Dance science is a topic of utmost importance for athletes in the performing arts, but have you ever wondered what it is like through the eyes of people in the science and dance fields? Over the past few weeks, I have met and interviewed a number of people in these fields: a dance teacher, a physical therapist, a high school biology teacher, a personal trainer, and a professor of biomechanics. All these people had insightful opinions and viewed dance science from a unique angle, yet despite their different job fields, they all shared common ideas. In this article, the views and perspectives of dance science will be discussed and compared, and a number of questions will be answered to reveal why dance science is so important.
How does science relate to dance?
When interviewing people in the science and dance fields, they all came to the conclusion that dance is science. Science is woven into every turn, leg extension, and movement. It is constantly surrounding a dancer, even if they may not notice it. When interviewing a local dance teacher, Maddie Mendes, she connects dancing to the scientific method: “If you think about what the process of science actually is, it’s to question and to test...that’s exactly what dance is. You’re observing, you’re studying, you’re testing.” She expresses how dancers form hypotheses on how to execute a movement better, and when they get a positive result, they recreate it. That is only one example of science in this performing art. Many of the interviewees also discussed how science plays a major role in preventing injuries as well as healing them properly. Dr. Danielle Jarvis, an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at California State University, Northridge, who studies the biomechanics of dance movement, emphasizes that some of the best dance teachers introduce science into the studio, allowing dancers to make connections between the movements and the science behind it. This method of incorporating science and dance into one class also helps prevent major injuries from occurring and teaches young dancers how to properly care for their bodies.
One interviewee who approached this question from a different angle was Dr. Aimee Martel, a doctor of physical therapy. While she agreed that science is seen in dance in many different ways, she strongly felt that more people need to understand the role of science in dance. Martel expresses how much of the time, science tells us how to heal from injuries or how to prevent them altogether, but it is not properly applied in the dance studio. She believes that “we need to do a better job of bridging that gap between science and application because it matters.” She highlights that, as dancers, it is our responsibility to make science more digestible for students so they can understand it and apply it to their dance classes.
It is unmistakable that science is a foundation for all types of dance. It determines our amount of power through physics, our bodies’ limits through physiology, our muscle strength and injury rates through anatomy, and so much more. When knowing where to look, science can easily be witnessed throughout the movements of dance. Though each interviewee saw science in dance from a different perspective, they all identified that science is a fundamental building block of this performing art.
Do you think dancers are more susceptible to injuries compared to other athletes?
This topic of injuries among dancers compared to other athletes brought up an array of different opinions. As mentioned before in a previous article, dancers are not immune to injuries, a concept that all interviewees agreed upon. Steven Michaels, a personal trainer, reveals that “although dancing isn’t a contact sport, dancers do put their body through strenuous movements and motions.” This art form demands a lot from one’s body, but physical therapist, Dr. Martel, emphasizes that that does not necessarily mean that dancers are injured more than other athletes. Martel sheds light upon the fact that dance injuries are different compared to other sports, especially centralizing around the foot and the ankle. Though this is a controversial question, Mendes believes that dance injuries have decreased over the years. She mentions that since dance medicine is a very new field, it caused dancers in the past to not be studied nor represented enough in the science field, unlike many other sports athletes, making them more susceptible to injury. Furthermore, Mendes adds that dancers have a habit of pushing their bodies to the limit, which can lead to dangerous consequences, and that there are better ways to acquire one’s desired results. When conversing with professor Dr. Jarvis, she also agreed that dancers are often victims of injuries. She highlights how dance has a repetitive nature to it, which can be a leading factor to overuse injuries. Also, unlike many other athletes, dancers do not have an offseason and rarely take time off, which can greatly fatigue a dancer’s body if not taken care of properly. The final interviewee was a high school biology teacher, Rene Gillibert. His opinion on this question contrasted with many others, stating that dancers are probably injured less due to the fact that they are highly aware of their own bodies and engage in more preparation and stretching to ensure that their bodies stay healthy.
It is evident that there were many different responses from the interviewees when asked this question. Some believe that dancers are some of the most injured athletes, while others believe they take care of their bodies the best. It is important to emphasize that there has been minimal research done to prove which answer is correct, but what we do know is that, for all athletes, injuries are not avoidable. It is of utmost importance to understand this and work towards protecting the one body that we are granted.
How do you think dancing will impact a professional's body after retiring?
