How Social Anxiety Disorder Can Impact Dancers

Dance Magazine: When Lydia Hance choreographed Oh, I have to wash my hair for her Houston-based dance company, Frame Dance, Kerri Lyons Neimeyer found a deep connection with the material. The piece explores experiences of social anxiety and the way it’s passed down through generations; Neimeyer, who serves as Frame’s education director in addition to dancing with the company, has been grappling with social anxiety disorder (SAD) since she was about 10 or 11 years old. Reflecting on her struggles, she recalls, “It just blew up by the time I was in high school. I couldn’t look at anyone going down the hall—it was really bad.”