Amy Jo Vassallo is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney. Dancing from a young age is what sparked Amy’s interest in human biology, and she completed a Bachelor of Medical Science, Masters of Community and Health Development and Postgraduate Diploma in Nutritional Science, before working as a health policy advisor and health science researcher.

In 2015, she enrolled in a PhD under the supervision of Dr Claire Hiller, A/Prof Evangelos Pappas and A/Prof Emmanuel Stamatakis investigating injury epidemiology in recreational and professional dance.

In addition to her Safe Dance work Amy has published dance injury, dance participation and dance for health studies in academic journals and has presented her research widely at both national and international conferences. She is a contributing member of the Dance Research Collaborative (based at the University of Sydney), the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science and the Australasian Injury Prevention Network and is the Chair of Higher Degree by Research Student Executive Group at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney.

Amy is also passionate about the promotion of women in science and improving public health through dance participation. You can connect with Amy via Twitter - @amyjvassallo

Navigation:

Publications

Articles

Recommendations arising from the Safe Dance IV research project

by Amy Vassallo

In professional dance, as with all physical and athletic endeavours, there will always be a realistic expectation of some musculoskeletal complaints. The information gathered through the Safe Dance research studies develops a better understanding of the changing profile of professional dancers in Australia and their experience of injury. The findings can be used to assist in the tailoring and evaluation of evidence based injury prevention initiatives with the long-term goal of safely sustaining dancers in their professional dance careers for as long as they choose.

Safe Dance IV research survey: data reveals life dedicated to learning & training

by Amy Vassallo originally published on

In February 2017 we wrapped up data collection for the 4th Safe Dance research project, Safe Dance IV – Investigating injuries in Australia’s professional dancers. This is a continuation of the important work started by Ausdance National almost 30 years ago, which aims to better understand the occurrence of injuries in Australia’s professional dancers as the landscape of professional dance continues to change.   

A vast amount of rich information will be analysed and interpreted in preparation for the launch of the 4th Safe Dance report in late 2017.

Safe Dance IV—it would be nothing without you!

by Amy Vassallo originally published on

From January 2017 we will start analysing the rich and valuable data provided though the Safe Dance IV questionnaire. We will also be writing the 4th Safe Dance report, which will be made available to the dance community via the Ausdance National website. In particular this report will detail the current prevalence of injuries in Australia’s professional dance population and describe progress that has been made in injury prevention and management since the 3rd Safe Dance report was published in 1999. The major study conclusions will be used to help set priority areas for future dance research and action, make updated safe dance practice recommendations and assist with evaluations of current injury prevention initiatives.  

Dance research and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science Conference 2016

by Amy Vassallo

The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) 26th Annual Conference was held in Hong Kong on October 20–23 2016. A group of Australian academics, clinicians, dancers and students were thrilled to be able to travel to Hong Kong to present our work to the dance research community.  Australia should be proud to be at the forefront of this field, and a presentation on bibliometric analysis of dance publications identified Australia as one of the top countries in the world for quality and collaborative dance research!

Safe Dance: what does it mean and what’s changed over the past 20 years

by Amy Vassallo

The words ‘safe dance’ mean many different things to different parts of the dance community. It could be safe dance practice recommendations for teachers and studio owners, safe physical dance environments, injury prevention and safe return to dance practices, supporting the mental and physical development of dance students, the list goes on.

But how far have we come in preventing and managing injuries in Australia’s professional dancers? And are our dance practices safe?