Sparked by the questions from the treatment table and a love for helping dancers better understand their bodies, host Dr. Kat Bower PT sits down with professionals from the dance medicine community to tackle your questions. Whether you are a health-conscious dancer, a teacher, a dance medicine professional, or anyone in between the dance docs want to inspire, educate and fuel your dance journey.
Segments-
Ask the dance docs- Dr. Kat Bower PT and Dr. Kathleen L. Davenport MD answer your musculoskeletal questions. Whether it’s injuries, recovery, training, anatomy or more we are here to help you.
Coffee with the Experts- interviews with some of the top dance medicine experts about your most frequently asked questions (coming soon!)
The whole dancer- tackling other areas of dancer health such as nutrition, sports psych, movement education (coming soon!)
Dr. Kat Bower PT, DPT, MTC, PN-1
Dr. Kat Bower is a physical therapist, Director of Dance Medicine for Miami City Ballet, pilates instructor, former dancer turned endurance athlete and the host of The Dance Docs Podcast. She holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences and a bachelor’s in Dance Science from California State University Long Beach. She is a trained Pilates instructor through BASI (with Dance Specialization) and Polestar Pilates, and is a level 1 certified health and nutrition coach through Precision Nutrition.
For over a decade Dr. Kat has been treating, educating and guiding dancers and practitioners through a holistic approach to optimize performance and prevent the “fit but unhealthy” athlete.
After hanging up her dance bag in 2012 she began cycling, and in 2016 jumped in to training and competing in both half and full Ironman distance triathlons. The strong rigors of growing up in the dance community helped Dr. Kat to succeed in her training, but some of the bad habits such as disordered eating lead her into a health crisis. She was able to take a functional approach to healing imbalanced hormones, gut dysbiosis and controlling an autoimmune disorder. Her personal journey into healing has helped to reshape her approach to working with dancers, her years of experience in the rehab and movement platform has helped her to excel in treating the whole dancer with complex injuries. She hopes to share this knowledge with clinicians and dancers alike to keep everyone at their optimal performance.
Dr. Kathleen Davenport MD, PM&R
Dr. Kathleen L. Davenport, M.D. is a fellowship trained Sports, Performing Arts and Dance Medicine physician and the current Director of Physiatry at the Hospital for Special Surgery Florida in West Palm Beach. She is board certified in Physiatry and Sports Medicine. She is the Company Physician for Miami City Ballet. Outside of treating patients Dr. Davenports sits on the Board of Directors for the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, and is an integral part of the Executive Committee of the Dance/USA Task Force on Dancer Health.
Dr. Davenport has been treating dancers and active individuals to help them achieve and exceed their functional goals for over a decade. She has been an advocate for providing the dance community with improved access to health care through initiatives like Seattle Performing Arts and Dance Medicine (SeaPAM), which provides a free dance medicine clinic for dancers. She has completed research on dance injuries, dancer access to healthcare, and concussions in soccer players. Dr. Davenport continues to give lectures nationally and internationally to advance wellness in performing artists and athletes of all levels by optimizing patient care through an innovative and collaborative approach.
Her journey to dance medicine started with an interest in medicine combined with a love of dancing. She continues to enjoy taking open modern classes in South Florida. Most recently she and her husband took up ballroom dancing and have enjoyed the new challenges of navigating the competitive ballroom scene.
Dr. Scott Leydig Psy.D.
Dr. Scott Leydig is a sport psychologist that works with dancers, athletes, and performers in all levels of expertise. As a former competitive athlete, Dr. Scott paired his love for athletics and his desire to help others and pursued a master’s and doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University (NSU). While at NSU, he served at NSU’s Sports Medicine Clinic working with elite athletes in the South Florida community as well as collegiate student-athletes.
As a sport psychologist, Dr. Scott enjoys helping dancers and athletes develop an elite mindset and achieve optimal performance. In addition to sport psychology services, he also provides clinical psychology services to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. As a sport psychology consultant for Miami City Ballet, he is honored to help dancers perform to the best of their abilities and cope with the specific demands faced in the dance community.
Outside of the office, Dr. Scott continues to be active in the sports community and participates in a variety of athletic activities. He takes pride in raising his 3 children and always utilizes a “family first” mentality to his work/life balance.