The BYU Dance Medicine and Wellness Facility is giving its dancers tools to take care of their bodies even after leaving the spotlight
BYU’s Dance Medicine and Wellness Facility opened in 2004 to aid dancers with injuries and to help prevent any body traumas that may continue into adulthood.
The woman at the helm of those goals is Brenda Critchfield, the school’s Dance Medicine and Wellness director.
“I am a certified athletic trainer and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. I received my Bachelor of Science in athletic training from BYU and my Master of Science in exercise physiology from the University of New Mexico,” she said.
Critchfield has made good use of her experience and training as an ESPN X Games medic. She has worked with Division I and III NCAA sports, Army Basic Training, and Army Infantry and Air Force Special Ops units in addition to her practice in the performing arts.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DMW facility has not been without its changes.
“With COVID restrictions, we can see nine patients per therapist per day. Pre-COVID averaged about 35 to 40 patients per day,” said Critchfield.
Another COVID-19 change has been the addition of the facilities secretary, who ensures that everyone who comes into the facility has their temperature checked and fills out a symptoms form before entering.
Critchfield and the rest of the Dance department are always looking for ways to improve dancers’ well-being as well as teach them proper form to reduce injury. The DMW therapists help alleviate injuries with a variety of techniques such as using manual therapy for almost all of their patients and treatments.
“This means we treat our dancers with our hands. We use a variety of manual therapy [techniques] including myofascial release —- specifically John Barnes technique, positional release, muscle energy techniques and Ortho-Bionomy techniques,” said Critchfield.
The therapists also try to teach dancers to break old habits that they may have picked up as young performers, such as static stretching before they dance. Static stretching is when someone holds a single position while sitting, standing or lying.
“Static stretching before or during physical activity actually decreases performance. Studies have shown that there is a decrease in strength, power and jump height.” said Critchfield.
She explained that dynamic warm-ups are better for the body, as they get the body ready for what it needs to do. “Static stretching is best left for after a dancer is done dancing, when their body is still warm.”
The DMW facility doesn’t solely teach its dancers better ways to heal. It also teaches proper warm-ups and cool-downs, basic nutrition, good cross-training programs and more. “We try to give dancers ideas on how to take care of their bodies now so that they have a long and fruitful dancing career,” Critchfield said.
It is safe to say that the dancers at BYU are in good hands.