Ballet leotard With Skirt
Why Do Dancers Get Injured?
Why must ballet dancers continue dancing when they get injured, which risks making it more serious?
Actually, there are lots of reasons why ballet dancers don't want to “give in” when injury happens.
Most dancers learn during their training that pain is beneficial, because muscle soreness after a workout is regarded as a positive. If you do a class and don't hurt the next day, you didn't work out hard enough! Unfortunately, this means we dancers learn to have a high pain tolerance, so when bad pain occurs – thanks to an injury – we (incorrectly) think we can work through that, too.
That's especially so when it comes to pointework – which even at the best of times, can hurt some dancers. I'm lucky that I have a square foot so I tolerate the strain of pointework well, but not every student is so lucky.
For professional performers, there are other reasons to resist taking a break for an injury. Professional ballet is very competitive - if you take a break to recover, other dancers will land that juicy part or dance that sought-after solo, and you may struggle to break back in when you get back. Also, some dancers are paid only when they work – if you don't dance, you don't get paid!
The final reason, and an important one, is nutrition. There's plenty of discussion in the ballet world about fostering good body image – but in reality, there's not much evidence that the culture has changed. There's still pressure on girls to be very thin.
Many female ballet students are severely underweight, to the point where their menstrual cycle ceases (as happens in anorexia), and it's not simply because they work so intensively. Often their diets are restricted or unbalanced, with insufficient protein or fats to keep muscles and bones healthy. Too many students eat like a sparrow at mealtimes, and snack on chocolate between classes to keep themselves going.
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