2 3 Technical Tuesday Dance Injuries | Ballet Webb

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Technical Tuesday Dance Injuries




Technical Tuesday Dance Injuries

Dancers get injured. It goes with the territory. However, there are ways to minimize the chance of injury and dancers should do their best to prevent as many injuries as they can.

Although dancers do injure their arms and even their spine (scary), 60-80% of injuries occur in the legs. This is not surprising. Causes of these injuries include: incorrect turn-out, rolling on the arches (excessive pronation); and muscle imbalances (too tight or too loose). Too tight muscles are often the turn-out muscles in the hips, the hip flexors, the outer quadriceps, and calf muscles. The muscles that are frequently weaker include the muscles involved in turning in the legs, the deep abdominals and inner quadriceps among others.

What steps can be taken to prevent these issues? Always warm-up muscles before you stretch them.  Know the capabilities of your particular body structure and do not over-train or push too hard. Know what muscles you should strengthen and which ones are at risk of over-developing. But also know  which muscles need to be strengthened. Finally, make sure you are dancing on a suitable surface – no concrete floors!

A knowledgeable dance teacher can help with all these things.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Anatomical Secret #25n:  
“Approximately 65-80% of dance injuries occur in the legs.”

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