"...but can we truly prevent dance injuries?"
What kind of a narrative are we perpetuating if we say we can “prevent” an injury, but yet someone still gets injured?
Previously, we chatted about “injury prevention” and how “preventing” injuries can mean different things to different people. Not that all conversations are dichotomous or binary, but what does preventing injuries actually mean? Can we truly prevent injuries? What kind of a narrative are we perpetuating if we say we can “prevent” an injury, but yet someone still gets injured?
Before we dive into this conversation, I’d like to make clear that over the last five, six years or so, I’ve had the privilege of observing the dance community from several different lenses - from the studio perspective, from the pre-professional training perspective, from the competitive perspective, and also collegiate, professional, and beyond. As mentioned before, the injury prevention narrative means something different to everyone, and everyone has a different way of understanding the value, and implementing the methods, of injury “prevention”.
I also come from the standpoint of having the extreme privilege of working with dancers in a long-term coaching basis, which means in support dancers for a number of years, I’ve been granted to ability to watch them grow, witness their intensity of training and variety of training shift as well, and be a part of their shifting perspective on dance and training.
It’s a mindset shift. It all starts with a thought, whether it’s having the fortitude to communicate their needs, or recognizing their limits and respecting themselves and their bodies and minds, or perhaps taking training into their own hands when they recognized that tradition and culture did not have their own best interests at hand. In each of these moments, it was about having the space, time, and mentors to develop a thought process for self respect that ultimately leads down the path to injury “prevention” or mitigation. Even in the face of injury (or re-injury), it was about showing up and being ready to work because 1) they knew what they were capable of and 2) they were allowed the space to redefine the injury and rehab experience into a positive, learning one.
So the next time you or your dancer is dealing with an injury, remember that getting back to dance is only part of the battle. What is the experience of health, care, and support? How will these experiences define how our younger dancers will approach injury, seeking help, and ultimately teach them to respect their physical and mental selves?
Always food for thought.