Adult ballet: injury risks and reality checks

When  I took up ballet as an adult and as a beginner there was a common protest from my friends:

You’ll wreck your body.

Ballet has developed a reputation, deserved or otherwise, of being an injury-prone activity. We accept this blindly without taking into account who is being injured and how.

A recent article in Melbourne’s Herald Sun, barely more than 100 words in length, carried the headline “Ballet hazards high.”

The headline alone invites justification of pre-determined perceptions of ballet.

 “New research from Sports Medicine Australia has found young dancers are at a higher risk of injury than other athletes, with 75 per cent risk.”

That’s a worrying statistic – but read on.

In a quote from the study’s researcher, Monash University’s Christina Ekegren, we learn more about the who, rather than the what, they were studying,

“We found that the majority of the dancers monitored danced six days per week, with each participant dancing an average of 30 hours per week.

This was on top of their normal school work.”

The sample is a very specific demographic.

In fact, as Christina Ekegren tells the ABC, the dancers they looked at were between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age and were at a pre-professional level of dance; studying at the Royal Ballet School, the Central School of Ballet or the English National Ballet School.

When asked if her findings could be extrapolated to the adult beginner demographic, Christina Ekegren says no.

“Í don’t think my results could be generalised to the population you’re interested in,” she explains. “many of the dancers’ injuries were the result of overuse due to high training loads.”

As previously mentioned, the dancers are aspiring professionals who were dancing an average of 30 hours per week and doing school work on top of that. Christina Ekegren also notes to the ABC that there are also potentially getting less sleep than necessary.

“Relative to the number of hours that they’re dancing, the injury rate is actually quite low,” she says. ” The activity itself is quite low risk but what makes it high risk is the fact that they’re dancing for so many hours.”

When it comes to adult beginner ballet classes taken for fun, fitness or even fashion, it would be the exception to dance more than a few hours per week. If you were to dance every ballet class at my studio, you’d only be dancing five and a half hours per week.

Yes, injuries are possible in any physical activity – whether from poor technique, lack of warm up, exerting yourself beyond your capability, or otherwise.

Netball, one of the most popular sports in Australia can lead to broken fingers and even has an injury with its name on it: netball knee.

Likewise, tennis elbow. But would your friends show concern for your new-found interest in tennis or netball?

Pre-existing concerns about ballet-related injuries generally assume a professional, or a pre-professional dancer, but when taking into account sensible measures, there’s no reason adult beginner ballet should be particularly dangerous.

If you select a studio that uses qualified teachers, follow the instructions given and dance to your own level, then there is no reason to fear embracing a new pastime.

This post was originally published here.

Guest Post: Ode to Beginner Ballet Class

Kristen’s post, “There’s A Reason Why We Do The Boring Exercises,” reminded me of advice I once heard: “Every dancer — even a professional — should take a beginner class once in awhile.” Initially puzzled, I gradually understood this statement.

For the past two years I have studied with a wonderful teacher at my studio’s Beginner II (Beg II) and Advanced Beginner (AB) levels. The labels are a bit misleading; the Beg II class uses vocabulary that presumes previous training and the AB class  — often attended by professional dancers — moves rapidly through complex combinations. Instructing levels from Beg II to professional company classes, my teacher pays meticulous attention to and offers corrections to dancers of all abilities and training experiences.

When first returning to ballet, I took Beg II class twice a week. Eventually I realized that in order to progress, I needed to try the AB level. I worked up the nerve after

  • my studio cancelled my second Beg II class;
  • I learned that my excellent Beg II teacher also instructed an AB class that fit my now “freer” schedule;
  • and my neighbor (a professional ballerina) convinced me to accompany her to this teacher’s AB class … and I survived.

Despite feeling intimidated, I was relieved to hear the some of the steps taught in Beg II … only now quickly executed in longer, more complex combinations. During the first few AB classes, I was happy just to survive barre before getting lost when we moved to the center. After a month of barely managing to keep my head above water, I actually could keep up somewhat without fear of getting in anyone else’s way (i.e., becoming ballet roadkill). Most importantly, I committed myself to venturing into my teacher’s Thursday AB class while continuing her Tuesday Beg II class.

Why? I discovered that practicing basic technique and simple steps in Beg II before applying them in more complex combinations in AB class was a great formula for improvement. In Beg II class, the teacher breaks down steps that are taken for granted in AB class.

For example, I had no idea what a demi-contretemps step was. In the AB class when dancers reversed direction mid-combination with a demi-contretemps step, I just stared in confusion (they looked like they were almost tripping themselves!); I would simply switch direction to keep up (and not get run over). Then one day in the Beg II class, my teacher dissected a demi-contretemps and I actually understood the step’s proper mechanics. Two days later in AB class when I again encountered the demi-contretemps, I tried to execute the step instead of merely running in the opposite direction. Of course my demi-contretemps step was not good right away, but at least I had learned and could work on the step’s proper technique.

In Beg II class my teacher also isolates specific steps for us to practice that she mixes together in AB class combinations. For example, in Beg II class we can practice proper technique (i.e. spotting, arm and leg positioning, balancing in passé in full releve for a complete rotation, etc.) for a specific pirouette or turn by executing lines of the same step across the room. Then we practice simple combinations of alternating steps (like one pique turn en dedans, then one pique turn en dehors, repeat to end.) Therefore, by the next AB class, when this same teacher gives out combinations of different pirouettes and turns mixed together, I can concentrate on each step’s technique.

My teacher tells us in Beg II class that when she teaches or observes the higher level classes (i.e., AB, Intermediate and above), she sometimes witnesses “bad behavior” — poor habits, sloppiness and incorrect form as advanced dancers move quickly through complicated combinations. Beg II class provides valuable opportunities to hone proper technique under close observation with helpful corrections … so I’m not just imitating others or guessing at steps in AB in order to keep up with (and stay out of the way of) other dancers.

