Medical doctor and pianist, Dr Hara Trouli, is looking for advanced students and professional pianists to take part in this project. Dr Trouli explains:

I am a medical doctor and a pianist, currently also a student of the first Masters Degree on Performing Arts Medicine at University College London that was developed by BAPAM (British Association of Performing Arts Medicine) in collaboration with the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban.  I am conducting research on pianists’ arm tension and other painful conditions under the supervision of Professor Howard Bird who is a UK specialist in performers’ health.

We need to see advanced students or professional pianists who have suffered at some point a medical or painful condition (either diagnosed or not) of the upper limb or the cervical spine (hands, wrist, arms or neck) and analyse their piano playing through a triple method of video/ MIDI/ Electromyography.

The idea is to see whether these conditions show signs on the graphs of muscle tension in the arms and neck (electromyography), velocity, force and articulation of piano playing (MIDI) and on postural images of the hand and arm (video). We are aiming to bridge the technical pianistic accomplishment with the clinical history and to measure parameters that would be reproducible and available to both the pianists and the doctors for evaluation. We are also trying to see whether these parameters can be used in monitoring the progress of the pianist during recovery from a painful condition or an injury, and to also enable the pianist to use this method as biofeedback when they re-train.

The assessment of each pianist lasts 2 hours, it takes place in a studio in North London and travel expenses are covered up to £10.00.   Full information and consent sheets will be given to you before your assessment. We would need to see you in April or May and appointments can be made for any weekday or the weekends. We will also be pleased to share the results of your assessment with you and send you a full report of the recorded images. All information that we will receive from you is kept strictly confidential.

Please contact Dr Trouli directly if you’d like to get involved: haratrouli@googlemail.com  

Photo by David Denicolò

Performing artists work in a highly competitive industry and are driven to achieve perfect results. Stress and anxiety are often in the background when performers present with physical symptoms. In addition, the psychological impact of an injury affecting performance can be tough to deal with. All health care practitioners working with actors, dancers, musicians, singers and other artists will find something here to apply in their practice.

BAPAM training events may be used as part of your CPD portfolio.

The programme for the day covers:

• Diagnosis
• Depression/bipolar
• Anxiety
• Career choices and development
• Performance coaching
• Autogenic Training
• Role play as a therapeutic tool
• Screening tools for psychological problems

Click here for the detailed programme. 

The cost of the day is £65 (Students £35).

Venue: University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT – Closest tube: Warren Street. We will update with the exact room numbers/campus directions as soon as we have confirmation from UCL.

To book your place or for more information please email Office and Clinics Manager, Clare Hicks, via clare@bapam.org.uk

Sensory Motor Release (GP/Physio)

Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation of Disabled, Elderly and Multi-talented Performers (Rheumatologist)

Chronic Pain (Rheumatologist)

Ageing and Performance Q&A with Gabrielle Hamilton (actor), Fergus Early (dancer) and Catherine Butler Smith (musician)

Plus, performing arts medicine practitioners can learn from and with professional musicians in two practical sessions with violinist (and Alexander Technique teacher), Ron Colyer, and clarinettist, Andrew Roberts.

Click here to download the programme

Please note this event is now fully booked.

Attendees should come to the main reception of:

Franklin-Wilkins Building
Stamford Street
London
SE1 9NH

Venue information: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/campuses/waterloo.html

The Royal Society of Medicine and Dance UK have once again come together to organise a one-day dance and sports medicine conference. These two areas have much in common in terms of the demands placed on the human body and mind, and the run up to the London 2012 Olympics seems a great moment to learn from each other. In these two high performance environments risk of injury is ever present and its effects can jeopardise careers. There has already been a certain amount of cross fertilisation between the worlds of sports and dance medicine, with an increasing number of practitioners having worked with both athletes and dancers.

For all the info and to book your place, click here.

UPDATE: The finalised programme for the day is now online. Click here to view/download it.

Liz Johnson would like some practitioners to bring in their instruments for her afternoon Soundbeam session, so if you play an instrument and it’s easy to carry, please do join in!

That BVSC venue that is hosting the day will direct everyone to our room on the day and please simply ask for BAPAM at reception.

To book your place at the next BAPAM Performing Arts Medicine Training Day please return this response form to Sanchita Farruque at the BAPAM office. The price is just £65 (£45 for students). BAPAM training days may be used as part of your CPD portfolio.

BAPAM’s Birmingham Training Day on Saturday 14^th May runs from 9.30am to 5pm and will have three core strands:

• The Conservatoire – focusing on student problems and training, rehab after injury etc
• The CBSO – focusing on the orchestral musician
• The Birmingham Royal Ballet- focusing on dance issues

Programme and speakers are being finalised by the Birmingham BAPAM team, made up of Dr Jonathan White and Karen O’Connor. We’ll be covering subjects like:

• Performance Coaching, the Bach to Sport project at the Birmingham Conservatoire, and other student/tutor related issues
• Nutrition & Fitness and the Female Athlete Triad
• Case presentations of some unusual problems e.g. trumpet player with rare embouchure problem, amateur wind player with a Handelian condition, and a pop musician with a neurological event

The Training Day will take place at BVSC, The Centre for Voluntary Action in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.

