Fiz Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Well said, Primrose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Perhaps the vital thing is not to dance if it going to aggravate the injury/illness and possibly cause long-term or permanent damage. The problem is that this may require hindsight. Always err on the side of caution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancerbabe82 Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 I think it's all very well to say the dancer knows their own body and to dance through an injury if it's only mild is ok but I worry about the message it sends to impressionable kids when they see "it's ok if so-and-so does it" - and as Anjuli says, it needs hindsight. How does a dancer really know if it's NOT going to aggravate or make it worse? Pain is the bodys way of saying something is wrong.... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 In the past, when my dd has been injured or felt too ill to dance, she has begged to go to her local class just to watch. I always check with her teacher who is happy for dd to do this. That way she doesn't feel that she's missing out on anything. Can be a good compromise if it's nothing infectious. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assemble mum Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 (edited) I would just like to add that whilst dancers do know their own bodies and dont dance when injured, some companies, if a dance has a recurring or prolonged injury will put that dancer on notice. Usually the dancer will be paid while not dancing and the company will pay for treatment, physio etc but once the notice peroid is up and if the dancer is still not fit, the contract will be terminated. If a company feels a dancer is prone to injury a no injury contract may be given, which means the company does not pay for injury time or treatment. Obviously then a dancer may want to cover up an injury if they are desperate to stay in work. edit for typo Edited May 22, 2012 by assemble mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowlight Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 In the past, when my dd has been injured or felt too ill to dance, she has begged to go to her local class just to watch. I always check with her teacher who is happy for dd to do this. That way she doesn't feel that she's missing out on anything. Can be a good compromise if it's nothing infectious. :-) dd's local dance teacher always recommended this approach. She said you could learn almost as much from watching a class as from doing it! (OK probably not strictly speaking true, but you can certainly learn different things). When dd was at Northern Ballet School, if you were injured were still expected to attend and watch class and rehearsals. It was only if you had some sort of infectious illness that they didn't want you. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancerbabe82 Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 I would just like to add that whilst dancers do know their own bodies and dont dance when injured, some companies, if a dance has a recurring or prolonged injury will put that dancer on notice. Usually the dancer will be paid while not dancing and the company will pay for treatment, physio etc but once the notice peroid is up and if the dancer is still not fit, the contract will be terminated. If a company feels a dancer is prone to injury a no injury contract may be given, which means the company does not pay for injury time or treatment. Obviously then a dancer may want to cover up an injury if they are desperate to stay in work. edit for typo That's dreadful. No wonder dancers dance with injuries then... they ought to have support from the company to help with injury prevention rather than being liable to being fired! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 BRB have set up a mini-site about David Bintley's new ballet Faster (which is being premiered next month). There are a couple of articles including one on the healthcare available to BRB dancers and Jamie Bond and Jenna Roberts talking about injury. http://www.brb.org.uk/faster.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I know that injury in life is not entirely unavoidable, but I do worry that there is a mindset among dancers saying "don't whine about having an injury because it's part of what goes on" and more concerning, the message sometimes being sent out by being positive about those who 'soldier on' as though it's something to be proud of - which sends mixed messages to young dancers. Too true. Didn't they say on the Northern Ballet documentary that something like half the dancers in the company were carrying injuries? Mind you, there are injuries, and injuries. There are niggles which can be controlled (although even they might well be better rested), injuries which you might be able to carry on dancing through, and injuries which definitely require you to stop and rest. The problem is to recognise them for what they are, which is easier said than done, especially in the relatively early years. I've lost count of the number of senior professional dancers I've heard say something like "If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have stopped dancing and let the injury recover", but the trouble is you don't know "then". 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 There is a very informative article in the Dancing Times (July 12) entitled 'Dancing through injury', by Debbie Malina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Oooh, is July's DT out already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieW Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Mine's arrived today - annoying I've had to go back to work so will read it later 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Mine arrive today too. Strangely enough there are a couple of other articles in there which touch on subjects much-discussed on this forum. I wonder if the editor is a balletco-er? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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