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Dance Medicine at Paragon

Whether strengthening or healing from a dance injury, come back stronger than before with Paragon's dance medicine.


What is dance medicine?

If you are an injured dancer or simply looking for top-notch dance conditioning, Paragon in Edina, MN is uniquely qualified to address your needs. Using the art and science of dance medicine, we will get you back to dancing quicker than traditional rehabilitation routes. We work together — dancer, teacher, parent and healthcare provider — in caring for the dancer, balancing dance and rehabilitation, and progressing back to full activity safely while preventing recurring injury.

Call (952) 405-9765 to schedule an appointment.

Return to dance with greater body awareness


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Paragon has been instrumental to my development as a serious dancer preparing for a professional performing career. They were particularly helpful in rehabilitating injuries and correcting muscular imbalances. I always have peace of mind knowing that the instruction I am receiving complements my dance training 100%.

Hannah B.

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Although my journey back to dance after foot surgery was very long, taking pilates regularly helped me tremendously. During the sessions, I worked on my core strength, my flexibility, and jumps without hurting my foot in any way. Now that I have returned to dance, I am stronger and more flexible than ever. I owe much of my success to the wonderful people who work at Paragon.

Sarah H.

Created for Dancers, by Dancers

The goal of dance medicine is to understand the technique of dance in order to properly prevent injury and safely return a dancer back to activity.

Dancers have unique treatment and return-to-activity needs based on the extreme ranges of motion required in dance, the amount of repetitive movements, and the demands of rigorous performance schedules coupled with limited rest cycles. Dance medicine was developed by the medical community in concert with dance professionals to provide dancer-focused treatment, training, and ongoing research and education. It includes dance-specific evaluation and treatment of the dancer, prevention of injury, research and education on causes of injury.

Our Affiliations

Paragon works in conjunction with the Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation to promote dancer wellness.

The Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation is a non-profit group of physicians, physical therapists, Pilates teachers and dance teachers who are committed to providing the best in dance medicine throughout the Twin Cities area. Paragon’s Cari Riis Stemmler served as an active member from 2010-2018. For more information on MDMF mission and upcoming events, please visit their website www.mndancemed.org.

*Photo courtesy of Blake Nellis

intro to working with dancers thumbPlay Video
Pilates for Athletes:  Introduction to Working with Dancers

Cari Riis Stemmler introduces the podcast series for dancers with tips on injury prevention, strength and stability.

Pilates for Dancers ThumbnailPlay Video
Pilates for Athletes: Improving Your Dancers Balance

Cari Riis Stemmler goes over an exercise on the Rotator Disks that will help your dancers work on their turns and will reveal any imbalances that they might have.

Upper back extensions for dancers thumbPlay Video
Pilates for Athletes:  Upper Back Extension for Dancers

Cari Riis Stemmler goes over an exercise that can help dancers to fully extend their upper back (as in a cambre) while keeping the core engaged & not flaring the ribs.

Dancers Upper Ab Strength ThumbPlay Video
Pilates for Athletes: Dancers & Upper Ab Strength

Cari Riis Stemmler goes over some exercises for dancers that strengthen the upper abdominals, to open up some of the low back musculature.