80-90% of dance professionals experience an injury every year. Half report moderate to severe anxiety and depression symptoms but, faced with increasingly irregular income and financial uncertainty, many are forced to deprioritise their wellbeing—working through physical injury or mental distress until these issues risk becoming career-threatening. According to Arts Professional, nearly 80% of all arts workers have “seriously considered” leaving the arts due to burnout and financial pressures.
Dance Professionals Fund (DPF), One Dance UK and the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) have announced a groundbreaking partnership to break this cycle, providing 60 dance professionals with free One Dance UK membership and access to a choice of two vital health services: a dedicated wellbeing service, or specialist dancer screening. The initiative directly addresses the significant physical, psychological and financial wellbeing challenges facing those in the dance profession.
“Too many talented dance professionals are being forced out of the profession due to injury or a lack of access to timely, inexpensive, easy access to healthcare,” says Andrew Hurst MBE, Chief Executive of One Dance UK. “This partnership says enough is enough. We stand behind the dedicated and talented professionals who give everything to this artform, and despite funding challenges across the UK arts sector, we will continue to fight to give them the tools they need to not just to survive, but to thrive.”
Clemmie Cowl, Executive Director at Dance Professionals Fund adds, “Dance Professionals Fund has been supporting dancers for around 90 years, and we’re delighted to partner with One Dance UK and NIDMS by supporting this vital initiative. A dancer’s body is their tool and early intervention or prevention is key. We see first-hand how all the hard work and training that dance professionals undergo can be disrupted in an instant by injury, which can be devastating. Our charity is committed to ensuring that as many dance professionals as possible receive the timely welfare and healthcare support they need.”
To be eligible, applicants must be a dancer, dance teacher, or choreographer with three years of professional experience following training and earn less than £35,000 annually. The support package offers their choice of two services alongside free membership.
The first choice is The Wellbeing Package (worth £25), providing 24/7/365 global access to private GP consultations and prescriptions, telephone counselling, legal advice, enhanced debt and welfare management support, support for those with caring responsibilities, and crisis intervention—eliminating the cost and time restraints that often force dance professionals to avoid seeking support.
Early users are already seeing the impact, with one wellbeing service user explaining, “I’m reliant on medication for a long-term health condition but during a performance weekend in another city, I realised I’d run out. I panicked because this would normally mean an immediate return home, but thankfully I was able to call the wellbeing service, speak to a doctor and had a replacement waiting at a pharmacy next to the theatre within 3 hours. This is an essential service to me now.”
Dancers can also choose a NIDMS Dance-Specific Screening (worth £76-£276), a physical assessment and functional movement evaluation. Through a personalised consultation, dancers gain valuable insights to improve their training and performance, understand their strengths and areas for development, prevent injuries, and support overall well-being.
Screening is a valuable tool for dance professionals, as recent participants highlighted: “The assessment was very informative and helped me to think about how to look after my body as I train.” and, “Very informative and useful. As a freelancer I left feeling empowered knowing what I needed to work on and really inspired by everyone in the space, fellow dancers and the amazing practitioners. Thank you!”
This groundbreaking partnership represents a critical step toward ensuring dance professionals can sustain longer, healthier careers. By addressing issues of injury, mental illness, and lack of access to physical and mental health support, it aims to directly tackle the systemic healthcare gaps for those in the dance ecology.
Applicants from all backgrounds and communities—and in particular those who are disabled, of ethnically diverse backgrounds, from elder populations, or living in underserved areas—are encouraged.
Applications for the programme are now open; dance professionals interested in applying should submit by 16 November here.
