Research Participation Opportunities

Find out why you should consider getting involved with research, and how you can advertise your opportunities too

There is a growing body of dance medicine and science-focused research that aims to improve our understanding of what it takes to produce healthy, high performing dancers. Remember that research cannot happen without participants, so as dancers, teachers, choreographers, and those actively working within the dance industry you have a very valuable role to play within the scientific research process.

Organisations such as The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) promote research excellence within the dance medicine and science community as well as producing resources to disseminate research recommendations within the wider dance community.

We know that many professional dance companies and vocational dance schools are frequently approached by researchers, undergraduate as well as postgraduate, to take part in their projects. In order to help prevent these dancers suffering from ‘research fatigue’, while encouraging participation in research, we have produced a checklist (below) for schools and companies to help you decide on the quality of research opportunities presented to you and prioritise those you take part in. These points could also apply to individuals in deciding whether to participate in research or not.

 

White female dancer with long red hair running on a treadmill wearing face-mask to measure cardiovascular fitness. White male physiologist looking over to observe stats on the machine. In a white laboratory setting with a window in the background

Research participation checklist

  • Is the research at postgraduate level, with the intention for it to be published?
  • Is the research applied research that will have a practical bearing on dancers’ health, wellbeing, performance capabilities or education, on an individual level, organisational level or for the dance world at large?
  • Is the researcher planning to or have they sought input from dance professionals in choosing what to research and/or designing the research?
  • Is the researcher offering to provide feedback during and/or following the research that will be useful to the dancers and their work/training?
  • Have you or the researcher sought advice from One Dance UK’s HDP to ensure that this research project complements or adds to the research knowledge base and is not unnecessarily duplicating work already done?

If you can answer yes to these points it is likely to be worth your while taking part in a research project that may benefit dancers, company and the dance world at large.

Current opportunities

Listed below are research projects being conducted by One Dance UK members, which are currently seeking participants. If you are interested in taking part, please do get in touch with the researchers directly, or if you have any questions or concerns, contact the Healthier Dancer Programme: hdp@onedanceuk.org.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES 

Project summary:

The purpose of this study is to investigate how current practices towards body image issues in dance can be improved based on the experiences of South Asian dancers in the UK. The study aims to identify awareness of body image issues amongst teachers, directors and leaders in professional dance so that practical interventions may be implemented to help dance organisations provide effective support and guidance for their dancers.

Issues surrounding body image are extraordinarily common amongst dancers. While this topic has been investigated in Western styles of dance, there is a significant gap in literature regarding the connection of South Asian dance and South Asian culture to body image issues.

Start date of project: 13 April 2026

End date of project: 16 Sept 2026

Start date of data collection: 1 July 2026

End date of data collection: 16 Aug 2026

Research Setting:

This study is part of a Sports and Exercise Psychology MSc student research project supported by Loughborough University. The study will be undertaken by Shriya Sharma and supervised by Professor Daniel Rhind. Data will be collected using semi-structured interviews, which can either happen in-person at Birmingham Library or online via Microsoft Teams, depending on the participant's preference. Each participant will attend one interview, between 1hr-1.5hrs long. Interviews can take place any day from now until the 16th August. The specific date and time of the interview will be arranged with the participant and Shriya.

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

All participation will remain anonymous. No identifiable personal information will be included in any submissions, reports, presentations, or publications, or shared beyond the investigators. Any identifiable information will be removed from the data. Anonymised data will be retained until the final project marks have been verified and no longer than one year. This project has been granted ethical approval by Loughborough University's School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences Ethics Committee.

Inclusion Criteria: 
Inclusion criteria includes:

  • Over the age of 18 and have the capacity to fully understand and consent to this research.

  • Be of South Asian heritage.

  • Currently living in the UK.

  • A teacher, creative director or leader in a South Asian dance style.

  • Earning an income from dance.

Benefits to the participant:

This research can help encourage more open conversations in both the South Asian and the wider dance community, and help inform practical interventions that prioritise safety and wellbeing so that dancers can feel more supported and have better access to mental health resources.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Shriya Sharma

Email: cw0162@lunet.lboro.ac.uk

Project summary:

The purpose of the study is to further establish where and when decisions are made in support of the development of the dance curriculum, specifically: What is perceived by teaching professionals within the subject of dance to be barriers or opportunities for dance within the curriculum?

Research Setting:

You will be asked to take part in a timeline activity (completed in your own time, further details to be provided) and a semi structured interview (time to be arranged suitable for yourself and no longer than 45 minutes), all information and names shall be anonymised, and following the Data Protection Act (2018) data will not be shared with anyone other than my supervisors during the research process.

