Saturday Series: The Dancer’s Cardiopulmonary System

We'll learn the structure and function of the cardiopulmonary system before diving deeper into how dance impacts this system.
About this Event

Harkness Center for Dance Injuries proudly offers in-person and virtual Harkness Center Saturday Series workshops for the dance community.

Our educational theme for 2026 is BODIES—A deep dive into our anatomy.

Throughout the year, our community programming will focus on functional anatomy through a biopsychosocial lens specific to anyone who identifies as a dancer.

AUGUST 2026 WORKSHOP

Topic: The Dancer’s Cardiopulmonary System

When: Saturday, August 22, 2026 at 11:00 AM EDT

Format: VIRTUAL - this event is on ZOOM only

Description: This virtual workshop will explain the structure and function of the cardiopulmonary system before diving deeper into how dance impacts this system. Dr. Cavaleri will discuss ways participants can assess their own fitness levels and how to apply that information to their own training considerations at any stage of career and life.

Instructor:

Dr. Patti Cavaleri, PT received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin—Parkside and her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Columbia University. She is a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist and successfully completed the Performing Arts Physical Therapy Fellowship at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries in 2020. In addition to working in the clinic, Dr. Cavaleri enjoys teaching dance medicine-related topics to dancers, dance educators, and clinicians. She has a background in competition dance and is an instructor in full apparatus for classical Pilates. She has experience in treating people of all ages and has provided backstage physical therapy care for multiple Broadway shows.

UPCOMING SATURDAY SERIES WORKSHOPS

Virtual workshops are marked with (v) and run 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET. All other workshops are in-person and run 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ET. Registration for each event, once open, can be found at https://linktr.ee/harknesscenterfordanceinjuries.

September 19: Pelvic Floor Anatomy for Dancers with Zoe Tawa, PT, DPT

October 24: Menstruation to Menopause Ella Otto, MS, LAT, ATC & Rebecca Kesting, PT, DPT

November 21: Joints for Longevity Glenn De Kler, MS, LAT, ATC

December 12: Balance Across our Lives: Vestibular System (Instructor TBC)

Saturday Series workshops are led by our clinical staff and feature various topics on dancer wellness and injury prevention. All members of the dance community are welcome. Please note whether format is in-person or virtual.

• We strongly encourage participants under 16 years of age to attend with a parent/guardian.
• Liability waiver: for workshops that include movement, participants will be required to sign a liability waiver.
• Refund policy: we cannot provide refunds after the event has taken place.
• Virtual workshops: unless noted, recordings of virtual workshops are not provided, so please plan to attend in real time.
• Questions: Contact Kristen Stevens, program manager, [email protected]

About the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries: NYU Langone's Harkness Center for Dance Injuries (www.DanceInjury.org) is dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of dance professionals through clinical services, education programming, and research. Founded in 1989 through a partnership between the Harkness Foundation for Dance and the Hospital for Joint Diseases (now NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital), the Harkness Center provides care for dancers of all ages, genres, and levels as well as for musicians, actors, figure skaters, aerialists, and more.

In addition to caring for injuries, an integral part of the Harkness Center’s mission is providing education. For the dance community, Harkness offers injury prevention workshops, online courses, and screenings, including its long-running, free Injury Prevention Assessment (IPA) program. For dance medicine professionals, Harkness offers live and online continuing education courses. DanceMedU, the Harkness Center's digital learning platform (www.DanceMedU.org), offers over 20 lectures on dance medicine and dancer health for the dance and healthcare communitities.