More detailed information here: Birmingham Bites! Midlands Medicine, Music and Movement and check back for the full programme soon.

There is a CBSO Concert on Saturday night at Symphony Hall starting at 7pm (finishing around 9pm). Karen has negotiated a block of excellent seats in the Upper Circle of Symphony Hall for £14.50 each. But we need to know straight away if you want to book a ticket! Just give Sanchita a call on 020 7404 5888.

RUSSIAN CLASSICS

Andrew Litton  conductor Simon Trpceski piano

Prokofiev: War and Peace – Overture    6′
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2   32′
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10          46′

IADMS
Lifetime Service Award

Mr A.J.G (Justin) Howse

MB BS FRCS FISEM

In honor of your exemplary service to dancers
and your outstanding contributions to
dance medicine and dance science

2010

Justin Howse is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, former BAPAM Trustee and Senior Physician with vast experience within the performing arts especially concerning dance. He has contributed to numerous publications and is co-author of the book Dance Technique & Injury Prevention, now in its 4th edition.

Justin has lectured worldwide on dance injuries.  He was also Orthopaedic Consultant to The Royal Ballet School, The English National Ballet (company and school), The Royal Academy of Dancing and the Royal Society of Musicians amongst others. He is now retired and travels as much as his hectic schedule allows.

Congratulations!

To sign up, please download this registration form and either print it out and return it by post or email it to Nóra Geraghty, whose contact details are on the form.

If you are an Ireland based performing artist with a work-related health problem, Dr Juliet Bressan, BAPAM’s doctor in Dublin, can advise you. Assessments are free for full and part time professional performers as well as students. To book an appointment please call us on 0044 (0)20 7404 8444. Click here for more information about BAPAM’s free assessment appointments.

The Diploma course will consist of 120 credits in research methods, ethics, performance physiology, anatomy and psychology and modules in medicine related to instrumental musicians, dancers, singers and actors.  The MSc will involve a further 60 credits and a research project in one of the subspecialties of music, dance and voice – BAPAM and UCL are currently establishing relationships with collaborating institutions (such as the Royal College of Music) to help deliver the programme.

The course will be available full-time (one year for the diploma) or part-time (two years).  It will be competitively priced and we are actively working on an affordable costing.  The anticipated start date is September 2011.

This is an exciting development in a growing field, both in the UK and internationally.  It will be the only such medical course available in the UK and we hope it will enable us to consolidate and spread experience throughout the country commensurate to the current high (but ad hoc) standing of Performing Arts Medicine in Britain.

Further information and updates will be posted on this website as they become available.   If you wish to be advised as to progress, please register your possible interest by emailing admin@bapam.org.uk, entitling your email ‘PAM Expression of Interest’.

The Diploma course will consist of 120 credits in research methods, ethics, performance physiology, anatomy and psychology and modules in medicine related to instrumental musicians, dancers, singers and actors.  The MSc will involve a further 60 credits and a research project in one of the subspecialties of music, dance and voice – BAPAM and UCL are currently establishing relationships with collaborating institutions (such as the Royal College of Music) to help deliver the programme.

The course will be available full-time (one year for the diploma) or part-time (two years). It will be competitively priced and we are actively working on an affordable costing.  The anticipated start date is September 2011.

This is an exciting development in a growing field, both in the UK and internationally.  It will be the only such medical course available in the UK and we hope it will enable us to consolidate and spread experience throughout the country commensurate to the current high (but ad hoc) standing of Performing Arts Medicine in Britain.

For further information, please email naomi@bapam.org.uk

Speakers will include Kirsten Lord of the Edinburgh Physiotherapy Centre, Faith Gardner, GP and Osteopath, Sara Watkin, GP and Osteopath, and Tom Harris, ENT Surgeon and Consultant to RADA.

The morning session will be devoted to vocal problems especially of a functional nature, including problems with projection, throat pain and hoarseness. In the afternoon we will focus in detail on the cervical and thoracic spine and shoulder, in both musicians and dancers, covering neural causes of pain and dysfunction, both peripheral and central. We aim to revise and extend our knowledge of pain mechanisms, the ways in which problems may present in the upper limb and management options.

The cost of the day is £65 for practitioners, £35 for students.

Click here for the booking form. Please complete and return to us by post with your payment.

If you have any queries please email clare@bapam.org.uk

Thanks to our Edinburgh clinicians for supporting this event and especially to Dr. Sara Watkin for putting together the programme and organising the day locally.