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New Leeds Beckett University and Northern Ballet research partnership to support performance, wellbeing and health of dancers
Dominique Larose and Joseph Taylor in rehearsal for Jane Eyre. Photo by Emily Nuttall
Drawing on LBU's expertise in health and sport, the project will bring together academics with Northern Ballet's Artistic Director and Head of Physiotherapy to design a comprehensive, evidence-based framework for dancer care – covering workload management, strength and conditioning, nutrition, psychology and wellbeing.
The groundbreaking collaboration, a 30-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), part-funded by UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) through Innovate UK, will bring significant innovation to the ballet landscape.
The project is led by Dr Chris Brogden, Senior Lecturer in the School of Health at LBU and a sports scientist specialising in rehabilitation, injury risk and screening.
Dr Brogden said: "We are delighted to continue and further develop our exciting collaboration with Northern Ballet. The KTP will create an actionable, holistic framework, to be embedded across the whole organisation, replicating and adapting successful sports science principles and approaches from professional sport.
"Each dancer will be set up with a dashboard which will monitor and inform their workload, recovery and wellbeing. This aims to help improve physical performance and decrease injury risk, therefore reducing lost time and increasing efficiency across Northern Ballet, whilst further helping to establish the company as a thought leader in the sector."
David Collins, Executive Director at Northern Ballet, said: "The KTP is an exciting opportunity to build on our existing partnership with LBU to explore how focused sports science can assist dancers. We have already achieved positive proof-of-concept results.
"Continuing to support our dancers’ health and wellbeing is paramount to the success of Northern Ballet, whilst also reducing injury risk and maintaining sustainable careers. By developing this innovative framework for recovery and wellbeing, we aim to increase our performance excellence and continue to attract the best dancers so that we can bring the joy of dance to as many people as possible. We'll also be able to create a knowledge base that we can share with other dance companies through consultancy and professional development."
An experienced graduate will be recruited to manage the project as a KTP Associate. The role, Applied Performance and Health Practitioner, will be a full-time member of the Northern Ballet team, with full support of the LBU academics. For more information and to apply for the role, please visit the LBU jobs website. The closing date for applications is Sunday 5 October 2025.
The project will also benefit LBU students on a variety of courses in Sports and Exercise Science, Medicine, Therapy and Nutrition through unique live case studies and the professional dancers from Northern Ballet using the state-of-the-art testing facilities at LBU's Headingley Campus.
By combining cutting-edge research with the artistry of the professional dance, this partnership has the potential to set a new benchmark for dancer wellbeing in the UK and beyond.
The full KTP team consists of:
- Dr Chris Brogden, Senior Lecturer in the School of Health, LBU
- Professor Kevin Till, Professor of Athletic Development in the Carnegie School of Sport, LBU
- Dr Meghan Brown, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Sport and Exercise Nutrition in the Carnegie School of Sport, LBU
- Dr Ashley Jones, Senior Lecturer in Rehabilitation Science and practicing sports therapist in the School of Health, LBU
- Dr Meghan Bentley, Research Fellow in Sports Nutrition and Psychology in the Carnegie School of Sport, LBU
- Dr David Lunn, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Biomechanics in the Carnegie School of Sport, LBU
- Federico Bonelli, Artistic director at Northern Ballet
- Craig Schofield, Head of Physiotherapy at Northern Ballet
In this article
Dr Chris Brogden
Chris is a Senior Lecturer, and Level Lead for MSc Sports and Exercise Medicine, joining Leeds Beckett University in 2023 from Edge Hill University . He gained his PhD in 2015 and since then he has continued to research, publish and supervise postgraduate (MRes and PhD) students. Chris' primary research interests centre around Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury management in National Health Service settings, whilst also investigating how holistic sports science principles can be implemented to help improve performance and reduce injury risk in professional ballet.
Professor Kevin Till
Kevin Till is Professor of Athletic Development within the Carnegie School of Sport. He leads applied research, knowledge exchange and doctoral-level teaching activities across coaching and sport science focussed on youth populations and making a difference to policy and practice.
Dr Meghan Brown
Dr Meghan Brown is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Nutrition and is Course Leader for the Postgraduate Sport and Exercise Nutrition courses within the School of Sport.
Dr Ashley Jones
Ashley is a Senior Lecturer in the ehabilitation and Health Professions subject group that sits within the School of Health.
Dr Meghan Bentley
Dr Meghan Bentley is a Research Fellow in Sport Nutrition and Psychology at the Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University.
Dr David Lunn
David is a Senior Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics within the School of Sport and Level 5 Course Leader for the BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science students. David's research interests include evaluation of healthcare treatments and pathways, including biomechanical assessment of of medical technology, musculoskeletal function assessment primarily through motion capture and isokinetic dynamometry, lower limb biomechanics, gait analysis and musculoskeletal modelling.
