So What is Safe and Healthy Dance Practice?

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Obviously, we at SiDI use those terms all the time, but what are we actually talking about?  Are we the health and safety police?  Do we want to spoil dancers’ fun?  Do we want to stop people taking artistic and creative risk?  Definitely not!

Lots of people think of “health and safety” as a set of policies that are put in place to protect workers – necessary but also maybe restrictive and stifling.  But healthy and safe dance practice is so much more than industry rules and regulations.  It’s the best way to reduce injury risk and to enhance performance.

There’s no getting round the fact that dancers get injured. Injury rates are high in our profession.  So what can we do to minimise the risk of becoming injured without limiting the scope of what we want to do as creative, imaginative beings?  How can we apply new knowledge to optimise performance and help dancers get the most out of their dancing?  In the 21st century, there is now the research potential and the technology to move beyond tradition and thoroughly interrogate how we dance, looking at more effective ways to approach learning and practice.

This isn’t just about making sure that we have a safe, warm space to work in with a good, supportive floor and knowing where the first aid kit and the fire exits can be found.  The principles of safe practice are more substantial than these simple fundamentals.  They deal with the interplay of environmental, physical, and psychological factors that can have an impact on how effective our dancing can be and should be applied to all dance styles, all levels of ability or participation, and all age groups.

We can benefit from the greater understanding of different dancing bodies and how the needs of dancers change with their development, level of participation and the stylistic demands of an ever-growing range of genres.

If our own postural anomalies, or changes due to the specific demands of our dance style, result in deviations from anatomically effective alignment, we need to recognise this and address any possible negative effects.

We now know more about physiologically effective ways to warm-up and cool down, when and how best to stretch to recover and improve flexibility, and how to support our bodies with proper nutrition and hydration.

By understanding how to structure dance sessions from a physiological perspective, we can enhance dancers’ learning and experience, making it not only safer but more productive.

Communicating effectively will help to nurture a positive environment so that all dancers are respected and safeguards can be put in place.

Finally, those health and safety guidelines are important to protect people, including knowing how to prepare the environment in which we dance and to mediate risk with injury documentation and insurance.

SiDI says……

The more we know about safe and healthy practice, the more we’ll know about how the body (and mind) works, understand how much to push, be aware of why and how we need to recover and ultimately promote enjoyment, satisfaction and longevity in dancing.

By considering safe and health dance practice principles, we will be able to:

  • take into account the specific needs of different groups of dancing bodies
  • include a physiologically sound warm-up and cool down in our practice
  • recognise good functional alignment appropriate to our specific dance style and be able to strive towards it without pushing beyond individual capacity
  • understand why, when and how the different types of stretching can be used productively
  • encourage fit, well-nourished and healthy bodies that are ready to dance
  • balance workload and rest in our classes, rehearsal and schedules
  • foster mutually respectful relationships between dancers and dance leaders, using clear communication to ensure instruction and feedback is framed positively and appropriately.

How can dancers gain core stability safely AND effectively?

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The term “core stability” is used frequently in the media and fitness world and increasingly in dance training, but what does it actually mean for dancers and why do they need it?

The core is generally thought of as the centre of the body (the part between the sternum and the knees) and stability is about gaining control of the spine and pelvis to support torso movement and coordinate the action of the limbs. A good functional core helps to connect the upper and lower body in order to produce a refined and efficient dynamic alignment when dancing.

To engage the core effectively, dancers need to understand the relevant groups of muscles that are involved and the way they can be accessed. Sometimes instructional cues and execution are unfocused and dancers might spend a lot of time on supplemental exercises that are not as helpful in increasing their core stability as they could be. Dancers do not only need to know which muscles to locate but clear instruction on how to find them. Giving the direction simply to “use your core” in class is not very beneficial!

Rather than simply seeing the core as the front of the body (abdominals), it might be helpful to think of it as a cylinder, incorporating the back muscles and also the diaphragm at the top and the pelvic floor at the bottom. To stabilize the core requires a team of muscles, each one playing a role in organising and coordinating the body. “Global” muscles support mobility and effective orientation in the spine – these have been identified as the rectus abdominis, the lateral fibers of the external obliques, the psoas major and the erector spinae muscles. “Local” muscles, including the multifidi and the quadratus lumborum, help with inter-segmental stability because of their short length and their attachment to the vertebrae. Primarily, the transversus abdominis (TA), and the multifidi are seen as key, as they have been shown to be the first muscles to contract in order to stabilize the movement of an extremity, but through their connection to the thoracolumbar fascia, the internal obliques additionally contribute to the cylindrical support. The diaphragm and pelvic floor also play their part in spinal and pelvic stability while helping to reduce the strain on the abdominal and back muscles.

To improve the core, it is important to train all of the contributing muscles collectively – inefficient local muscles can cause compensation of the global muscles, negatively affecting overall stability.  The local muscles must be able to maintain isometric contractions continuously, working at lower grade intensities, but in a coordinated way. For the general population, there are often recommendations made for sit-ups and crunches to improve the look of the abdominals (see the “ripped” six packs advertised by fitness magazines!). However, this emphasis solely on the superficial abdominals, using repeated flexion of the spine and hip joints when performing sit-up exercises can often lead to overwork and imbalance without achieving functional efficiency. Instead, it has been suggested that a combination of endurance, strength, power and proprioception training is the most effective way to achieve the synergetic motor patterns that will benefit dancers. This can be done using dynamic exercises that challenge balance and use resistance to maintain control against the disruption of stability.

SiDI says……

  • While research suggests that core stability work is effective in enhancing general fitness and helping to prevent lower back pain, training should avoid exercises that place increased compressive loads on the lumbar spine.
  • Be aware that an emphasis solely on the superficial abdominals can negatively affect the strength and flexibility relationship between the front and back of the torso, potentially leading to muscle imbalance and back pain.
  • To work safely and effectively, dancers should avoid routinely engaging in overly strenuous abdominal workouts and instead try to identify the weaker links in their combined core musculature, both local and global, to gain better dynamic control.

 

Bibliography

Abdallah A., Beltagi A. (2014).  Effect of core stability exercises on trunk muscle balance in healthy adult individuals. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Science Index 89, International Journal of Medical, Health, Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Engineering 8(5), 231-237.

Behm, D.G. & Colado Sanchez, J. C. (2013). Instability resistance training across the exercise continuum. Sports Health, Nov, 5(6): 500–503.

Kline, J.B., Krauss, J.R., Maher, S.F. & Xianggui, Q. (2013). Core strength using a combination of home exercises and a dynamic sling system for the management of low back pain in pre-professional ballet dancers: A case series. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, 17(1), 24-33.

Philips, C. (2005). Stability in dance training.  Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, 9(1), 24-28.

Quin, E., Rafferty, S. & Tomlinson, C. (2015). Safe dance practice: An applied dance science perspective. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Sharrock, C., Cropper, J, Mostad, J., Johnson, M. & Malone, T. (2011). A pilot study of core stability and athletic performance: Is there a relationship? International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, Jun; 6(2): 63–74.

Simmel, L.  (2014). Dance medicine in practice: Anatomy, injury prevention, training. London, England: Routledge.