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In order to keep attending her dance classes, senior musical theater student Kat Kelly needs to see a chiropractor. But Syracuse University does not offer one on campus, so Kelly has to go to a private practice every other week.

When she was 14, Kelly was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and a labral tear in her right hip, a common injury for dancers. Kelly’s experience with injury led her to question the lack of resources made available for Visual and Performing Arts students like herself.

“When you offer a certain resource in an institution, that speaks to the values of your institution,” she said. “If (the university) did have support for people in our department, then I think it would also make a statement as to the fact that they value us.”

Both Kelly and fellow musical theater student Rileigh Very said that VPA is one of SU’s top programs. Very’s musical theater class is only made up of 18 students because the program is so selective, she said.

They both feel as though VPA students have been forgotten, and SU needs to offer them more resources, such as physical therapists, nutritionists and a counselor trained in sports psychology to dancers, especially or those with chronic injuries.

“You get (to VPA) and it’s like, ‘where are the resources and where’s the money for these resources?’” Very said.

Musical theater professor Andrea Leigh-Smith said she does her best to use her “lived experience” as a dancer to help students understand their bodies and how to take care of them. Still, she’s is not an expert.

“I believe that we need a good nutritionist and physical therapist, because that’s not what we are, we’re dancing educators,” Leigh-Smith said.

Very suffered a spinal cord compression in a gymnastics accident at 13, leading to four bulging discs, one decreased disc and spondylolisthesis, a spinal injury caused when vertebrae slip into one another. She said she lives with chronic pain.

“People with previous injury really need access to (physical therapy), because it’s incredibly painful to go and (dance) all the time without resources to help recover your body,” Very said. “Even people who don’t have previous injuries that are incredibly sore need to know how to take care of their bodies so that we can have longevity in our field.”

Sarah Scalese, SU’s senior vice president for communications, wrote in an email to The Daily Orange that all SU students, including those in VPA, have access to “holistic health and wellness services” through the Barnes Center at the Arch.

During her Renée Crown Honors Thesis presentation, Kat Kelly asked SU to provide more resources to dancers in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Academic leaders in VPA are reviewing Kelly’s research to “meet the unique needs of performing artists,” Scalese said.

“We appreciate our student’s advocacy and will continue to explore options for enhancing access to these services,” she said.

Very emphasized that students with previous injuries are under even more stress. Some VPA majors, including musical theater majors like Very, require additional dance-intensive courses.

“Dancing is very, very rigorous on the body,” Very said. “You’re in ballet, you’re forcing your body into positions that are not normal. And that’s three days a week for an hour and 20 minutes each class. Dancing is a form of art, but it’s incredibly rigorous.”

Leigh-Smith said that the weekly Dance Wellness class VPA held over Zoom during the height of the coronavirus pandemic provided some of these resources, but that interest dropped after one semester and the program was discontinued.

Still, Leigh-Smith believes the university has the power to make these resources more accessible for VPA students.

“It’s our minds and our bodies,” Leigh-Smith said. “We get one of them. We have to really take good care.”

Published on September 14, 2022 at 11:32 pm

Contact Katie: ksmcclel@syr.edu | @katie_mcclellan