Doctor, Doctor!

Friday September 17^th 2021

Congratulations to Doctor Nico Kolokythas, Elmhurst’s Performance Enhancement Coach, who recently graduated with a PhD in the study of injuries and the adolescent ballet dancer. An incredible achievement on top of a full-time position at the school. Well done, Doctor Nico!  

Nico Kolokythas has over 20 years’ experience in the athletic development of the adolescent in elite performance in a variety of sports - judo, netball, basketball, football, taekwondo and tennis.  He is the strength and conditioning coach for professional martial artists in mixed martial arts.

Based at Elmhurst, he also works as a consultant for Birmingham Royal Ballet. As part of his studies, he led randomised controlled trials in injury prevention in dance and developed an injury prevention intervention, 11+Dance.

He is regular presenter at the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science conference, and a regular contributor to One Dance UK’s magazine. Since 2014, Nico has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton, and recently became a visiting lecturer at Bern University. His focus in teaching is on coaching and training methods as well as Motor Learning & Control.

Commenting about his doctoral recognition, Nico said: “The PhD graduation was the perfect way to close the exploration and evolution of my research identity. Reflecting back on the journey I am thankful that I passed by Matt Wyon’s office, my supervisor at University of Wolverhampton, as that was the moment he told me to apply for the job at Elmhurst Ballet School. This was the beginning of a lasting and trusting relationship with Elmhurst. I am also thankful to the senior leadership team of the school who believed in me and gave me this challenging opportunity to investigate injuries in the adolescent ballet dancer.  

I want to say a big thank you to the artistic teachers for trusting me and of course to all the students who were open-minded and agreed to work with me. Research is now embedded in the school’s culture so we will simply capitalise on our momentum and continue to ask challenging questions and promote evidence-based practice in the dancer sector not only nationally but also internationally.”