BIPOC Spaces in Dance Health: Dr. Blessyl Buan
For this month’s Story Bloom, we talked to the incredible Dr. Blessyl Buan on the importance of BIPOC Spaces in Dance Health. The acronym BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour. Blessyl is a Toronto-based chiropractor, dance artist, and speaker. She is also a regular dance health columnist with The Dance Current and a former board member with Healthy Dancer Canada. As a multi-certified health practitioner, Blessyl’s career as a commercial dance artist allowed her to connect with the unique experiences of dancers and understand how the health field exists within the dance industry. In 2020, Blessyl created the BIPOC Dance Health Directory. This initiative aims to elevate existing BIPOC health professionals and provide Canadian BIPOC dance artists with an accessible resource to connect with a practitioner. Blessyl talks about her tips for dancing during a pandemic, as well as the need for dance health spaces to more accurately represent the diverse reality of dance in Canada. Read her empowering words below.
Photo by Whitney Erin Photography
Your career spans over many horizons—you are a dance artist, chiropractor, and producer of many health initiatives in Canada. What brought you into the health field?
The first 14 years of my dance education took place in church basements with no mirrors. While this initially seemed like a disadvantage to my dance training, it helped me develop an embodied sense of awareness for the way that my body alignment supported or deterred my dance performance. This curiosity naturally evolved to an interest in human anatomy, biomechanics, and sports injury. I went on to study Kinesiology at McMaster University and continued to perform and train throughout my university years. Soon after I was scouted by an agent and started my professional career in commercial dance. Like many dancers, I accumulated some injuries over the years. These injuries led me to eventually work with a chiropractor that was a retired dancer with The National Ballet of Canada. From this experience, I made the decision that I wanted to fuse both of my passions into a career. I have been in chiropractic practice for 15 years. I create health-related content, as well as consult and contribute to communities that support dance health by promoting diversity and inclusion. I’ve also been fortunate enough to perform and train as a multidisciplinary dance artist right up until the pandemic began.
In your view, what are some of the gaps in needs or service for BIPOC dance artists?
It’s interesting to note that in current times, the imagery, research, policies, and guidelines of the dance health landscape seem to only address the ballet world. You may often find ethnic and cultural dancers that are used as “token” image representation...but the reality is that actionable steps to improving access and engagement to diverse dance populations have not been taken. BIPOC dance artists may not feel like they are worthy of supportive health practices because of the norms currently in place. Where can they find safe spaces? Where is the representation of health professionals that can validate their needs as a BIPOC artist? Similarly, BIPOC dance health practitioners are having trouble navigating a system that does not equally value their work. People need to know that BIPOC health professionals exist. It can be a heavy task to vocalize the inequity you can face as a BIPOC person while simultaneously trying to further your career. In terms of service, a holistic approach is important to the delivery of dance health. How can we acknowledge science, culture, storytelling, community, generational trauma, and elder knowledge within the dance health conversation? After all, dance at its root has a beautiful history of generational and cultural storytelling. The dance health sector needs to be willing and able to reflect this.
In 2020 you started the BIPOC Dance Health Directory, a resource meant for BIPOC dance artists to find connections in health professionals that can uniquely support and validate their needs. Talk about why you created this initiative.
My upbringing has influenced my career, passions, and outlook on dance health. I grew up in the culturally diverse city of Scarborough, Ontario in the 80s and 90s. Music, dance, and community were tightly woven into my development and identity. It wasn’t until I pursued higher education that my community changed. I became a minority. I observed my voice and confidence dimming with this realization. Dance was my lifeline to build community and elevating diversity in dance became a central theme for me. During my undergraduate years, I was instrumental in producing two full shows for the McMaster University Dance Club. The works showcased and highlighted diverse dance styles, emanating the values that stuck with me throughout my childhood. When I transitioned into my professional career as a dance artist and health practitioner, I noticed how dance conferences consistently spoke through a European or “white” lens. There is little to no regard to the cultural diversity of dance that prominently exists across Canada. My awareness of this narrative continued in October 2020, when I virtually attended a health-related online course. In response to a question about how dancers of colour could be supported at this time, I witnessed a doctor dismiss the question by saying something along the lines of “nothing can be done to support people of colour until said people of colour go get educated and become a social worker or something”. This was terrifying and angering to hear. The blatant disregard of existing BIPOC practitioners was the catalyst for me to start the BIPOC Dance Health Directory. I want to elevate BIPOC dance health providers and link them to BIPOC artists to tell a different story. It is time to challenge the current systems. It is time to build a community.
The global pandemic means that artists may have experienced a shift in training or navigating a new physical space to continue their practice. What resources can you offer to encourage young dancers to look after their bodies during this unconventional season?
Training in small spaces without the social or physical connection is definitely a challenge! This is the season to focus on conditioning and exploring your inner creativity so that when we can safely gather together in studios and performance spaces, fundamental technique and the love for the art is not compromised. I encourage dancers to use the many online resources available to assist the unconventional training of this year (for example, online dance classes, workout videos, or blogs). I have created a compilation of dance conditioning videos on my personal channels in an effort to create free and easily accessible tools for every dancer to use during this time. Additionally, I have provided some guidance on training during the pandemic in an article I wrote for The Dance Current called “The Home Studio”. My advice would be to find new ways for self-expression in dance and through other art forms. And of course, continue to stay in tune with your body and in shape within the parameters you have. Explore, have fun with it, and take care of yourself.
