‘I didn’t really have a teenage life. I never went to bars. I never had anything like that. It was always dance.’ -  Shirley Ballas on ‘We need to talk’ podcast   The life of a dancer can be very demanding, balancing training, rehearsals and performances with a ‘normal’ everyday life. High dedication to their craft can sometimes blur the boundaries between personal identity and the demands of the dance world. This often results in struggles with identity, both within and outs

Mental health in sport and dance is shaped by more than just individual traits or isolated experiences. It’s embedded in dynamic systems - relationships, environments, and timelines -that influence how athletes and dancers develop, cope, and thrive. At the upcoming British Psychological Society   Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology (DSEP) Annual Conference , the SPRINT project will explore this complexity through a symposium titled:  Expanding the Value of Systems Think

World Mental Health Day reminds us that mental well-being is a shared responsibility - one that spans disciplines, communities, and...

Mental health is increasingly recognised as a core component of performance, wellbeing, and safeguarding in sport and dance. While awareness has grown, the challenge remains in translating research into practice. MST4Life™ (Mental Skills Training for Life) is one programme that demonstrates how mental health research projects in sport psychology can be applied to support young people in meaningful, community-based ways.

Dance and sport are contexts where individuals and groups perform, often to a high standard and under both internal and external...

We’re delighted to share that Professor Jennifer Cumming will be speaking at the upcoming Dancing My Mind conference in Stockholm on 10–11 October 2025

This blog explores how participatory safeguarding can transform dance spaces, and how creative feedback methods can help build a culture of trust, inclusion, and shared responsibility.

This blog introduces you to 7 simple, body-based strategies that dancers can use to manage nerves and enhance performance readiness.

Three creative, strengths-based activities for dance organisations to embed in their curriculum or training enviornments. As part of a whole-organisational approach to safeguarding, these activities will help to create a safe space for dancers to explore what safety means to them, and for organisations to listen, reflect, and respond.

In the highly demanding world of dance, where excellence can often be pursued with relentless intensity, self-criticism can easily become a dancer’s default response to setbacks and struggles. In this blog post, we explore how self-compassion can support dancers’ well-being and performance, and introduce a visual infographic designed to help dancers bring these ideas into practice.

Creating Safer and Inclusive Spaces Through Strengths-Based Practices More than just policies Safeguarding in sport and dance is more...

In recent years, dance teachers across the UK have noticed that more and more young dancers are engaging in self-harm and requesting more guidance around supporting their students at risk. But what does self-harm look like in the world of dance? A new study published in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology and led by Maria Kolitsida, under the supervision of Professor Jennifer Cumming, Dr Anna Lavis and Dr Erin Sanchez, explores this question.

As the 2nd National Survey of Safeguarding and Abuse Prevention in Dance officially closes, we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part, whether by completing the survey, sharing it with colleagues, or helping to raise awareness across the UK dance sector.

Safeguarding in dance and sport is a growing area of academic and professional concern, demanding nuanced, evidence-based approaches. This blog post offers a brief overview of the SPRINT team’s contributions and highlights from the inaugural International Conference on Sport and Social Research (ICSSR) held June 18-20 in Québec City, Canada.

As we touch down in the UK following the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science  (IADMS) annual conference  in Rimini,...

This week we are sharing information about a dance sandpit event that the SPRINT Project held at The Exchange in September. Read on to...

This week we are sharing information on how to take part in two SPRINT Project PhD students’ research! Michelle Schachtler Dwarika and...

As a researcher, getting your work published in a scientific journal is important. Some might even argue that it is the bread and butter...

This year’s European College of Sports Science (ECSS) Congress was held in a not so sunny Glasgow – all the waterproofs were needed for...

This week we are very excited to celebrate conference abstract successes within the SPRINT Project team! Prof Jennifer Cumming and PhD...