Dancers clinic: Helping dancers perform their best

The repetitive movements performed by dancers - releves, plies, developpes, sautés - require a unique blend of flexibility with stability, strength and endurance.

Most common dance injuries occur at the foot, ankle, lower leg, hip and back and are caused by:

• Type and frequency of dance

• Poor body alignment

• Nutritional deficiencies

• Overtraining

• Type of footwear and floor surface

• Past history of injury which can make them more vulnerable for reoccurrence

Dancer injury evaluation and treatment

The UW Health Sports Rehabilitation team understands the unique physical demands of dance. For dancers who are experiencing pain or injury, our program offers an evaluation and treatment plan to help them return to their activity.

• Dance-specific musculoskeletal evaluation performed by a physical therapist or athletic trainer

• Biomechanical assessment of dance technique, neuromuscular control, strength, flexibility and balance 

• Use of Dartfish video analysis, as needed

• Treatment: Therapeutic exercises, manual interventions and home program instruction

Our staff believes in a team approach to the dancer's overall health. Since recommendations may include modification of the current dance repertoire, we prefer to involve parents (if applicable, based on dancer age) and current dance instructors in the decision-making process to facilitate this team approach.

Athletic performance and conditioning for dancers

This Sports Performance program is geared towards healthy dancers of all levels and dance backgrounds. It is not a program designed to teach dance techniques as you would learn them in a studio. We will be focusing on the elements of strength, stability and control that dancers need to improve technical skills. You will learn how to move as an athlete and become a stronger dancer who can move with correct muscle activation to help prevent injuries.

Pointe readiness preparation and assessment

This Sports Performance program prepares the younger dancer to go on Pointe or assesses a dancer's readiness to go on Pointe once they reach the appropriate age.

Elements that factor into the assessment include the dancer's age, physical capabilities and the number of years they have been in ballet. This assessment is available to both healthy and injured dancers.