The Nouns and Adjectives of Adult Ballet

Ballerina

baləˈriːnə

A female ballet dancer.

Origin: late 18th century: from Italian, feminine of ballerino ‘dancing master’, from ballare ‘to dance’, from late Latin.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, if you are a female who dances ballet you are a ballerina. Yet for so long I would protest when my boyfriend called me a ballerina. For two years I would make excuses as to why I wasn’t a ballerina.

Ballerinas are women like Lucinda Dunn and Darcey Bussell. Ballerinas are at the top of their art. Ballerinas started dancing as a child and now as an adult they perform with a company, or are in a school. They have buns in their hair and tights on their legs. They don’t stumble around in football shorts and Bonds singlets. They’re not people in their late 20s who slipped on their first pair of ballet shoes two years previously.

But it says it right there in the OED: a ballerina is a female ballet dancer. A noun for a woman who dances ballet. I’m a woman who dances ballet: I’m a ballerina.

I am a ballerina.

I may be a beginner ballerina or an adult ballerina but I am still a ballerina.

The adjective may change but the noun does not. An aspiring ballerina can become a prima ballerina and finally a retired ballerina. A beginner ballerina can become an intermediate ballerina, maybe even an advanced ballerina. ‘Ballerina’ is the constant.

By choosing to adopt ballerina as the noun, as the core identity, you are free to modify the adjective in front of it.

You are also able to accept or reject the adjectives others place in front of it. A ‘terrible ballerina’ is still a ballerina. And you can elect to change that ‘terrible’ into whatever you choose, whether through words or hard work.

The tendency to put ourselves down, for whatever reason, can hold us back. If we insist that we aren’t ballerinas because of pre-conceived notions of who or what a ballerina is, then we can prevent ourselves from progressing. If we don’t embrace the noun, the identity, ‘ballerina’ then we can’t change the adjective in front of it.

It’s awkward and lacks an identity to refer to yourself as ‘just someone who does adult ballet.’ And it lacks self confidence. Self confidence we need to grow and improve.

In accepting that as a woman who dances ballet you are a ballerina, the same noun that is used by women on stage, you raise your self esteem. The difference between you and the people you look up to becomes only the adjective.

Yes, the adjectives differ greatly but you still share the noun. No matter how negative that adjective is, you still have the noun to hold onto. You still have the noun to turn to when you’re struggling with older, inflexible joints at the barre. You can aspire to change that adjective as you progress in your classes.

Maybe you already call yourself an adult ballerina. The noun is already there so just play around with the adjective from time to time.

Embrace the noun. Accept it as the default identity. Change the adjective to suit the moment.

Go from a beginner ballerina to a better ballerina. Be a ballerina.

Guest Post: Hypermobility–Learning to Gain Control

IMG_7421_web“Look at her beautiful feet.”  “What fabulous extension he has.”

It isn’t uncommon to hear these kind of comments when viewing a hyper-mobile dancer.  Particularly in ballet the hyper-mobile limbs are sought after as the lines created are more aesthetically pleasing.  Whilst a hyper-mobile dance can become highly accomplished, it is imperative that they learn to control their limbs and gain the strength in their muscles to be able to hold positions safely.

French ballerina, Sylvie Guillem is a hyper mobile dancer, however she has also gained muscular strength to enable her to perform challenging and breathtaking choreography, without damaging her body and allowing her to continue performing into her late 40s (she is currently 49 and still performing).

Hyper mobile dancers are fairly susceptible to injury and as such many never make it to professional level, dropping out during training due to injury.  It is therefore imperative that dance teachers are able to spot a hyper mobile dancer and assist them with ensuring they are correctly aligned through the legs and pelvis, not pushing back into the knees; pulling up between the legs in first position and ensuring the supporting leg in anything such as développé or arabesque is full stretched.  This becomes even more important when the dancer then moves onto pointe, ensuring the alignment is correct through the legs and that the ankles are strong enough to support the dancer.  I have spoken to hyper mobile dancers whose posture and alignment was not corrected at a young age and after 10+ years of training are now experiencing high incidences of injury as a result.

Proprioception (the ability to feel the body’s position in space and relative to other body parts) is also reduced in a dancer with hyper mobile limbs.  This may mean that they cannot feel when their leg is fully stretched, when their arm reaches the end of the range of motion or possibly where the correct 2nd position of the arms is without looking.  There are many exercises that can be done to increase proprioception, including the use of a wobble board, tennis balls beneath the feet during tendus and many more, depending on the area of the body being worked on.  The body needs to feel some tangible feedback to know at what point to hold the position.

As mentioned above, it is also important to increase muscular strength in order to be able to safely hold positions, working both the agonist and antagonist muscles to avoid muscular imbalances by working one more than the other.  Hyper mobility can be a great asset in dance but can also be a danger to the dancer if control is not learnt.  By creating more strength and control the dancer can reduce the chance of injury.

IMG_7610_web

Photos by Philip Payne Photography 

Editor’s note: Check out another piece by Claire, Anxiety and the dancer, on her website Dance Longer, Dance Stronger!

 

“Plié is the first thing you learn and the last thing you master”

A plié is defined as:

Bent, bending. A bending of the knee or knees. This is an exercise to render the joints and muscles soft and pliable and the tendons flexible and elastic, and to develop a sense of balance. There are two principal pliés: grand plié or full bending of the knees (the knees should be bent until the thighs are horizontal) and demi-plié or half-bending of the knee.

American Ballet Theater

Pretty much every class starts with pliés and they’re usually the first thing we learn as ballet dancers, no matter what level we start at.

Suzanne Farrell said, “Plié is the first thing you learn and the last thing you master.”

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