Conditioning and Cross Training for Dancers Injuries, Part Deux
The dancer's viewpoint:
As the rehabilitations and retraining began under Jan, about five decades of work had to be undone in places. Many of my teachers had been good dancers, but knew little of anatomy. Some professed anatomical knowledge but confused imagery with anatomy. The bad mechanical habits that created good dancers were quite ingrained.
Unfortunately, as I encounter new students in my classes at Tidewater Community College, I realize that many teachers are still telling their dancers the same things I heard. They are hyperextending ("locking") their knees, stretching to warm-up, pronating their feet instead of turning out properly from the hip joint, and stretching more and more to get their legs up and out. At a recent dance workshop, students asked me: "how do I straighten my leg more," "my teacher says my knee is bent," "my turnout is lousy," "my muscles don't show" or "how do I lift from under my leg?" They didn't want to hear: "Your leg IS straight for you." "Faking your turnout by pronating (rolling) your feet will damage more than your knees." "Because of your body type, your muscles will never show unless you diet to a dangerous level." "There are no muscles 'under' your leg that will take it forward."
My Stage One retraining began. Knee pain and swelling disappeared. My back began to burn less. Muscle spasms were less frequent and less intense. More exercises were added. That was the easy part. Rewiring the body was a greater challenge than I could have imagined. The toes pointing to 10:10 walk had to go. Ballet flats, comfy, a fashion statement or not, had to go. An extended chin, along with what felt like nearly everything else I did consciously or not, had to go. Sitting, standing, or moving, I began hearing Jan's quiet firm voice correcting me when I least expected it, or felt her hand adjust something that had moved into an inefficient position as I was reading, concentrating on my students or simply reaching for something.
Her exercises continue, and so does my training with recommended textbooks in body mechanics, and an upcoming series of courses in resistance training. I am frustrated with how slow I feel I am to recognize and correct these problems, and how body and brain are resisting this better, more efficient way of moving. Emotions are occasionally over the top as I attempt new movement patterns. And then there's that whole thing of learning to balance again.
The trainer's viewpoint:
As a dancer, there are repetitive motions that are necessary for the dance to be beautiful and fluid. Those same repetitive motions lead to muscular strength in places that should not be quite so strong and muscular weaknesses that should be stronger. What this means to life outside of dance is that there can be pain. Now pain is part of the agreement when you are doing something to a level where mastery and career are at stake. Minimizing that pain is what I do. It is necessary to look at the positions we constantly strive for and evaluate what needs to be strengthened on the other side. The body really works better when there is a natural balance between the musculature. What those muscles are designed to do is a function of the human condition not dance or athletics. Emotional biases are reflected in conversations I hear about how tight a dancer feels, only to see them looser in their tight position than a joint was ever intended to be. Joint dynamics is at stake if we do not address it very early in our careers. This means an uneven wear pattern at best and irreversible damage to the joint or even joint replacement early on in life. These things give rise to the concern that we must address misinformation that is being given in those circles where trust is tantamount to the relationship. The teachers must have a true understanding of the need for conditioning that will lead to a longer career in a field that one prepares for for a lifetime often times only to be injured in the late teens and early twenties. Extending one's life as a dancer means more years of that which we have shown passion for in our lives and our commitment.
Strengthening the weak does not take away from flexibility nor does it invade movement. In fact strengthening those weaknesses often leads to greater flexibility and strength overall. Joints tighten in an effort to protect the body from what it perceives as vulnerability. Over the next few months, we will explore the different forms of dance and design a different way to approach the training of dancers in their individual arenas of the field.