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Partnership with
International Ballet Academy
Carolina Dancer Wellness staff has provided services to dancers at IBA since it's founding and continue to help alumni navigate healthy dance careers.
This partnership has grown stronger over the years and is currently the only program offering these services to pre-professional dancers in the United States.
Elite level dancers train in a capacity similar to an Olympic athlete, but often lack the specialized care that athletes are provided. Combining IBA’s experts in dance education and our specialized medical team, dancers will receive the same level of care as dancers in programs such as Royal Ballet and Australian Ballet. Through injury risk reduction initiatives, cutting-edge dance medicine research, and wellness education, we help dancers get the most out of their current training and lay the foundations for future healthy dance careers.
Welcome to the Health and Wellness Program for the 2025-2026 dance season.
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Each dancer will receive a pre-season screen for injury risk reduction, an individualized targeted strength program, monthly check-ins to assess progress towards goals and establishment of new goals, and performance optimization analytics that will help safely navigate the demands of the dance environment. Learn more
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IBA dancers also receive access to dedicated appointment time slots for PT, cross-training, mental health/coaching, and massage that are coordinated with their coaching schedules.
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PPD dancers will need to complete the registration below and schedule their screen before the end of September. Screening times will be availabe at the studio or in our office (located 5 minutes from IBA).
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2025-2026 Health and Wellness Program Registration
1) Pay the Wellness Service Fee
Click to select payment options.
3) Submit Your Medical History Form
This MUST be completed by someone over 18 years old.
For Dancers in the Residential Program
Providing this information will allow for your dancer to be seen by clinical staff more rapidly should the need arise.
This MUST be completed by someone over 18 years old.
Choose one:
What does the Wellness Program Cover?
The Pre-Season/Injury Risk Reduction Screen is an annual assessment, similar to an athlete's physical, that evaluates a variety of factors including strength, flexibility, and movement patterns in order to identify and address potential problem areas before they become full-blown injuries. Performing the screen anually can significantly help a dancer reduce the risk of injuries and make the most out of their season.
Pre-season Screen
The results of the screen are analyzed along with feedback from studio staff to develop goals and a create personalized training plan for each dancer.
Individualized Programming
The monthly check-in is a useful tool that allows dancers and the wellness team to assess progress, set new goals, and address concerns that may arise before they create setbacks for training.
Monthly Check-Ins
This analytics tool helps dancers and studio staff take stock of various factors that impact performance and adjust training accordingly. Dancers use a short, five question survey at the beginning and end of each day. Learning to recognize readiness factors is an important tool for dancers and is one of the most difficult to learn. Mastering this is often one of the things that separates dancers who have successful careers from those who have faced career-ending injury or burn-out. Learn more
Performance Optimization
Backstage physical therapy will be available for all performances. Dancers may sign up for specific appointment times or visit the physical therapist on a walk-in basis.
Backstage Physical Therapy
Dancer Health Advocacy/Liaison
As an independent organization, Carolina Dancer Wellness works first and foremost for the dancer. This means that we can act as an advocate for dancers in navigating health issues with their company. Advocacy can take many forms. It often is requested in helping dancers navigate and explain health conditions to company staff as well as developing plans for return to activity following injury.
Please note that this program is focused on risk reduction and education to develop a healthy navigation of the dance environment.
As a physically and psychologically demanding pursuit, participation in high level dance training carries a degree of risk that is impossible to eliminate. There may be times that a dancer would benefit from physical therapy, mental health counseling, or nutrition counseling services. In such cases these services are provided separately, through a patient's insurance benefits or self-pay rates.
Additional services for dancers can be scheduled on an individual basis. These include:
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