THE BALLET SCIENCE BLOG
The official blog for the Ballet Science podcast, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
A commercial airline pilot… and an adult ballet student!
In today’s episode, I’m joined by Captain Christopher Marici to talk about his life in aviation, how he discovered adult ballet, and why he believes ballet is one of the most powerful long-term investments you can make for your body and brain.
We discuss:
What if the way you walk down the street could reveal whether you trained in ballet?
In this episode of the Ballet Science Podcast, I break down my published research from the journal Gait & Posture, examining how ballet training influences walking biomechanics across the lifespan.
What makes Orza ballet shoes different from a traditional ballet slipper?
In this episode of the Ballet Science Podcast, I’m joined by Seth and Sarah Orza (Pacific Northwest Ballet, New York City Ballet, School of American Ballet). After suffering an injury while dancing with New York City Ballet (NYCB), Seth Orza began adding padding to his ballet shoes to stay onstage. Noticing many dancers doing the same, he asked a simple question: Why hasn’t the ballet slipper evolved?
That question led to the creation of ORZA Pro, a ballet shoe designed with integrated shock absorption and support, built to meet the demands of today’s dancers. What started as a personal solution is now helping dancers move more comfortably from class to rehearsal to performance.
We discuss:
Pilates is everywhere in the dance world… but what actually makes it so effective for ballet dancers?
In this Ballet Science Podcast episode, I’m joined by Kerry Shea, Pilates instructor at the School of American Ballet (NYC), to break down how Pilates supports alignment, core control, coordination, injury prevention, and performance… from young pre-professionals to seasoned pros.
We cover:
If you are a dancer, chances are you’ve been told you have a bunion, you’re going to get a bunion, or you’ve spent way too much time staring at your big toe, wondering if that bump is “normal.”
In this episode of the Ballet Science Podcast, we take a biomechanics-based look at bunions in ballet dancers.
You will learn:
📌 What is a bunion?
📌 Why are bunions so common in ballet dancers?
📌 The difference between having a bunion and having bunion pain
📌 How ballet shoe and pointe shoe fit influences symptoms
📌 What dancers can do to manage bunions and reduce irritation
Have you ever thought, “I’ve always wanted to try ballet, but I’m too old” … or “I didn’t start as a kid, so what’s the point now?” This episode is for you.
In this Ballet Science Podcast episode, former professional ballerina and biomechanics PhD Caroline Simpkins breaks down how to start ballet as an adult from a science-based, body-respectful perspective.
We cover:
Blisters are often treated like a rite of passage in ballet… but from a biomechanics perspective, they’re actually important feedback about how your foot is interacting with your shoe. If you’ve ever tried to dance with a painful blister, you know how much it can affect balance, confidence, and technique.
Instead of just “toughing it out,” this episode helps dancers understand blisters as a modifiable mechanical issue, not a weakness.
In this episode of the Ballet Science Podcast, you will learn:
In 2025, I released 31 episodes of the Ballet Science Podcast covering anatomy, biomechanics, injury prevention, performance psychology, strength training, and research on ballet across the lifespan.
In this year-in-review episode, I connect the dots among interviews, anatomy deep dives, and research discussions to show how they fit together. Think of this episode as a guided tour of Ballet Science… perfect if you’re new here and helpful if you’ve been listening all year.
We revisit conversations with experts in dance medicine (Miko Fogarty), strength & conditioning (Shane Wuerthner & Kendall Baab), sports psychology (Lauren Ostrander McArdle), pointe shoe biomechanics (Jessica Aquino), and pointe shoe fitting (Josephine Lee), along with an anatomy series on the foot & ankle, knee, hip, and spine, and research on ballet and fall prevention, neurological health, gait, and nutrition.
This episode is also a moment of gratitude. Ballet Science launched in June 2025, and the response from dancers, teachers, clinicians, researchers, and movement lovers has been incredibly meaningful.
A herniated disc can sound terrifying for dancers, but it is not a career-ender.
In this final episode of the Ballet Science spine series, Dr. Caroline Simpkins (former professional ballerina, PhD in biomechanics) breaks down what a herniated disc actually is, why it often develops gradually rather than from one dramatic movement, and (most importantly) why dancers can and do recover successfully.
I went from spending my days in a ballet studio to a biomechanics lab. While those worlds may seem completely different, getting a PhD taught me some surprising lessons… not just about science, but about my body, learning, failure, and performance.
In this video, I share five things I learned from getting a PhD as a former professional ballerina, and how those lessons completely changed how I think about ballet training and movement.
Ballet Science Blog 