28 May and 9-11 June
School of Dance has successfully held the first-ever "Sports Therapy Day" in collaboration with THEi's Sport Therapy students and faculty. This activity provided 4-day sport therapy sessions for over 60 SoD students and staff members. Over 90% of the participants agreed that they would consider seeking sports therapy in the future and they rated the therapy experience above 8.5 and learning experience 9 out of 10.
In each session, APA students received a thorough examination conducted by THEi's students with the guidance of Mr Indy Ho (registered physiotherapist and lecturer at THEi), then followed by professional sports massage or manual therapy. The emphasis of this Sports Therapy Day is to raise the awareness of self-care strategies among dance students, where at the same time THEi students can learn about the challenges that dancers face in their training. Each individual has received an exercise plan tailored to their needs, targeting the areas which require improvement in strength, flexibility or control. It was a wonderful and educational experience for both the APA and THEi students to exchange their expertise, engage in conversations that enhance the understanding of their discipline and practice.
"They have taught me exercises to manage my sprained ankle, with a clear and detailed progressive plan. I also learnt the taping technique so I can tape my ankle for more support in classes these days, it was very helpful. I look forward to the future therapy sessions." -- Kelly, Chinese Dance student.
"This is a very comprehensive experience for us to learn from examining, treating, and prescribing exercises. Providing sports therapy to dancers is a great challenge, as their "normal" range is much greater than the general population. It has driven me to examine with a very different perspective than usual, think out of the box and be creative when prescribing exercises for dancers who already practice difficult movement daily. We would love to come back for sure." -- Mavis and Suran, THEi students.