Heather Southwick joins The Micheli Center following a long tenure at Boston Ballet. Since 2011, she was the Director of Physical Therapy, managing health and wellness programs for the company dancers and building partnerships among healthcare providers across the region. From 1996-2011, Heather was a staff physical therapist at Boston Children’s Hospital, primarily treating the professional and student companies at Boston Ballet. She has treated numerous Broadway shows, including “The Lion King”, “Hairspray”, and “Cats”, both in New York and Boston, and toured with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College with degrees in psychology and dance, Heather also studied at the Laban Institute for Dance in London, England, before pursuing a graduate degree in physical therapy at Simmons College. 

 

An active member of the Dance/USA Task Force on Dancer Health, Heather currently manages the research protocol for the standardized screening and injury surveillance project for professional dancers.  Some of her recent publications include chapters in “Performing Arts Medicine”, Lauren Elson, editor, and “Preventing Injuries in the Young Dancer”, Lyle J. Micheli, MD, editor. Articles include “Nutcracker Fracture in a Ballet Dancer Performing in the Nutcracker” and “A Preseason Cardiorespiratory Profile of Dancers in 9 Professional Ballet and Modern Companies”, both published in the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science.

 

A regular presenter at conferences throughout the United States and Canada, Heather also co-wrote several informational papers for the Dance/USA Task Force on Dancer Health regarding the safe return to the dance studio during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her professional affiliations include the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science and the Performing Arts Medical Association.