FOR DANCERS.
BFA IN DANCE · DOCTOR OF PHYSICAL THERAPY · FORMER PROFESSIONAL DANCER
You don't have to explain what a tendu is here.
Or why your développé matters. Or why going en pointe still matters even when your feet swell after rehearsal.
I've been on both sides of the barre. Now I get to combine my background in professional dance with movement science to help dancers understand their bodies, train smarter, and keep doing what they love.
Because there's more to dance than being flexible.
Before I became a physical therapist, I was a professional dancer.
I earned my BFA in Dance, spent years training and performing, and eventually traded some of my rehearsal hours for anatomy textbooks.
Now, as a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I get to connect two worlds that don't always speak the same language.
I understand the artistic demands of dance, but I also understand the biomechanics, strength, coordination, and tissue capacity required to support them.
And as a hypermobile dancer myself, I know firsthand that having the range and knowing what to do with it are two very different things.
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WHERE DANCE TRAINING MEETS physical therapy.
01
At the barre
YOU CAN HOLD YOUR LEG IN A penché.
Under load
…BUT ASK YOU TO CONTROL A SINGLE LEG rdl AND EVERYTHING STARTS SHAKING.
02
With a theraband
YOU CAN POINT YOUR FOOT WITH A theraband.
in the air
…BUT THE SECOND YOU'RE LOADING THROUGH IT IN A sauté, IT DOESN'T EVEN FEEL LIKE THE SAME BODY .
03
The correction
YOU HAVE SPENT YEARS HEARING "pull up from your knees."
On one leg
…BUT THE SECOND YOU HAVE TO GO ON one leg, DIFFERENT STORY.
MORE THAN pretty LINES
01 / MOVEMENT
FLEXIBILITY ISN'T MOBILITY.
Flexibility is how much your muscles can lengthen. Range of motion is how far a joint can move. Mobility is about accessing and controlling that movement.
Just because you can get your leg up there doesn't mean you can control it once it arrives.
02 / TRAINING
DANCE CLASS ISN'T YOUR ENTIRE STRENGTH PROGRAM.
Dance builds incredible skills, but it doesn't train every physical capacity you need.
Cross-training develops strength, power, endurance, and resilience beyond your usual dance training.
And no, more ballet isn't automatically cross-training.
03 / HYPERMOBILITY
MORE RANGE DOESN'T MEAN MORE CONTROL
As a hypermobile dancer, I know firsthand that having more range doesn't necessarily mean having the strength to control it.
The goal isn't less flexibility. It's more strength, coordination, and confidence in the range you already have.
We'll strengthen muscles you may have spent years trying not to "overuse," and at some point I'm probably going to ask you to strengthen something you've spent years being told not to use.
Dancers are some of the smartest movers I work with — which is how you can look incredibly strong while still feeling unstable, disconnected, or exhausted underneath the surface.
Looking stable and actually feeling supported are not always the same thing.
THIS IS WHERE WE DO things differently.
The goal isn't to make you dance differently — it's to help your body support the level you're already performing at.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE art.
Dance medicine is more than treating injuries. It's understanding the unique demands of performing artists and connecting them with evidence-informed care.
My clinical interests include dance medicine, hypermobility, orthopedic rehabilitation, and pelvic health.
International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS)
Doctors For Dancers
The Ehlers-Danlos Society
AND IF YOU teach?
You've probably seen this happen in real time: the dancer who keeps stretching because something feels "tight," the student who can force the shape but can't control it once they get there, the correction that makes technical sense but somehow just creates more gripping.
Dance teachers are constantly asked to solve movement problems without always being given the anatomical tools to explain what's happening underneath them.
The same gap I see in dancers is the same gap a lot of teachers are working around in the studio.
— A resource for teachers
THE DANCE TEACHER'S Playbook.
It bridges the space between the cue and what's actually happening in the body.
Sometimes "lift," "spiral," or "don't grip" makes perfect artistic sense and still doesn't fully translate physically.
lets talk FEET
5 Exercises for Better Ballet Feet
(And Why They Won't Give You Mine)
Spoiler: Genetics plays a role in the shape of your feet. But strength, mobility, coordination, and how you use the rest of your leg? Those are things we can work on.
Coming soon to YouTube.
— A FREE DANCER RESOURCE
for teachers
I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT. BUT HOW DOES IT feel?
Dancers are really good at pushing through.
But being able to finish class doesn't tell us whether you're dancing comfortably, compensating, or spending the next day recovering.
A dance-specific body check-in to help you recognize changes in movement, symptoms, and training tolerance, and understand when it's time to get assessed.
LET'S GET YOU BACK TO WHAT YOU love.
Dance-specific physical therapy, without having to explain why your technique matters.
Whether you're navigating an injury, returning to dance, or trying to understand why a movement looks beautiful but feels terrible, we'll look beyond whether you can perform it.
We'll look at how it feels, what your body is doing to accomplish it, and what you need to keep progressing.
What we'll look at:
Your dance background, training schedule, and goals
Injury history and current symptoms
Strength, mobility, and movement control
Dance-specific technique and physical demands
What feels difficult, not just what looks difficult
— Southern California
THE DANCER Eval.
Dancer-specific evaluations available in-home or in-studio.
60 minutes / $250
Book the dancer eval →
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