Discovering Attention & Focus strategies in practice: a new 5-part free webinar series with IADMS

‘Bridging IADMS’ Webinar Series – May – September 2021

Interdisciplinary tools to enhance performance, learning and recovery.

The interdisciplinary skills of Attention and Focus get the exposure they merit through IADMS – International Association for Dance Medicine & Science. I’ll be hosting this 5-part webinar series with amazing guest presenters Ellie Kusner, David Leventhal, Astrid Sherman, Johanna Osmala and Madeleine Onne, artistic director Finnish National Ballet. Open to the public and free access, this 5-part practical, interactive webinar series spans the disciplines and some specialist focus groups of IADMS with the objective of promoting interdisciplinary exchange. The webinar series aims is to provide a background introduction and application to the topic of Attentional Focus. Attentional Focus is perhaps one of the most relevant research areas that sports science can bring to dance. Attention and focus skills represent a new frontier of potential, relatively unchartered performance enhancement for dance. The robust findings of the last 20 years apply equally across the disciplines, bridging the practice of IADMS members.

Hosted by Clare Guss-West, MA together with a guest presenter and specialist from each discipline: Educators (May), Dance for Health (June), Allied Healthcare Professionals (July), Competition Dance (August) and Pre-professional & Professional Dance (September), webinars will be practical interactive ‘how-to’ sessions that implement research directly into practice. Participants will have the opportunity to propose example questions or queries in a kind of practical attentional focus ‘lab’ setting and to explore attentional focus challenges together with others in smaller breakout groups. 

Whatever your expertise or specialism, whether technical, remedial or artistic, developing awareness of the attention and focus choices you make in your practice will enhance the delivery of that expertise, to impact measurably the performance outcome and the speed of learning and mastery of dancers, students and patients. Together we take a metacognitive journey to explore the ‘how’ – how do we habitually word instructions, cueing and feedback? – how do we filter professional information to prevent performer fragmentation and information overload? how might we guide the attention and focus of our dancers, students and patients to promote optimal performance outcome?

Read Clare’s IADMS Blog with Finnish National Ballet head physiotherapist Johanna Osmala “An introduction to using an external focus of attention in physiotherapy.”

And with adapted dance specialist Irma Becker “Ballet for All – Shifting focus to adapt practice“

Registration for each session will be available two weeks prior to the series. First webinar for Dance Educators 29th May. Watch this space.