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Jacqui G. Haas, ATC
Intellectual Autobiography
Looking back to my undergraduate years as a dance major at the University of South Florida, (USF) I remember a chronic foot injury that kept me from performing well in my classes, rehearsals, and performances. My dance requirements were averaging 25 hours a week, not being able to fully participate was taking a toll on my body, mind, and spirit. After several months of unsuccessful self-care and limited dance involvement, I reached out to the athletic trainers at USF’s basketball team in hopes of a quality diagnosis or treatment. Unfortunately, they were unfamiliar with dance-related injuries and gave me little advice. Finishing the semester was a challenge due to difficulties with performing jumps and turns as well as navigating discomfort with the various dance shoes I needed to wear. Eventually, I found a physician in central Florida who understood my injury, I underwent surgery and was out of dance for another three months. It would have been advantageous if the dance department had specialized dance medicine health care at the time. My goals had always been to dance in professional ballet companies, experience working with wonderful choreographers, and perform in different theatres. Losing my chance from an undiagnosed and untreated injury would have been devastating. At the time, I didn’t realize I was setting myself up for a long, unique, and gratifying career as a professional dancer and performing arts athletic trainer.
Upon graduation, I auditioned for various professional ballet companies, received several performing contracts, and enjoyed dancing professionally for almost ten years. Touring the eastern United States, performing in different theatres, and working with talented choreographers was thrilling for me and I loved every moment. Multiple minor aches and injuries occurred along the way, but I was lucky to not have undergone any career-ending surgeries.
Once I realized it was time to think about life after a professional dance career, I decided to return to college and work on an athletic training certificate at the University of Cincinnati. Integrating my history in dance involvement with my athletic training education took me down an exciting and challenging road as the athletic trainer for Cincinnati Ballet and the supervisor of the performing arts medicine program for Wellington Orthopedics, Christ Hospital, and Mercy Health. As the program began to grow, I saw a need to reach out to local dance studios to provide health and wellness services. During this time, I was approached by an acquisition editor at Human Kinetics publishing company to write a book called, Dance Anatomy (Haas, 2010). It was perfect timing, I wanted to educate young dancers and teachers on the benefits of learning anatomy to improve technique and learn about injury risks. Dance Anatomy provided a perfect platform to do so. Yet, again, here I am embracing two fields of study to complete a common goal; the art of dance and the science of anatomy, working together to improve dancer health and wellness. My book eventually sold over 50,000 copies and I have published a second edition, as well (Haas, 2018). The following 30 years of integrating my athletic training skills and my history in the dance field seemed to fly by in an instant. I combined two fields of study for the benefit of the performing artists I enjoyed working with.
After working with an injured dancer who happened to be the Dance Coordinator at Northern Kentucky University (NKU), as fate would have it, I began teaching in the dance department. This is where my graduate journey began. While NKU has done a commendable job of providing health, counseling, and wellness services to all students, there was a lack of performing arts-specific health care for the performing arts students. It seemed like the most obvious choice was to design my graduate curriculum around the needs of the performing arts students. Developing a performing arts medicine program became a new objective. The integrated studies program gave me the flexibility to design my program of study with different courses of my choice. Since learning, in general, is a combination of experiences, I was able to blend various interests into learning experiences as they relate to designing a performing arts medicine program. Every course I took, was a new learning experience that led to the completion of the program design.
The following courses are a partial list of the courses that were instrumental in creating the design of the performing arts medicine program:
· English 546 Grant Proposal Writing
· CHP 601 Assessment and Evaluation in Health Education
· KIN 605 Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
· HSR 522 Mindful Helping Professional
The grant writing course allowed me to compose a grant so the dance department could acquire a medical kit for minor injuries. The medical kit includes basic first aid supplies for use during rehearsals and performances. The assessment and evaluation in health education course allowed me the opportunity to learn more about students, how to assess their needs, better understand their learning strategies, and how to design effective assessments. I particularly enjoyed the injury prevention and rehabilitation course. One of the course requirements included designing a strength training program for an athlete, naturally, I chose an incoming freshman dancer, as my model. The mindful helping professional course was a fulfilling course on psychological awareness in addressing anxiety, stress, and mindful practices. Performing arts medicine is finally beginning to acknowledge the importance of emotional wellness for artists. I was grateful to learn more about using meditation and letting go of past experiences that cause anxiety. Each course I chose to participate in was unique and provided the learning experiences to meet my professional goal.
The strategic plan of the performing arts medicine program includes coordinating efforts between NKU’s School of the Arts, the athletic training education program, and St. Elizabeth Hospital to provide health care services to all performing artists on campus. I have athletic training colleagues and friends who have designed similar successful programs at Ohio University, George Mason University, and Dean College for their dancers. The program at Dean College has seen a reduction in injuries from 65% to 35% since adding a full-time athletic trainer who specializes in performing arts medicine (Dance Teacher, 2019). In the first year of the performing arts medicine program at George Mason University, there were 100 injuries treated (Ambegaonkar & Caswell, 2011).
In an unscientific questionnaire, sent to the dancers at NKU, 100% of the students questioned were interested in having access to specialized health care services within the dance and theatre department. Those services would include access to an athletic training room, yearly screenings for incoming freshmen to identify strengths and weaknesses, treatment times for assessing injuries, and backstage coverage during performances. The need is apparent.
Looking back on my undergraduate work, my professional dance career, and my athletic training career I was inadvertently blending my work in the arts with my work in health education. It has been an interdisciplinary journey all along. Although, it took me several years to complete the Master’s in Integrated Studies, (MAIS) program, it was worth the time and effort. Any age is the right time to continue learning and growing, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to finally complete my masters. I am also grateful for the instruction I have received. Every professor I worked with here at NKU was professional, passionate, and always provided guidance and intuitive insight. It is no surprise that I have appreciated the MAIS program and hopefully will complete my objective of designing and implementing a performing arts medicine program for the benefit of the students I enjoy teaching.
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