In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Danelle Dickson, a performing arts specialist physical therapist from Washington, DC. We talk about the importance of training and treating dancers like athletes, and how outcomes for dancers can change with this simple mindset shift. We also learn about her online hub, the Dance Ready Project and how it's changing the game with regards to dancer screening and conditioning for optimal performance.  

About Dr. Danelle Dickson
Dr. Danelle Dickson is a licensed physical therapist, Performing Arts Specialist, Orthopedic clinical specialist and owner at Performance Plus Physical Therapy in Washington DC. She is also the host of the Dancing around Elephants Podcast, co-founder of a business mentorship for minority women: The Business Female Foundation, and co-founder of the Dance Ready Project, an online hub for tools and resources for dancers. She is also the covering PT at DC’s flagship theater location Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater .

Dr. Danelle’s forty three years in the dance world fueled her passion to work with dancer’s injuries. She has combined her passion for dance with her skills in orthopedics to work with thousands of dancers and other athletes, at both the pre-professional and professional levels.

 Dr. Dickson is a sought-after lecturer whose expert topics include dancer injuries, injury prevention, patient advocacy and business mentorship for minority women.

 Dr. Dickson lives in Takoma Park, MD with her close friends and cats Ché and Fidel. When she is out of her Washington DC clinic, you can find her traveling the world looking for new adventures, and to spend with her family in Trinidad, England, and Australia. And of course, always finding time to dance. 

Connect with Danelle:
On Instagram: @3ptdc
On her website: Performance Plus Physical Therapy

Learn more about The Dance Ready Project:
On Instagram: Dance Ready Project
On the website: danceready.org


Learn more about Erika Mayall:

• Follow me on Instagram: @dancephysioerika
• Learn more about me on my website: https://www.allegroperformance.com
• Sign up for my newsletter: Click here
• Send me an email: [email protected]