Dance UK's Healthier Dancer Programme (HDP) promotes and disseminates research that extends our understanding of the relationships between dancers' health (physical and psychological), injury, training and performance.

We have undertaken two national surveys of dancers' health and injury, published in Fit to Dance? (1996) and Fit to Dance 2 (2005). These provide base-line information on the types and rates of injury suffered by dancers as well as information about key aspects of their health and well-being.

While Dance UK is well placed to lead on national surveys of the kind used in the Fit to Dance publications, it also advocates for and facilitates research of high quality and relevance in a whole range of areas, undertaken independently by researchers, in companies, in schools and with dancers of all kinds.

We have acted, and continue to act when appropriate, as a broker, linking researchers with members of the dance profession. Our aim is to help ensure the most useful and relevant research takes place in a way that minimises undue demands on the dancer participants while providing meaningful results that can be fed back to the profession to aid in the health, training and performance of dancers.

We aim to keep up to date with any research that is currently being undertaken in the UK and abroad and do this by facilitating periodical meetings and correspondence with our Physiotherapy Advisory Group, Medical Advisory Committee and an ad-hoc Research Advisory Group, and attending relevant conferences. In this way we also aim to identify areas of research in dance health and performance that haven't yet been, but need to be studied.

We disseminate research findings, and their implications for dance training and performance, in as practical and useful a way possible for the dance profession through:

• Articles in Dance UK News.
• Presentations and discussion forums at conferences. 
• Targeted events.

We want to hear from you

We are always keen to hear from post-graduate researchers in dance health, science and medicine as well as members of the dance profession, to find out what your areas of research interest are and what you think we need to know more about. This will help Dance UK's HDP to maintain an overview of research interests in the UK and to bring people together who may have similar interests and questions they want answered.

To discuss any research ideas or proposed dance specific projects contact the Healthier Dancer Programme  hdp@danceuk.org  in the first instance.

Interested in studying dance medicine/science?

See the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science Student Committee webpage for links to careers information, a list of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs, student discussion forums, and more.