Carolina Dancer Wellness

03/03/2026

Dancers often come to us wanting to work on a specific skill needed for an upcoming performance.

In this case, we worked on creating exercises to break the fouetté turn into some of its basic components with a focus on core stability, placement of the pelvis, and smooth movement of the leg with maintained turnout. Here, you can see these elements starting to come together. By the time of performance, the dancer reported being able to execute the turns without a problem.

02/26/2026

Olympic Figure Skater, Ilia Malanin is the most recent athlete to openly talk about the mental health challenges that go along with training and performing. These same challenges and pressures are well-known to many dancers and can take many different forms: questions about being good enough, comparisons with peers, a desire to please the director, expectations from parents, overcoming physical challenges and injuries, and so much more.

Drop a comment in the chat if you would like to learn more about the mental health for dancers, the pressures dancers face, and how to work through them.

02/26/2026

Olympic Figure Skater, Ilia Malanin is the most recent athlete to openly talk about the mental health challenges that go along with training and performing. These same challenges and pressures are well-known to many dancers and can take many different forms: questions about being good enough, comparisons with peers, a desire to please the director, expectations from parents, overcoming physical challenges and injuries, and so much more.

Drop a comment in the chat if you would like to learn more about the mental health for dancers, the pressures dancers face, and how to work through them.







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02/23/2026

Turnout in dance is more than aesthetics – it’s also essential for good, healthy technique.

Young dancers often think of turnout as the angle produced by the feet, and try to put their feet into as much turnout as possible. Often they will use friction forces from the floor to hold the position, rather than using internal forces generated by the muscles in the hips. This results in over-rotating at the feet and ankles, producing a “rolled in” or pronated position and puts additional stress on the big toe, arches, knees, and low back. These forces increase as a dancer grows, starts pointe work, and is given more challenging choreography. Eventually, the compensations and lack of foundational strength can turn into problems ranging from difficulty performing steps to pain and/or significant injury.

Dance medicine specialists can help you achieve your best turnout by helping you to understand your unique anatomy and learn how to get the most out of your range and strength potential.







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10/16/2025

A few photos from some of the workshops this summer and early fall.  We thoroughly enjoyed working with these dancers in areas such as cross-training, mindfulness, turnout, and core stability.







                             

10/10/2025

We were delighted to send four of our staff to the annual     conference.  It is always nice to connect with researchers, clinicians, and leaders in the dance industry.  We were honored to have Rory and Catherine present work that they have been doing on cross training through      with         and are proud to be part of the new Strength & Conditioning SIG.  So many sessions had valuable tools that we are excited to incorporate into our clinical work.  Additionally, we are happy to help bring resources and innovations to our local dance community and look forward to sharing the work that is being done by     .red_d  .recovery

10/08/2025

05/22/2025

Emily is a former professional ballet dancer who has experienced the complexities of training, performance, career aspirations, and the impact of mental health on it all. Following her dance career, she completed a MA in Counseling and Rehabilitation at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate (LCMHCA) and a National Certified Counselor (NCC). 

As a counselor, Emily is passionate about helping individuals in all stages of their lives in addressing their mental health and mental performance, whether dancers, athletes, or everyday people.  Her areas of focus include anxiety, depression, disordered eating, stress/overwhelm, coping with injuries, and more.

Visit our website to book an appointment! In-person and virtual sessions are available.

05/08/2025

Special rates this Friday!

Come meet our new massage therapist!  We have been looking for the right fit to work with our clients for a few years and are thrilled to now be able to offer this wonderful service.  Getting regular massages is a great way to recover from a heavy workload and to keep muscles healthy.

04/26/2025

Olivia, the PT student who has been with us for the past few months, gave us the most wonderful gift today! Check out this amazing artwork featuring our mascot!

We will miss you. Good luck with your next steps towards completing your doctorate degree. Your future patients will be lucky to have you!

04/14/2025

In preparation for competitions, we are delighted to bring you special massage sessions with expert massage therapist, Joseph!

Joseph has a deep understanding of the demands placed on active bodies, the range of muscle responses, and how to promote optimal muscle performance.
Book today on our website or via text.