Dancers are known to put their bodies through strenuous conditioning throughout their career, but the bigger question comes into play when wondering how that impacts them after retiring. When discussing this with Dr. Danielle Jarvis, she talks about how injuries that occur during one’s career can carry over even after they retire from professional dancing. Jarvis even expresses how some retired dancers have had multiple hip replacements due to the rigorous training they participated in during their youth. She states: “You see a lot more labral tears and arthritic changes in the hip in dancers… but I am hopeful that as we learn more and more about the science and how to treat our bodies well, we’ll see less injuries.” Additionally, from his experience in personal training, Steven Michaels makes clear that dancing can potentially damage the tendons and ligaments of a dancer. Many of the interviewees also highlight that the health of the body during the late ages all depends on how a dancer takes care of themselves during their time dancing. Dr. Aimee Martel expresses that many dancers have the mindset of “just sucking it up and doing it,” but that is one of the worst ways a dancer can achieve goals, leading to a more rapid deterioration of their body and impacting them long into their retirement. If dancers go into the studio or go on stage with a positive mindset and are more aware of the cues that the body is giving them, they are more likely to maintain a healthy body for a longer period of time. Martel also adds that protecting the body will increase as strength training and cross-training become more of a required practice for dancers. As a dance teacher, Maddie Mendes also agrees that retirement can be prolonged if one takes good care of themselves. “I think that if you really take care of your body and joints, and you have good information as to how to train, and you're doing adequate cross-training, it could very positively impact your body going forward,” says Mendes. Viewing this question from a different angle, Gillibert conveys how dancing can also positively impact the body. He explains how it is good for cardiovascular exercise and the hard work and training to keep the body in shape can carry over into the late ages by keeping the body fit.
After discussing this topic with all the interviewees, it is apparent that many of them strongly believed that a dancer’s body after retiring all depends on how they took care of themself during their dance career. With the growing field of dance medicine, the longevity of a dancer’s career is increasing, and the injury rates decreasing. With the continuation of this, a dancer’s body may be less negatively impacted by injuries in their late ages. Despite this, it is still important to pay close attention to one’s body and make sure that it is at its best in order to prolong one’s health in the future.
Why do you think stretching is important for dancers?
All over the world, dancers are known for their flexibility, but this impressive mobility is not given to them, rather dancers must work for it. Flexibility among dancers is a result of consistent stretching. When asking the interviewees why stretching is important, many of them agreed that the wide range of mobility is a necessity among all dancers. From a dance teacher’s perspective, Mendes expresses how dance is a rigorous activity that demands a certain amount of flexibility in order to achieve movements and steps properly. She states that the muscles of dancers need to lengthen to certain extents, but still exert power and support bones. Personal trainer, Michaels, builds onto that by emphasizing how without stretching, the muscles in a dancer’s body will shorten, and in turn, become tight. This leads to dancers becoming more susceptible to injuries. When discussing this topic with Rene Gillibert, he also talks about the potential injuries that could occur if not participating in adequate stretching. Since dance demands so much flexibility, without it, the risk of muscle pulls or strains becomes much higher.
It is evident that these past interviewees value stretching in order for dancers to execute steps properly and avoid injuries, but other interviewees see stretching as something that could potentially do more harm than good. According to Dr. Martel, “Stretching is important, yes, but being strong through the full range of motion is more important.” She sheds light on the fact that many dancers see stretching as something far more important than it actually is. It is common to witness dancers engaging in static stretching before class, but this method is highly dangerous for the body. Both Dr. Martel and Dr. Jarvis highlight how static stretching prior to the body being warm can severely damage muscles and can lead to muscle pulls or tears. These doctors express how dancers focus too much on static stretching and not enough on dynamic warm-ups. In the long run, these dynamic warm-ups will impact the body in a much more positive way compared to static stretching before class. It is crucial to reserve static stretching for after dance class or whenever the body is fully warm in order to obtain the greatest results. Additionally, both these doctors emphasize the importance of strengthening over stretching. Dr. Danielle Jarvis highlights that “you can be the most naturally flexible person ever but if you don’t have the control, you’re just going to get injured.” She adds that dancers with hypermobility are more likely to get injured, meaning that those who overstretch their bodies are putting themselves at more of a risk. Aimee Martel also reveals how a dancer may have an impressive oversplit, but none of that matters if they go into a leap and they don’t have the strength to move into their full range of motion.
Interviewing these people in the science and dance fields on this specific topic resulted in a variety of different answers to the question of the importance of stretching. After hearing both sides, one can conclude that stretching is necessary for all dancers in order to achieve the movements and tasks required of them, but it is of high importance that a dancer does not overstretch. Stretching can result in beautiful leg extensions, but if done wrong, it can also result in muscle pulls. If there is one thing that you should take away from this article, heed Mendes’ words when she expresses that dancers should “stretch, but not overstretch.”
One can tell that there are an array of different opinions and perspectives when it comes to questions encompassing dance science. Many of the interviewees shed light on their views regarding science, injuries, retirement, and stretching, but there are still many more questions out there, some of which remain unanswered. After reading this article, hopefully you have gained some insight into the minds of people in the science and dance fields, but it is important to remember that dance science and dance medicine does not end here. Though it may be a small field, it is essential to stay curious about this topic and dig deeper into finding research and solid answers in order to help the dance community as a whole.
