{"id":19863,"date":"2025-01-13T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T10:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=19863"},"modified":"2025-01-13T10:30:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T10:30:55","slug":"at-this-ballet-company-the-priority-is-dancers-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=19863","title":{"rendered":"At This Ballet Company, the Priority Is Dancers\u2019 Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Azara Ballet in Florida is a place where performers can just be themselves.<\/p>\n

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At Azara Ballet, dancers aren\u2019t expected to make eye contact with the directors and choreographers. If company members need an impromptu break from the harsh stage lights during rehearsal, they take one. They also receive clear directions about hair and makeup well in advance of performances.<\/p>\n

The priority at Azara<\/a> is dancers\u2019 health. Founded in 2022 by the dancers Kate Flowers and Martin Roosaare, who are both autistic (and are a married couple), the company, which is based in Sarasota and Bradenton, Fla., is a haven for neurodivergent performers. (The company is made up of 10 dancers, not all of whom are neurodivergent.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I am dancing,\u201d Flowers said, \u201cas long as it\u2019s in a good environment and a safe space, the expression through nonverbal movement is something that helps me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Azara addresses a gap in the dance world: the need for spaces where people who have autism, A.D.H.D. or other conditions that fall under the broad term \u201cneurodivergent\u201d can freely experience the art form. Evidence, both anecdotal and empirical, suggests that there\u2019s a deep connection between dance and these neurological conditions. This relationship has become an area of increased focus for researchers, artists and performing arts organizations in recent years.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In November, Azara gathered for a run-through of its program \u201cVoices of Azara\u201d in the black box theater where the show would soon take place. The atmosphere in the theater felt both active \u2014 the dancers warmed up, reviewed steps, chatted \u2014 and calm: There was tempered lighting, pleasantly cool air and, among the performers, a seemingly innate awareness of the volume of their voices.<\/p>\n

To begin the rehearsal, Roosaare gave the dancers a rundown of the schedule for the next three hours. Then, they went through the four pieces \u2014 all by company members \u2014 before receiving notes. As the dancers performed, the music was never overwhelmingly loud, and corrections were never shouted.<\/p>\n

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Azara Ballet in Florida is a place where performers can just be themselves.At Azara Ballet, dancers aren\u2019t expected to make eye contact with the directors and choreographers. If company members need an impromptu break from the harsh stage lights during rehearsal, they take one. They also receive clear directions about hair and makeup well in advance of performances.The priority at Azara is dancers\u2019 health. Founded in 2022 by the dancers Kate Flowers and Martin Roosaare, who are both autistic (and are a married couple), the company, which is based in Sarasota and Bradenton, Fla., is a haven for neurodivergent performers. (The company is made up of 10 dancers, not all of whom are neurodivergent.)\u201cWhen I am dancing,\u201d Flowers said, \u201cas long as it\u2019s in a good environment and a safe space, the expression through nonverbal movement is something that helps me a lot.\u201dAzara addresses a gap in the dance world: the need for spaces where people who have autism, A.D.H.D. or other conditions that fall under the broad term \u201cneurodivergent\u201d can freely experience the art form. Evidence, both anecdotal and empirical, suggests that there\u2019s a deep connection between dance and these neurological conditions. This relationship has become an area of increased focus for researchers, artists and performing arts organizations in recent years.In November, Azara gathered for a run-through of its program \u201cVoices of Azara\u201d in the black box theater where the show would soon take place. The atmosphere in the theater felt both active \u2014 the dancers warmed up, reviewed steps, chatted \u2014 and calm: There was tempered lighting, pleasantly cool air and, among the performers, a seemingly innate awareness of the volume of their voices.To begin the rehearsal, Roosaare gave the dancers a rundown of the schedule for the next three hours. Then, they went through the four pieces \u2014 all by company members \u2014 before receiving notes. As the dancers performed, the music was never overwhelmingly loud, and corrections were never shouted.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19865,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19863"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19866,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19863\/revisions\/19866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}