readiness?

So yes, this is what course planning sometimes looks like.

On the floor.
In the studio.
Trying to make a complicated part of return-to-dance care a little clearer.

📚️ Return to Flight: Build the Spring
🗓️ August 1
🔗 Registration is open through the link in bio.

With @onbeingadancer

@andreazujko
@jennifer.milner
@marimbamoves
#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #FindingFlightReturntoJumpingProtocol #danceinjuryrehab #dancemedicine by @dancemedei

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12 days ago

Return to jumping is not a single yes or no decision.

During Return to Flight, the third course in the protocol, we are asking whether the dancer is ready to begin managing dynamic loading with enough capacity, control, and consistency to prepare for what comes next.

That means looking beyond impact tolerance.

❔Can the dancer manage weight transfer?

❔Can they maintain hip-knee-ankle- foot organization?

❔Can they tolerate changes in tempo, repetition, impact, and coordination?

❔Can they recover well enough to repeat the work?

These are the kinds of questions Return to Flight: Build the Spring, a one-day course for clinicians & movement professionals helping dancers progress from basic recovery toward dynamic, dance-specific loading. We are intentionally starting in the middle of the Finding Flight series which will allow us to look back at the capacities that should already be in place and forward toward the demands of plyometric preparation.

Registration is open via 🔗 in BIO.

🗓️. August 1st

#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #returntojumping #danceinjuryrehab #dancemedicine by @dancemedei

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17 days ago

A dancer's jump leaves the audience breathless. Dancers soar, defying gravity, suspending both time and the laws of physics.

It can also be the hardest thing to get back to after an injury.

Sometimes, a dancer is "cleared to return" but doesn't have all the tools back in their toolbox. Jumps require healthy bodies, strength, and finely tuned biomechanics. Miss one piece of the puzzle and you may be back in PT sooner than you'd like.

How do you connect the dots between "injury free" and "ready to soar"?

Be sure to find someone who understands the unique challenges of dance. And biomechanics. And physics.

Make sure someone on your team can help you with your programming; training for your specific dance shoes; preparing your body to work at a high level in very unique patterns and loads.

Interested in learning more?

We'll be teaching a one-day workshop on Finding Flight in NYC on August 1. Geared for dancers, PTs, trainers, and anyone looking to help dancers get their wings back.

Link in bio for more information or to register!

Dancers featured:
@daniil
@hervekoubi company members
@isabelamaylart
@natalia_osipova_official
And trainer @onbeingadancer

#dance #jump #jumptraining #dancemedicine #dancescience by @dancemedei

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18 days ago

This course is for the practitioner working with the dancer who is improving - but not yet fully prepared for the real jumping demands of dance.

They may be stronger, less symptomatic, and be able to perform a jump or series of basic jumps in a controlled setting.

But dance rarely asks for isolated efforts.

It asks for repeated takeoffs and landings, shifting directions, changes in tempo, technical organization, fatigue management, class demands, rehearsal demands, choreography, footwear, floor surfaces, and recovery.

That is why return to jumping needs more than a general “can they do it?” checkpoint.

In Return to Flight: Build the Spring, we look at dynamic loading through a more specific lens: load tolerance, movement quality, weight transfer, repetition, tempo, impact, recovery, and readiness to progress.

This course was created to help clinicians and movement professionals reason through that transition with more clarity.

🔗 in BIO

🐣 pricing is available through July 3rd.

#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #returntojumping #dancemedicine #danceinjuryrehab by @dancemedei

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25 days ago

Return to Flight: Build the Spring course is for the practitioner working with the dancer who is improving, but not yet fully prepared for the real jumping demands of dance.

They may be stronger, less symptomatic, and be able to perform a jump in a controlled setting.

But dance rarely asks for one isolated effort.

It asks for repeated takeoffs and landings, shifting directions, changes in tempo, technical organization, fatigue management, class demands, rehearsal demands, choreography, footwear, surfaces, and recovery.

That is why a return to jumping plan needs more than a general “can they do it?” checkpoint.

In Return to Flight: Build the Spring, we look at dynamic loading through a more specific lens: load tolerance, movement quality, weight transfer, repetition, tempo, impact, recovery, and readiness to progress.

This course was created to help clinicians & movement professionals reason through that transition with more clarity.

Early 🐦‍⬛ pricing is available through July 3rd.

🔗 in BIO

#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #findingflight #returntojumping #dancemedicine by @dancemedei

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a month ago

The June DMEI Newsletter is out. 🌸

This one feels like a full spring reflection, with updates from Module III at @hopkinsrehabtherapy, Module IV at @westsidedancept, the June Mentorship Monday session and much more.

I’m also sharing what’s ahead for DMEI including:

➡️ Return to Flight: Build the Spring on August 1st in NYC

➡️ Module I: Introductory Concepts in Dance Medicine on September 19-20

➡️ Our next Mentorship Monday on September 28

If you are a practitioner, educator, or movement professional who cares about dancers, clinical reasoning, and the ongoing work of building better support systems around dance training and performance, I hope you’ll give it a read.

🔗 in BIO

#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #DMEINewsletter #dancemedicineeducation by @dancemedei

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a month ago

A dancer may be progressing well in the earlier phases of rehabilitation.

They may be walking without issue, tolerating stairs, improving strength, returning to modified class, and moving with better control through foundational patterns.

But dynamic loading changes the question.

Jumping asks whether the dancer can maintain movement quality as force, repetition, tempo, coordination, and fatigue begin to increase. It asks whether the trunk, pelvis, hip, knee, ankle, and foot can organize together under conditions that are more specific to dance.

That is why Return to Flight: Build the Spring matters.

This course is designed to help practitioners think more clearly about the bridge between basic recovery and the more demanding work of returning a dancer to jumping, class, rehearsal, and performance.

Visit 🔗 in BIO to register

We hope to see you there!

@andreazujko
@jennifer.milner
@onbeingadancer
@marimbamoves

#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #danceinjuryrehab #returntojumping #findingflightjumpprotocol by @dancemedei

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a month ago

Wrapping up a meaningful spring stretch of the DMEI Foundational Course. 👏👏

A HUGE thank you to all of the wonderful practitioners who attended these two courses! I value your curiosity, thoughtful questions, and willingness to engage deeply with the work.

While each course explored different regions of the body, the focus of each course is unified and seeks to address that same larger question. How can we help dancers make sense of complex movement patterns, not as isolated body parts, but as whole people moving through technique, artistry, training demand, and recovery?

These weekends are always a reminder of why DMEI exists: to support stronger clinical reasoning, more dance-specific care, and a community of professionals committed to the health and longevity of dancers.

#dancemedei #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #dmeifoundationalcourse #dancemedicine #dancemedicinephysicaltherapy by @dancemedei

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a month ago

Snapping hip is common in dancers, but common does not always mean clinically simple. 🧐

In this Mentorship Monday session, we’ll look at snapping hip through a dance medicine lens, not just asking what structure may be snapping, but what the snapping may represent.

We’ll discuss how to think through location, pain, irritability, load, hip control, and when symptoms may warrant a deeper screen.

@andreazujko will open with the physical therapy clinical reasoning perspective, and @jennifer.milner will follow with movement-based strategies to support more efficient pelvic-femoral control.

🗓️ Monday, June 15th

⏰ 7:30- 8:30 pm ET

Free virtual session

There are still a few spots left!

🔗 in BIO > Mentorship Monday

#dancemedei #DMEIMentorshipMonday #dancemedicinecontinuingeducation #snappinghipindancers by @dancemedei

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2 months ago