For further information about the study: https://forms.office.com/e/pMpchksmRR

Start date of project: 1 Sept 2025

End date of project: 30 Mar 2027

Start date of data collection: 2 Jan 2026

End date of data collection: 31 Aug 2026

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

On deciding to take part, you will be helping to gain a better understanding of decisional capital by expert teachers and how that is either supported or not within the broader curriculum objectives. There is no compensation for involvement within the research and all identifying components will be anonymised. Ethical approval is gained from the University of Wolverhampton Ethics Committee

Inclusion Criteria: 
This is a call for participants who are experienced teachers of dance (four or more years in teaching) in a secondary education setting 11- 16 years.

Benefits to the participant:

On deciding to take part, you will be helping to gain a better understanding of decisional capital by expert teachers and how that is either supported or not within the broader curriculum objectives. There is no compensation for involvement within the research and all identifying components will be anonymised.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Claire Watson

Email: claire.watson@wlv.ac.uk

Project summary:

This PhD research, Teaching as Emotional Practice in Dance Education, explores how dance educators experience, reflect on, and make sense of the emotional dimensions of their pedagogical practice. The study aims to deepen understanding of educators’ emotional experiences and examine how these influence teaching, learning, and pedagogical relationships within dance education. Through embodied, creative, and arts-based workshops, participants engage in movement exploration, creative reflection, and facilitated dialogue to investigate their lived experiences. The research explores how embodied and arts-based approaches may support emotional reflexivity, professional reflection, and wellbeing, while creating spaces for educators to attend to their emotional lives. Ultimately, the study seeks to contribute to dance education by generating knowledge about emotional practice in teaching and informing the development of practical resources that support emotionally reflective pedagogical practices for dance educators and, in turn, the learning environments they create for their students.

Dance educators are central to this research because it explores the emotional dimensions of teaching within dance education. Participants are recruited from dance higher education, conservatoires, further education, and other formal dance education settings, where embodied teaching practices and close pedagogical relationships make emotional experience an integral part of teaching. The study seeks to understand how dance educators experience, reflect on, and make sense of their emotional lives in relation to their pedagogical practice. It also explores how embodied and arts-based approaches may support emotional reflexivity, professional reflection, and wellbeing. The findings are expected to contribute to current discussions around care, reflective practice, and emotionally responsive pedagogies in dance education. In the longer term, the research aims to develop practical resources that educators can adapt within their own teaching to support both their own reflective practice and the emotional awareness and wellbeing of their students.

Start date of project: 1 May 2026

End date of project: 30 April 2027

Start date of data collection: 1 Sept 2026

End date of data collection: 30 April 2027

Research Setting:

Location: Middlesex University dance studios; 6th and 9th September (11am to 4.30pm), and potentially there will be November dates. The workshops will be 5.30 hours long (breaks including);

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

The study has received ethical approval from the Middlesex University Research Ethics Committee. Participation is entirely voluntary, and all participants will receive a Participant Information Sheet and provide informed consent before taking part. All data will be treated confidentially and stored securely in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Middlesex University data management procedures. Participants will be assigned pseudonyms, and any identifying information will be removed from transcripts and research outputs unless explicit consent has been given. Audio recordings, written materials, and creative outputs generated during the workshops will be securely stored and accessed only by the researcher and supervisory team where appropriate.

Inclusion Criteria: 
The study is seeking dance educators who are currently teaching in formal dance education settings, including universities, conservatoires, further education, or other higher and vocational dance training contexts. Participants should have experience of teaching dance and be willing to take part in embodied, creative, and reflective workshop activities exploring the emotional dimensions of teaching. No prior experience with somatic practices, reflective methods, or arts-based approaches is required.

Individuals who are not currently teaching dance within a formal dance education setting (e.g. universities, conservatoires, further education, or other recognised dance education contexts) will not be eligible to participate. Dance students and individuals teaching exclusively in recreational or non-formal community settings are not eligible for this study.

Benefits to the participant:

Participants will have the opportunity to engage in two embodied, creative, and reflective workshops that provide dedicated time and space to explore their experiences of teaching. The workshops are designed to support professional reflection, emotional awareness, and wellbeing through movement, creative activities, and facilitated dialogue. Participants may also gain ideas for embodied and arts-based approaches that could inform their own pedagogical practice. More broadly, the research aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the emotional dimensions of dance teaching, an area that has received relatively little attention within dance education research. The findings will inform the development of practical resources to support emotionally reflective pedagogical practices, with the potential to benefit both dance educators and the students they teach.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Yoana Stoeva

Email: ys463@live.mdx.ac.uk

Yoana Stoeva research flyer 3.8.26.jpg

Project summary:

This qualitative study explores the psychodynamic dimensions of serious physical injury in professional and trainee‑professional ballet dancers. Using semi‑structured interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), it examines how dancers make sense of injuries that prevent training or performance, focusing on their embodied sense of self and relational holding environments. The study aims to understand how bodily failure and somatic rupture impact identity, emotional experience and relationships within high‑pressure institutional contexts. It also seeks to illuminate defensive and coping processes around shame, loss and vulnerability. A secondary aim is to generate insights that can inform psychodynamic and psychosocial support for injured dancers and the development of more relationally attuned practices in dance medicine and company settings.

