As an elite ballet dancer, Bonnie Moore Southgate danced as a soloist first with American Ballet Theatre, then with the Royal Ballet. Struggling with injuries and pain for years, Bonnie retired from dance and eventually was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Her journey to find treatments and pain relief led to her second career as a neurokinetic therapist, massage therapist, and Pilates trainer.

Bonnie specializes in working with hypermobility as well as elite athletes, and she sat down to share her dance experience with Bendy Bodies.

Bonnie shares her amazing story of dancing through a brilliant career, starting with winning the Prix de Lausanne, being invited to work with Mikhail Baryshnikov at ABT, and working her way to soloist at the Royal Ballet.  She is open about her injuries throughout her career, and how they shaped the choices she made during rehearsals and performance opportunities.

Bonnie discusses how her EDS manifested itself while she was still a young dancer, her reasons for seeking an EDS diagnosis and how it shaped her choices. She shares her first steps into Pilates and injury rehabilitation when dance medicine was still in its infancy, and why she trained as a Pilates instructor before becoming a sports and corrective exercise specialist.  She also discusses her experience with cranial sacral therapy.

Finally, Bonnie looks at how far dance medicine has come in supporting dancer health and career longevity, and shares what she wants teachers and choreographers to know about working with dancers with EDS or hypermobility disorders.

#ehlersdanlos #balletwhisperer #hypermobiledancers #zebrastrong #podcast #hypermobilitymd #dancer #hsd #bendy #ballet #balletdancer #keepmoving #hyperextension #hypermobility #dance #jennifermilner #dancelife #arabesque #balletteacher #ballerina #technique #pointe #pointework #balletlife --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bendy-bodies/message

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