Quick fit dance fix

Dance students at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance are leaping ahead of rivals in London by applying the latest techniques of sports science to the dance studio.

Injury prevention is a priority at the school following a report last year which warned that dancers were poorly prepared for the gruelling physical demands placed upon them, resulting in serious injuries and unnecessary psychological strain.

The co-editor of the report, Yiannis Koutedakis, lecturer in health sciences at the University of Wolverhampton and a former member of the British Olympic Association, spent last week in Leeds monitoring how fit the dance students were and sent them away with fitness programmes. He plans to retest them later this year and compare performance and injury levels.