Article Review
Lisa M. Schoene
Podiatry today http://www.podiatrytoday.com/article/3468
What you should know about dance injuries
Volume 18- issue 1 – January 2005
This article highlights the point that dancers and teachers need to be educated about dance injury. It also stresses the importance of finding injury early to “reduce the risk of damaging or career threatening injuries”.
I agree that dancers and teachers do need to be more educated about injury. In my opinion a lot of dancers go out into the world feeling invincible and don’t take the correct precautions to prevent injury not necessarily because they don’t care but because they don’t realise the difference that taking these precautions can make.
The article also points out that “rehabilitation has become more accepted”, then somewhat contradicts itself by also stating “when they suffer injuries they may seek medical care outside of the company’s medical staff and pay out of pocket in order to conceal injury. Dancers realise that their contract may be scrutinised for past injury and ultimately lead to dismissal.”
This is what I have found so far in my career. People will work through pain simply so they can keep their jobs. If you don’t dance you can’t work and the industry is very unforgiving. There are always people there to fill your shoes. I have also noticed that sometimes the company does not provide the professional healthcare such as physiotherapy or specialists in dance that a working dancer needs. Even if it does the dancer is likely to have to pay for the treatment they receive. It is totally dependent on the company and their policy. But why does this differ throughout the profession?
For example: One of my colleagues trapped her hand in the set during the show. She broke her hand through no fault of her own and was sent home to recover with no sick pay or compensation. There was no treatment or help provided by the company so instead she had to pay out of her own pocket to recover. The article backs up my ideas of inquiry of working through injury as it shows there are many discrepancies of what should and should not be expected of dancers and the pressures of working through injury. It also agrees with my point of there needing to be a greater education about injury and injury prevention among dancers.
What do you think?
Lisa M. Schoene
Podiatry today http://www.podiatrytoday.com/article/3468
What you should know about dance injuries
Volume 18- issue 1 – January 2005
This article highlights the point that dancers and teachers need to be educated about dance injury. It also stresses the importance of finding injury early to “reduce the risk of damaging or career threatening injuries”.
I agree that dancers and teachers do need to be more educated about injury. In my opinion a lot of dancers go out into the world feeling invincible and don’t take the correct precautions to prevent injury not necessarily because they don’t care but because they don’t realise the difference that taking these precautions can make.
The article also points out that “rehabilitation has become more accepted”, then somewhat contradicts itself by also stating “when they suffer injuries they may seek medical care outside of the company’s medical staff and pay out of pocket in order to conceal injury. Dancers realise that their contract may be scrutinised for past injury and ultimately lead to dismissal.”
This is what I have found so far in my career. People will work through pain simply so they can keep their jobs. If you don’t dance you can’t work and the industry is very unforgiving. There are always people there to fill your shoes. I have also noticed that sometimes the company does not provide the professional healthcare such as physiotherapy or specialists in dance that a working dancer needs. Even if it does the dancer is likely to have to pay for the treatment they receive. It is totally dependent on the company and their policy. But why does this differ throughout the profession?
For example: One of my colleagues trapped her hand in the set during the show. She broke her hand through no fault of her own and was sent home to recover with no sick pay or compensation. There was no treatment or help provided by the company so instead she had to pay out of her own pocket to recover. The article backs up my ideas of inquiry of working through injury as it shows there are many discrepancies of what should and should not be expected of dancers and the pressures of working through injury. It also agrees with my point of there needing to be a greater education about injury and injury prevention among dancers.
What do you think?
Hi Emily, just read a really interesting article in a magazine called 'Dance Today' (should be online also, March edition) about how DanceUK are establishing a National Institue in Dance medicine and Science, where dancers can go to get specalist treatment, as athletes already have care like this.
ReplyDeleteI know a story of a boy who concealed his previous back injury, started work then when the director found out he fired him for breach of contract. People conceal their injuries as they know its detrimental to gaining work. Shouldn't Directors be more accepting on this issue?
Hi Alicia, I had seen on the Dance Uk website that they were developing this. It will be really interesting to see how it takes shape and the difference that it will make!
ReplyDeleteIt's a difficult point about concealing injuries. If the boy you know had recovered from his injury then why should he have been fired for not telling his employer if he was fit when he had been employed?