Enhancing Dance Performance and Reducing Injury Risk: Applying a True Holistic Model of Wellness

Jeff A. Russell, PhD, ATC, editor of Dance Injuries, is an associate professor of athletic training and the director of Science and Health in Artistic Performance (SHAPe) at Ohio University, where he studies artists in dance, music, theater, circus, film and television, and marching band. His PhD in dance medicine and science is from the University of Wolverhampton in England. He has served on the boards of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science and the Performing Arts Medicine Association. He is a founding board member of The Bridge Dance Project, the founder of the International Task Force on Head Impacts and Trauma in Stunts, and an ambassador and research advisor for the Australian Stunts Organisation. His international research group focuses primarily on concussions in film and television stunt performers as well as health care access for dancers in the commercial industry and on university dance teams. Other research from his lab includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the ankle in ballet dancers and the use of dance socks to reduce forces on dancers’ feet.