Our LCDS Healthcare Team triumphs at the inaugural One Dance UK Awards!

Launched for the first time this year, the One Dance UK Awards are celebrating the industry by focussing uniquely on dance and have been developed to recognise the outstanding contributions of people working in the dance sector. This new annual event is an opportunity for the industry to get together, celebrate, acknowledge and reward the people who have made an impact over the last 12 months on the UK’s vibrant dance landscape.

Unlike most awards that focus mainly on performers or creators, the 23 Award Categories of the One Dance UK Awards span all the vital work that is taking place on stage as well as behind the scenes, to shape the dance sector today, with special honours given to teachers, community practitioners, dance writers or researchers amongst others.

We are extremely proud that our Physical Support Team at LCDS, headed by sports therapist and dance scientist Kim Hutt, Sports Therapist Tom Hands, Massage Therapist Stephanie De’Ath and Osteopath and Physiotherapist Karolin Krell, won the Dance Healthcare Team Award, sponsored by Fusion Sport Europe Ltd. The jury was looking for a healthcare team that shows exceptional interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure the dancers they support are as fit for training and/or performance as they can be. Nominated along with Elmhurst Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School, the members of the team had to demonstrate a strong and effective partnership and system of communication which enables multiple disciplines, including medical, scientific, artistic and managerial to come together to identify and deliver effective treatment, rehabilitation and training programmes for the dancers they are supporting.

Kim Hutt speaks of the importance for healthcare teams to be recognised: “We are such a small team, compared to some of the others vocational dance schools, and having built this team up from really just one person to now 4 people, that are all so enthusiastic about working with dancers and promoting dancers’ health, we feel extremely honoured to be the first winners of this award.”

Additionally, Osteopath and Physiotherapist Karolin Krell won the Healthcare Practitioner Award, supported by The Laws Family, to honour an individual healthcare practitioner who demonstrates exceptional clinical practice in their chosen specialism and combines this with deep understanding of the needs of dancers. Karolin was named an “exemplary role model, advocating best practice within dance-specific healthcare, consistently striving to find the best outcome possible for the dancers she works with.”

Kim and her team are over the moon: “To have won two of the awards that look at healthcare across all of the dance sector in the UK feels absolutely huge!” – and we couldn't be prouder of them. Congratulations from everyone at The Place!