Student Profile
Vitals:
Name: Erin Hayes
Graduation Year: 2008
Hometown: Newtown, CT
Major: Self Designed - Dance Science
Weekend Activity: Irish Step Dancing
Erin Hayes has been an Irish Step Dancer since she was five years old. She qualified for the world championships at 14. She won awards and kudos at regional championships, North American championships and All-Ireland National Championships. She always knew that she would be a dancer and a dance teacher when she grew up. Then, in her junior year of high school, Erin qualified for the World championships. But she couldn't go because she could barely walk. She had bilateral stress fractures in both her legs.
Erin had bone scans, surgeries, titanium rods inserted into her legs. She wore a cast to her senior prom. But through it all, she knew that her legs would heal. They had to. What else would she do with her life? So when it came to choosing a college, Erin needed to find one where she could major in Irish Step Dancing. It was a daunting task.
"I looked at all the schools in the tri-state area," said Erin. "Manhatanville was the only one that said I could major in Irish Step Dancing. This school gives you opportunities to do what you want so you succeed."
Erin"s legs did heal. But not well enough for her to continue to dance at the skill level she had previously enjoyed. So she looked for other ways to fill her time. She became a student trainer for the women's hockey team and it changed the way she looked at dancing.
"I thought, why can't the methods and theories that are applied to sports medicine for athletes be applied to dancers," Erin explained. "No doctor ever said to me, 'Oh you're an Irish step dancer and you've been pounding on your legs five hours a day so that must be what's wrong.' So I was misdiagnosed and misunderstood."
Erin immediately enrolled in all the premed classes she could. She will take the MCATS this year.
Today, Erin is a self designed DANCE SCIENCE major. She plans on eventually becoming an orthopedic surgeon. But her dream is to hopefully help dancers before they actually need surgery. "I think this is the future of dance. Dancers and their doctors need to catch things BEFORE they become career ending injuries."