Dance career at rest, sleeping's a beauty of a role
Published on 15 December, 2011
From the dream-like worlds of ballet and cabaret to the dream world of sleep, Sarah Blunden certainly took a sharp turn part of the way through her working life...
Dr Blunden recently signed on to head Paediatric Sleep Research at CQUniversity's new Appleton Institute in Adelaide and she'll also be involved with the clinical masters in psychology. She'll juggle these commitments while operating her own Paediatric Sleep Clinic in Adelaide.
Dr Sarah Blunden now a sleep researcher at CQUniversity's Appleton Institute in Adelaide
The busy academic gained praise recently for a 'new and exciting Scientist in Schools venture' described as the first of its kind in Australia.
"I have long desired to engage in rural and remote Australia. In partnership with School of the Air (SOTA), we will endeavour to bring sleep science to children in schools serviced by SOTA," Dr Blunden says.
"How this will be achieved will include remote lectures and interactive on-line sessions, as well as site visits to remote locations where possible. CQUniversity, which nurtures rural and remote education and community involvement, is a good bouncing board for this collaboration."
Dr Blunden started her professional life as a classical ballet dancer, who performed with The Australian Ballet, Festival Ballet, Ballet Classique de Paris and then assorted small contemporary ballet companies mainly based in Paris.
"Health problems with rheumatoid arthritis made me change focus, so I danced with companies such as the famous French cabarets of Alcazar de Paris, Moulin Rouge and Cabaret 102 achieving the role of soloist and dance captain. I moved into choreography and direction, running my own companies in Europe, Asia and Australia for several years. In fact the reason I went to the University of South Australia as a mature age student when I returned home was to do an Arts Administration degree, but I got caught up in psychology."
Dr Blunden achieved her PhD while bringing up a family and won the Helen Bearpark Scholarhip for excellence in research, enabling her to work at the University of Michigan in 2005.
Now back in Adelaide, her hobbies include cooking, but she has to compete with the skills of her French-born husband whom she married in a small village in Provence.