Professional ballet dancers work in highly demanding embodied environments where the body is the primary vehicle of work, identity and artistic expression. Injury in this context is rarely just physical – it can threaten career, self‑worth and belonging. Existing research has documented high injury rates and psychological distress among dancers, but has paid less attention to their lived, meaning‑laden experience of injury and to psychodynamic and relational dynamics within companies. This study therefore specifically recruits dancers in ballet to explore how they experience and manage serious injury from the inside, and to generate knowledge that is directly relevant to dance practice, dance health provision and support structures in the sector.

Research Setting:

The project is conducted within the Goldsmiths University MA programme in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy. Data are collected via one‑to‑one semi‑structured interviews. Interviews take place either online (via secure platforms such as Microsoft Teams) or, for UK‑based participants, in person at a mutually agreed private venue. Each session lasts approximately 50–75 minutes, with one interview per participant. Interviews are scheduled flexibly to accommodate dancers’ rehearsal and performance commitments, typically on weekday evenings or weekends.

Start date of project: 1 Oct  2025

End date of project: 1 Sept 2026

Start date of data collection: 1 Jun 2026

End date of data collection: 18 Aug 2026

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

Ethical approval has been obtained through the relevant departmental ethics committee at Goldsmiths University. The study involves discussion of potentially distressing experiences, including physical injury, changes in bodily identity, shame, grief and relational loss. To protect confidentiality, participants receive a full Participant Information Sheet and provide written informed consent. Pseudonyms are used from the point of transcription, and identifying details (e.g. company names, specific locations) are removed or generalised so that individuals cannot be recognised. Audio recordings and transcripts are stored on encrypted, password‑protected systems accessible only to the researcher and supervisor; consent forms are stored separately in a locked container on campus. All data are handled in accordance with UK GDPR standards, and recordings and transcripts are securely deleted on completion of the project.

Inclusion Criteria: 
The study targets professional and trainee‑professional ballet dancers aged 18 and above who have experienced a serious somatic injury within the last 1–5 years that prevented training or performance. “Professional or trainee‑professional ballet dancer” is defined as someone currently or formerly employed under a professional or trainee‑professional contract with a ballet company, dance institution or equivalent organisation, or who has trained full‑time at vocational level with the intention of professional employment.

Individuals currently in acute psychiatric crisis (as indicated by self‑report at screening) and those involved in ongoing legal claims relating to their injury are excluded. These criteria are intended to reduce ethical and practical complications and ensure that participants are in a position to reflect on their experiences with adequate support.

Benefits to the participant:

Direct benefits may include having a confidential space to reflect on and articulate the emotional and psychological impact of injury, which dancers often report as under‑acknowledged in their working environments. Indirect benefits include contributing to a deeper understanding of how injury affects dancers’ identities, relationships and wellbeing, which can inform more sensitive support from clinicians, educators and companies. For the wider dance sector, the study aims to highlight the subjective and relational dimensions of injury, encouraging practices that recognise dancers not only as physical performers but as embodied individuals whose experiences of loss, shame and vulnerability require holding and care. By taking part, dancers help ensure that their voices and lived experiences shape emerging psychodynamic and psychosocial approaches to dance health and rehabilitation.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Michelle Ng

Email: mng001@gold.ac.uk  

Project summary:

My name is Maria Kolitsida and as part of my PhD project, I am exploring dance students’ understanding and experiences of self-harm, as well as investigating different factors that may relate to self-harm in private school dance students in the United Kingdom.

The University of Birmingham in collaboration with One Dance UK and the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) are conducting research to support dance teachers in private dance schools to respond to safeguarding concerns around self-harm in their students.

Our research has already highlighted that dance teachers are seeing an increase in the number of students who self-harm and need additional guidance and education for responding to self-harm in private dance education.

Thus, this two-fold research project aims to:

  1. Understand more about self-harm in dance students (i.e., what proportion of students self-harm and how/why they may self-harm).
  2. Investigate the best way of providing education to dance teachers about self-harm by pilot testing an educational workshop on self-harm for private dance schools.

