Who we are

CPAE was created by Ana Velázquez, born from the illusion of joining her two passions: theater and physiotherapy.

When I was studying physiotherapy I thought: how can I apply the physiotherapy that I like so much to theater? I want to do both at the same time! But how? I can treat actors, yes, but what about on stage? I wanted to relate it to injury prevention (since I was quite interested in the subject and I had already done a postgraduate course on its application).

I found the answer in front of me right away. The project of what is now The Center for Prevention in Performing Arts came out of the need to teach the members of my theater company how to load, unload and set up the scenery for our shows with proper spinal hygiene. As in most theater companies that start working, we were also in charge of all the transportation before and after each performance.

This happens in all start-up companies. So I designed a special back school for this group. As we were introducing musicians to the company, the opportunity arose to introduce physiotherapy also in the musical sector, and that is how it should be, physiotherapy was filtered as another routine. As I became interested in the medical-artistic subject I learned about a number of health professionals, collectives and associations that are already involved in the arts.

I trained with some of them and created the first clinic in Torrevieja, (Alicante). At the moment, the center is dedicated to give courses in conservatories, schools, etc... to develop prevention on stage. Currently institutions such as the INSHT -CCNT (National Institute of Safety and Hygiene at Work National Center for Work Conditions) asks us to collaborate in training. Currently we are dedicated to the prevention of injuries in music, theater, dance and singing.

Little by little we are introducing ourselves to other artistic groups (painting, sculpture, circus, etc.). And above all to all the professionals who, without going on stage, make the show possible: sound technicians, light technicians, stagehands, etc...

We believe it is very important to collaborate and communicate with all artistic groups and from here we offer our help so that the initial project continues its course with your concerns. We want to create art without risk, safe and that also serves to enjoy both those who make it and the spectators.

OUR WAY:

We started treating musicians and dancers of the municipal schools of Torrevieja. And, little by little, we have been spreading to prevention services such as INAEM (National Institute of Performing Arts of Madrid, INSHT, and Prevention Service of the Provincial Council of Tarragona) the importance of professionally customize the risk factors of the artistic profession.We have spread the specialization of PHYSIOTHERAPY OF THE PERFORMING ARTS to all the Physiotherapy Colleges of Spain, and thanks to this, we have been able to collaborate with those who have invited us to their conferences or congresses or training courses, to make our work known to their members in more depth. We have worked with large national groups, such as the CNCT-INSHT (Centre Nacional de Condicions del Treball - National Institute for Safety and Hygiene at Work), organizing the First Conference on "Body, Instrument and Music". Our work has crossed borders and we have already trained people in Mexico, Chile and Panama.