Why Do Dancers Get Injured?

Why do dancers keep dancing when they’re injured, which risks making it more serious?

Actually, there are all kinds of reasons why ballet dancers refuse to take a break when injury strikes.

Most dancers absorb the lesson that pain is beneficial, because muscle soreness after a workout is regarded as a good thing. If you do a class and don’t feel sore the following morning, you didn’t work hard enough! The problem is, this means we dancers have a high pain threshold, so when bad pain comes along – due to an injury – we (incorrectly) think we can work through that, too.

That’s particularly the case with pointework – which even when it’s going right, can be painful for some dancers. I’m fortunate that I have a Giselle foot so I tolerate pointework well, but not every student is so lucky.

For professional dancers, there are other reasons to resist taking a break for an injury. Professional ballet is very competitive – if you take a break to get well, other performers will walk into that plum part or dance that coveted solo, and you may have an uphill battle to resume your former position when you return. Anyway, some dancers are paid only when they work – if you don’t dance, you don’t eat!

The final explanation, and a fundamental one, is poor nutrition. There’s plenty of debate in the major ballet schools and companies about encouraging healthy body image – but in practice, there’s not much indication that the culture has improved. There’s still pressure on girls to be very thin.

Many female ballet dancers are severely underweight, to the point where their menstrual cycle ceases (as happens in anorexia), and it’s not simply because they work out so hard. Often their diets are restricted or unbalanced, with insufficient protein or fats to keep muscles and bones healthy. Far too many girls eat like a sparrow at mealtimes, and snack on chocolate between classes to keep themselves going.
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