Research Setting:

If you decide to take part in the study, you will be asked to sign a consent form. After consenting to take part, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire. The first section will ask you to provide some basic information about yourself (e.g., gender, age) and some details about your dance participation (e.g., which dance styles you take class in, how long you have been dancing). Then you will be asked to answer some questions regarding your thoughts and experiences of self-harm and disordered eating. You will also be asked to complete questions about how you regulate your emotions, cope with stress or problems and the type of support you receive from your social relationships. The final section of the questionnaire will also ask you about your experiences of perfectionism in dance.

The entire questionnaire should take 20-30 minutes to complete. Should you wish to, you are free to refrain from answering any of the questions in the questionnaire. All questionnaire responses will be kept in either a locked cupboard at the University of Birmingham or on the University’s secure network drives until the analysis is completed and only the research team will have access to them.

Dance students will complete a confidential survey on their thoughts and/or experiences of self-harm, disordered eating and dance education. They do not need to have personal experience of self-harm to take part. Dance students can access and complete the survey here: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/bham/self-harm-in-dance-students 

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

This research will be confidential. No one outside the research team will know that you have taken part in this research and will be able to link any of your data back to you. To protect your identity, where direct quotes of what you have mentioned are included in publications or presentations of the research, these will not contain any information that could identify you or anyone that you have mentioned. Any identifiable information of yourself or those you mention will be removed from the questionnaire responses when these are stored electronically on the University’s secure network drives. All data will be handled in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2018). This project has been granted ethical approval by the STEM Research Ethics Committee at the University of Birmingham.

Inclusion Criteria: 
Any dance school students between the ages of 16-24 who are currently enrolled in a private dance school in the United Kingdom, regardless of whether or not they have experience of self-harm. A private dance school is a dance school that is not associated with any company, receives no government funding, and students typically pay tuition for the teaching they receive.

Benefits to the participant:

Participants will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win 2x£50, 2x£25, £5x10 gift cards (you will need to provide your email address to be entered into this). By completing this questionnaire, you will also help us better understand self-harm and which factors may put students in private dance schools at risk of self-harm. There is no risk to your taking part in the study, outside those you would experience in everyday life. Nonetheless, there is a risk that you may find answering some of the questions upsetting. If this occurs, you do not need to answer the question. You may also choose to pause or completely stop your participation at any point. Any decision you make will be respected and resources are available at the end of this information sheet if you need additional support.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Maria Kolitsida

Email: MXK029@student.bham.ac.uk 

Project summary Single line text.

This study aims to investigate the knowledge and awareness of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) among female dancers aged 16 years and over. Participants will complete a short online questionnaire exploring their understanding of RED-S, its causes, signs and symptoms, health consequences, and sources of information. The findings will identify knowledge gaps and inform future educational initiatives to improve awareness of RED-S within the dance community. The study has the potential to support healthier training practices and contribute to the prevention and early recognition of RED-S in dancers.

Dancers are recognised as a population at increased risk of developing Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) because of the physical and aesthetic demands of dance. Understanding dancers' knowledge and awareness of RED-S is essential for identifying educational needs and developing strategies to improve health, wellbeing, and performance. The findings will contribute to evidence-based recommendations that directly benefit the dance community.

Start date of project: 8 April 2026

End date of project: 30 Nov 2026

Start date of data collection: 8 April 2026

End date of data collection: 20 Nov 2026

Research Setting

Data collection will take place online using a secure questionnaire. Participants may complete the survey from any location using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. The questionnaire takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and requires one session only. Recruitment will take place through dance schools, dance organisations, social media, and professional dance networks.

To take part: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/qmul/red-s-knowledge-and-perception-questionnaire

Confidentiality and ethical approval

Reference number: QME26. 143- Ethical approval has been obtained from the Queen Mary University of London Research Ethics Committee. Participation is voluntary, and informed consent will be obtained electronically before participation. All responses will be treated confidentially, stored securely in accordance with Queen Mary University of London data protection policies, and analysed anonymously. No personally identifiable information will be included in any publications or presentations.

Inclusion Criteria

Female dancers aged 16 years and over. Currently participating in any style of dance at any level (recreational, pre-professional, vocational, or professional). Able to understand English and provide informed consent.

Benefits to the participant

Participants may gain greater awareness of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), an important health condition that can affect health and performance in dancers. Participation will contribute to research that may improve RED-S education, awareness, prevention, and support within the dance community. The findings may help inform future educational resources and health initiatives for dancers, teachers, and healthcare professionals

Researcher contact details: 

Name: Nouf BinDiran

Email: n.bindiran@qmul.ac.uk