Dance Related Injury Analysis

Dance began as a form of communication and storytelling. Thousands of years ago dancing served as a way for people to tell a story and helped distract themselves of the hardships they faced. Furthermore, dance was a form of storytelling through communication, which then turned into using storytelling through dance as entertainment. According to the History World, many dancers during the BC time danced in front of only a few people to get a story across. That later turned into hundreds of thousands of people as dance was used by many. Today, dance is also a form of entertainment and storytelling, but in a modern sense. However, today perfection and technique are stressed more than they were in the past. Yet, the passion for dance has not changed. Many dancers who share this passion also have many of the same qualities. Among a discourse community of trained dancers, one expects to find individuals who are healthy and active athletes, expect perfection from themselves through competition, and religiously attend dance performances.

During my research, I found various interviews with dancers of all different backgrounds based on how they felt about the dance world and the struggles that come with it. I picked out a couple of questions and answers that helped me develop a better understanding of my chosen area for this dissertation. Having read a number of interviews, I found the majority of answers were very similar which may suggest most dancers, even if from different genres, experience a similar pressure and fears when it comes to this industry.

Dancers go through a lot of pain. On average dancers get hurt about once every two weeks. That means that dancers, on average, get hurt about 26 times a year. Whether it is a tiny fall or breaking a bone, dancing is a foolproof way to hurt at least something in your body. Especially if you are on pointe. In a pointe shoe, you

Along with other sports, dance involves physical exertion and requires skill. It can be inferred that when athletes undergo physical activity, they push themselves to their limit, which results in them becoming sore, and possibly even injured in some cases. This also pertains to dancers. Dancers can pull a muscle by overstretching or by not stretching enough. They can also break any bone by doing turns, flips, jumps, and tricks. In Ronald Smith’s article, he proceeds to explain

Dance demands the same physical skills that are required in other sports. Flexibility, strength, and endurance are key characteristics that most dancers need to posses. As with other “athletes,” most dancers are not born with these abilities but must establish them through practice and repetitive training. Similar to traditional sports practices, dance rehearsals are extensive and require diligence, dedication, and patience from the dancers as they will have to repeat exercises and stretches to perfect their technique and stay on

a) Many ask, “How can dance be a sport? You can't judge on time and the scoring is subjective!” Just like figure skaters, competitive dancers are judged on many criteria: technique, posture, timing, line, hold, poise, togetherness, expression, presentation, power, and foot or leg action. Dancers have a lot on their minds while performing. They are constantly asking themselves, am I extending correctly? Is my technique right? Is my head facing the right direction?

Three laps around the gym, minute long planks, crunches, sit-ups, and pushups in a matter of thirty minutes. As a dancer, experiencing and realizing the strength that needs to be present in order for an athlete to grow is vital. We go through long hours of choreography sessions, pain and strain on our bodies, and vigorous training. Many people will disagree on the status of if dance is a sport or not. Both Mary- Elizabeth Esquibel, in her article “Why Dance Will Always Be a Sport” and the infographic entitled “Is Dance a Sport?” attack this controversial dilemma. Even though these arguments use different formats, they use rhetoric similarly.

I have had my fair share of injuries while dancing, which lead to my interest and desire to learn about the human body and how it functions. I find myself constantly reading about injury recognition

Sports are full of injuries. Some are life changing, some are temporary. Everyone loves sports though. Especially full contact sports such as football. Football causes the most concussions than any other

Dancers are one of the most common victims of foot injuries since they put too much pressure on their feet as they dance to the beat of the music. Though some may be spared from foot injuries, most of them have at least one foot injury in their lifetime.

Also, injuries are less common. Therefore, dance should not be considered a sport. "Dance is not a sport because there are no winners or losers, also there are no limitations or rules" (Guarino). These people are mistaken because, dance competition judges score each performance based on Technique (1-25 points), Style and Execution (1-25 points), Showmanship (1-20 points), Costume (1-10 points), Choreography (1-10 points), Degree of Difficulty (1-5 points) and Age Appropriate Performance (1-5 points) for a maximum possible 100 points. A final adjudicated score is determined by an average of all judges scores. After this all dancers are put on stage and awarded with trophies 1st-10th place depending on the 1-100 average scoring from the judges. Therefore, dancers do have a set of rules and scoring just like any other athlete. Regarding injuries, they do occur. Most dance injuries are long-term because of the physical stress constantly being put on a dancers body. There are also instant injuries that happen while dancing, most commonly occurring in the knees, ankles, back, neck or hips. "The physical ability and discipline expected of a dancer can be easily related to those of an athlete and increasingly, dance critics are describing dancers as athletes" (Ailey). Ultimately, dancers are consistently proving, even to the critics, that they obtain the skill needed to be considered an

Basketball accounts for the highest frequency of injuries among non contact sports and it is considered to be more dangerous than most of the contact sports (Cumps, Verhagen, & Meussen, 2007). Among the most common basketball injuries we can talk about lateral ankle sprains, lumbar strains and hamstrig strains (Drakos, Domb, Starkey, Callahan, & Allen, 2010). These injuries can impact on future performances and also on willigness to take up basketball again.

“Injury Prevention for Dancers- just like elite athletes,” discuss the importance of treating dancers like athletes since artists go through similar rigorous stress on the bones, muscles, joints, and ligaments of the body as would a football player. However, sometimes it starts at an earlier age than athletes. Gulf Coast Physio and Sports Health suggest a “dance assessment [to] provide the dancer with an individualized program to strengthen or lengthen the body (or both) and to fine-tune technique.” It is a forty-five-minute assessment which allows for specialists to point out possible injuries that might occur in the future, and be able to answer dancer-specific questions as to why they are unable to achieve a certain stretch or technique.

Injuries play a big role in an athlete's career and his or her overall health, although minor injuries are often nothing to worry about they can lead to something serious especially if the injury is repeatedly being aggravated. scrapes, cuts, bruises, and broken bones are all things to worry about. When a player is injured he or she is losing play time and money and why risk this when there is small but giant steps that can be taken to prevent injuries. But brain injuries are something much more serious even if the player says not to worry because something worse than losing playtime is losing your life. Albert C. hergenroeder has written an article on preventing sports injuries, he says that there are 3 million sports injuries among kids around

Professional and competitive dancing requires proficiency in executing difficult techniques and places extreme physical demands on the body. As a consequence, dancers are at risk for incurring a variety of overuse, stress, impact, and repetitive motion injuries (Anderson and Hanrahan, 2008). While this may cause pain or discomfort, these injuries tend to be ignored by dancers as they continue their usual training, even to their own detriment (Anderson and Hanrahan, 2008). Injury rates for dancers can be as high as 97% (Krasnow et al., 1994), with professional dancers accruing 1.7 to 6.7 injuries per contract year (Miller, 2006), and 60 to 75% of dance injuries resulting from overuse (Thomas and Tarr, 2009). This translates into chronic pain,