The National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) announced the opening of its much-anticipated new dance fitness screening centre in Edinburgh, coinciding with the launch of three new health packages for dancers, in partnership with One Dance UK.
Renowned for its hugely successful screening centre services, NIDMS is excited to welcome a new screening centre partners, the University of Edinburgh and Taylor physiotherapy.
As the new Scottish hub for the organisation, the University complements the existing NIDMS screening centres in the Midlands (the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Injuries and University of Wolverhampton) and London (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance).
NIDMS is continually working to ensure that dancers have access to affordable, timely and specialist healthcare to reduce the risk of injury and to be able to seek help easily if an injury should occur.
Part of NIDMS’ commitment to this aim is the provision of the Performance Optimisation Package (POP), launched in 2014 as an add-on to membership with One Dance UK, the national sector support organisation for dance.
Following feedback from dancers, companies and schools who have been utilising the package since then, NIDMS has further developed the package to offer a variety of options for every budget and need.
Today, NIDMS is pleased to launch three new tiers of the Performance Optimisation Package (POP) (Standard, Intermediate and Elite), allowing dancers to affordably seek private healthcare and receive one to one physical assessments from a dance-specialist team. POP is available to purchase immediately, and prices start at just £80.
All three tiers of POP offer a 12-month health cash plan from BHSF, through which dancers can claim back up to £700 in total on healthcare treatments including physiotherapy, osteopathy, dental and chiropody and private consultation (excluding surgery and imaging), allowing access to immediate care without the need for GP referral.
The plan also provides discounted gym membership and access to a 24-hour helpline including GP, counselling, legal advice, and private prescriptions.
The Intermediate and Elite packages will also provide dancers with a one-to-one musculoskeletal and fitness screening with a dance specialist exercise physiologist and physiotherapist, including measurements of muscular endurance, aerobic fitness, flexibility, and balance.
Those selecting the Intermediate package will benefit from an individual exercise plan to support their dance training, along with their screening results.
The Elite package offers a more in-depth and bespoke overview of screening and training requirements.
A one-to-one screening will be carried out in relation to the patient’s current dance practice, with the screening team viewing his or her current choreography to ascertain the physiological demands in relation to the screening results.
This is in addition to a bespoke exercise plan, specifically aimed at preparing dancers for the choreographic demands of their current work as a performer, teacher or choreographer.
NIDMS Manager Stephanie De’Ath comments:
‘NIDMS continually aims to expand the provision of healthcare for dancers throughout the UK, and has been striving to establish more support in Northern England and Scotland. We are really pleased that dancers in Scotland will now be able to purchase POP and access dance specialist screening services in Edinburgh, and we will continue to work hard to try and establish free-at-the-point-of-use specialist healthcare opportunities in NHS Scotland.’
To purchase POP and book a screening at the University of Edinburgh please visit www.onedanceuk.org/memberships/.