Tower Seminar Series – Dance Science – Monitoring Professional Dancers

Presenters: Edel Quin, University of Chichester

Chair: Dr Orfhlaith Ni Bhriain

Investigating the extreme demands of elite Irish dance.

The pioneering study joined the famed Irish production

Riverdance to measure the physiological exertion of

professional dancers. The aim is to help prolong careers

of performers. The investigation, led by Edel Quin at the

University of Chichester, aims to understand the physiological

exertion of professional dance to help enhance training and

prolong the careers of performers. Researchers from the

first-of-its-kind study are measuring the physical efforts of

the famed Irish production’s full cast during its UK-wide tour,

which is part of its 25-year anniversary.

Edel has over a decade of experience as a dance teacher,

lecturer, researcher and dance scientist, specialising in

the application of dance science theory and research to

the teaching and practice of dance across styles, ages and

settings. Her co-authored book, Safe Dance Practice: An

Applied Dance Science Perspective, was published in 2015

by Human Kinetics and has been adopted as a key text on

dance courses around the world. Edel has also published

numerous papers and frequently presents her applied

research at national and international conferences. She is

on the editorial panels for peer-reviewed journals such as

Frontiers in Psychology and Journal of Dance Medicine and

Science. Edel is a trained Irish and contemporary dancer.

Her professional performance experience includes touring

full-time with ‘Riverdance: The Show’ (1996-2001) as a lead

dancer. Other performance experience includes a year

with Henri Oguike’s sister dance company H20, a season in

the West End production of The Shaughraun (2006), and

performing at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics

(Dublin, 2003).

Admission is free and all are welcome.