Dance Injury and Prevention: A Course for Dancers and Teachers

Ballet is both a classical dance art form and a physically demanding sport. Dancers go through extraneous training to produce anatomically unnatural movements but in a safe manner. Flexibility, balance, and coordination are mandatory to advance to the higher levels of training. Ballet technique is danced with the feet turned outwards or externally rotated and requires a high range of motion of several joints in the body. Because of the nature of ballet technique, dancers frequently suffer from injuries. Studies have found that lower limb, especially knee, ankle, and foot injuries, and hip and back injuries are prevalent in students and professionals. Identifying the roots of these issues is vital to prevent injuries. Technical errors such as rolling in the arches of the feet while externally rotated, having a loose core, and over-rotating the legs increase the risk of injury. Training dancers correctly through proper teaching techniques, promoting anatomically sound ballet technique, and identifying physical weaknesses are possible solutions to reduce injury risk. This project aims to identify risk factors for common injuries in dance and identify possible solutions to prevent them.