Today we’d like to introduce you to Cristina Jesurun.
Hi Cristina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I took a pretty long time to come to physical therapy and to where I am in my practice now. My roadmap took me through undergraduate school at UT Austin where I got degrees in Dance and English.; to massage therapy school at Lauterstein-Conway Massage School in Austin, to Pilates certification at Core Pilates NYC (in Manhattan, naturally), and finally to PT school at Hunter College in Manhattan as well. I stayed in New York working for one more year before coming back to Austin. I had continued to dance while I was in New York and was back to dancing again the second I got back.
I worked at a few clinics in town before deciding to go all in working for myself and open a practice that specializes in treating dancers. I aim to keep dancers in class and performing with minimal time off and also to provide injury prevention education for dancers, students, teachers and parents.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have been very lucky to have lots of support from family, friends and teachers along the way. Life always throws challenges in your path but no matter how difficult, I always believe that we are fortified by surviving challenges. We may not realize that till much later, but all of my challenges have been useful learning experiences for me. I do also feel that sometimes the universe throws challenges in our path to test our determination to follow the path we know is best for us. It’s like it’s asking us, “Are you sure you wanna move ahead in this direction? You might find present circumstances challenging, and there’ll be more to come…are you sure you can do it?” But the way I see it, there will be challenges either way. So why NOT move forward with my dreams along the way. As soon as I was in PT school, I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be in the world. And I feel it every day when I am practicing PT. This is what I was meant to do in life! And I think the challenges facing me would be altogether more difficult if I hadn’t chosen to go down this path and was stuck just working some job that held no meaning for me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Dancer’s Choice Physical Therapy, LLC?
I began Dancer’s Choice PT out of a desire to help dancers who traditionally have not sought medical care because it is cost prohibitive or for fear of being told to stop dancing. Early in my career I worried that this would make treating dancers difficult. But before, during and after class I just heard so many dancers sharing misinformation with each other and I felt an obligation to step up. Turns out, I LOVE helping dancers learn about their bodies and sort through the misinformation or the information that actually doesn’t apply to their situation. I love doing an evaluation and being able to confidently tell a dancer, that everything is going to be ok and we can fix it. And, I love just as much that I have to opportunity to steer a dancer in the direction of further medical care if necessary so a worse injury can be avoided. I help dancers get better with minimal time off from dance and I offer low cost sessions for professional dancers. Ultimately my goal is to offer unlimited discounted sessions to professional dancers. However, for now, these are offered in limited quantities to support sustainability of my business. I am honored to be trusted by professional dancers from more than 8 local modern dance companies and teens from school dance teams, studio companies and pre-professional programs all over town.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
As a teen I was lucky enough to attend a dance intensive in Aspen, Colorado. I will never forget how amazing it was to take open air class under a huge tent looking out at the green mountain tops. It was the perfect combo of two of my favorite things!
Pricing:
- Physical Therapy/Wellness Initial Evaluation $185
- Physical Therapy/Wellness Follow-up $175
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dancerschoicept.com
- Instagram: @drcristinajdpt
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/dancerschoicept
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristina-jesurun-dancerschoicept
