3 March 2023 – The Royal Ballet School, a world-leading centre for classical ballet training, and Podium Analytics (“Podium”), the NGO and charity committed to reducing injury in sport, have today announced a partnership to reduce injury and enable long-term participation.

Podium will support The Royal Ballet School by enhancing its injury prevention and management processes via its SportSmart platform, which enables teachers and coaches to log, track, monitor and manage injuries sustained during physical activity.

At the same time, Podium will benefit from injury insights gathered by The Royal Ballet School. The multidisciplinary healthcare team at The Royal Ballet School already collects data on dancers between the age of 11 and 19 to understand the key stages in a students’ growth and development – both physical and psychological – as they balance academic work with an elite artistic education and a comprehensive supplementary training programme.  

The injury data collected by its expert team and via the SportSmart platform will help build a better understanding of injury risk and impact over time, and to find solutions that aim to significantly reduce injury that can be applied across all sport.   

Karen Sheriff, Head of Healthcare at The Royal Ballet School, commented: “Podium Analytics is uniquely placed to support us with our research at The Royal Ballet School. We are committed to delivering the highest standards of care to our young, developing dancers to help them reach and fulfil their potential safely and successfully. For us, injury prevention is the ultimate objective, and we are so excited to be joining Podium on its journey to create a safer world of sport.”

Glenn Hunter, Director of Research and Innovation at Podium Analytics, said: “Podium and The Royal Ballet School are aligned in an ambition to reduce injury and enable long-term participation. The information the school collects will be instrumental in helping us better understand the links between exposure and injury occurrence. We look forward to working together to deliver real change, and in liberating young people to fully express themselves through dance.”

Photo credits ©2021 Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Photography by ASH.

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Media contacts

H Advisors/Maitland - podiumanalytics@h-advisors.global
Frederica Bendit - 07557 833 442
Alasdair Todd - 07825 867 343

About Podium Analytics

Podium Analytics is an NGO, registered as a charity (England, Wales and Scotland) with a vision to create a safer world of sport. Founded by Ron Dennis CBE, its mission is to significantly reduce the incidence and impact of sports injury, with a focus on 11–18-year-olds. Podium’s team is made up of hand-picked specialists with proven expertise in business, academia, science, technology and sport, who share in a sense of responsibility for shaping a safer legacy for sport. SportSmart is the schools and clubs programme from Podium Analytics, designed to help PE teachers and sport coaches deliver safer sport.

podiumanalytics.org

About The Royal Ballet School

The Royal Ballet School is a world-leading centre of excellence in classical ballet training. Its mission is to nurture, train and educate exceptional young dancers for the Royal Ballet companies and other leading UK and international companies and to inspire the future of classical ballet training. The School provides an 8-year carefully structured dance course, alongside an extensive academic, pastoral and healthcare programme, ensuring students are full equipped to flourish in their future careers, both within and beyond the world of classical ballet. Alongside this, the School’s extensive Training & Access Programme aims to broaden access to The Royal Ballet School’s unique resources for primary school pupils and recreational dance students, dance teachers and the general public.

royalballetschool.org.uk