Toronto, Canada, May 21, 2015 – Performing Dance Arts (www.PerformingDanceArts.ca), Toronto’s leading dance studio for children of all skill levels, is weighing in on the story of Toronto dance choreographer Meagan O’Shea and her struggles with balancing work and injuries.
“It’s a story that’s unfortunately common among dance instructors in Toronto and from anywhere, actually,” says Ashley Daychak, creative director at Performing Dance Arts. “Meagan represents many solo dance instructors who work hard to make a living but run into difficulties when they get hurt.”
Meagan honoured her passion for dancing since the age of four, moving on to attend different dance schools up until post secondary in Ottawa, turning it all into a career as a dance instructor and choreographer. But when Meagan hurt her knee a few years ago, an injury that would require up to 50 sessions of rehab, she was unable to work for an entire year. (Source: Fiorito, J., “The dancer with bruised knees: Fiorito,” The Toronto Star, May 10, 2015; http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/10/the-dancer-with-bruised-knees-fiorito.html.)
“And the thing about working is that life doesn’t stop. It’s still necessary to earn a living,” Daychak continues. “In Meagan’s case, she still had to pay rent and buy food, and the flip side of things is that the kids she gave dance instructions to also suffered because she wasn’t able to be there to fulfill her duty, through no fault of her own.”
Daychak says Meagan’s situation is one of the reasons she favours being part of an organization like Performing Dance Arts, not just for the fun of interacting with different dancers on a daily basis, but knowing there’s a support system in place for when times get tough.
“Dancing is a physical activity, which means you can and often do incur some kind of injury. Obviously, not everyone goes through what Meagan O’Shea went through where you can’t work for that long of a time. But, these things happen. And being a solo act makes it difficult to survive when these circumstances occur,” Daychak concludes.
Performing Dance Arts operates from its dance studio in Vaughan, teaching various dance styles to children of all ages and skill levels. For more information, visit the Performing Dance Arts web site at https://performingdancearts.ca/.
