Stories

Making of a Spine Physical Therapist: Dr. Evan Johnson

Sure, Dr. Evan Johnson’s background in professional dance is useful for his work as a physical therapist, in all the ways you’d assume. But it’s also useful in a more surprising way. Dr. Johnson has developed a unique career out of his ability to balance many opposites: Academic and physical. Teaching and learning. Theoretical and practical. He uses uncommon strength, suppleness and poise to make that balance look effortless—hallmarks, of course, of a great dancer.

Even as a young adult, before he started dancing, Johnson felt that his most obvious way forward was creating his own path. And that path already balanced academic and physical components. Johnson graduated high school at 17 and traveled around the country doing physical labor: landscaping, digging ditches, installing pipes. “I found myself in that work, to some extent,” he says, “found some peace in a restless youth.” Johnson even lived in a tent on the coast of Maine while building a seawall. “I had some time to reflect on life and do physical labor and read The Odyssey and The Iliad and hang out with birds on these remote islands.” … More

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