This is what's wrong with dancers

I came across this photo on http://www.diddlyi.com.

http://www.diddlyi.com/photo/my-dedication-overrules-my

It's just an Irish dancer with the words "my dedication overrules my pain."

It's true-no one is more dedicated to their sport/art than competitive Irish dancers.  But this is what's wrong with dance programs.  Young dancers haven't had the life experience to know that they don't have to push 24/7, 365, even through actual pain.  Indeed, they never get a grasp on what actual pain is if they view it all as a mere inconvenience to dancing.  How is pain different from plain ol' soreness?  When are you wimping out and when are you actually taking the smart route to protect your body from permanent damage?

It wasn't until I was in my 20s and started doing yoga that I gained the vocabulary to describe things as intense versus painful.  Intensity = good, hard work.  Pain = injury, stop!  And it wasn't until then that I learned that it is okay to stop or slow down when you have actual pain.  It is okay and even beneficial to take a break until recovery is done.  I have the life experience to know dancing in a studio class is not all that important in the grand scheme of things.  Young dancers don't know that.  Dancing, even just in class and not in performance, is easily skewed into THE most important thing in their lives.  And I have the physical experience to know what happens when you don't prioritize the health of you body ahead of hours logged dancing.

My break from dance came involuntarily. I was laid up for over a year because my body demanded it.  Ten years of "shake it off" and "dance through the pain" eventually made it so I couldn't walk without a pronounced limp.  There was no acute injury.  Just one day I started getting sharp pain up the side of my calf.  It hurt too bad to try to even try to stretch out.  I had to give up wearing cute shoes in favor of the most stable (and coincidentally unfashionable) shoes available.  And I had to stop doing most physical activity, which lead to dire weight gain.

I danced (ballet, tap and jazz) from age three to sixteen.  In that time I never once had a dance injury.  But I had gym class injuries.  I had tripping down a flight of stairs injuries.  Namely, my left ankle was sprained repeatedly from the time I was in 7th grade through college.  In all that time I never stopped dancing.  I mean I never stopped.  If I had tears in my eyes from the pain, I still attended and participated in dance class.  If anyone was aware of my injury I danced all the harder to prove how dedicated I was.  And I scoffed at those who said it would catch up with me.  In the end no one cared that I was willing to torment myself for my dance, and those who warned me I'd be sorry were right.

If you are a dancer, or have a kid in dance, you need to be aware of this "no pain, no gain" attitude, and understand that it is meant in a cultish, unhealthy way.  It's as if maiming your body for life is the only way to be taken seriously and let teachers and other dancers know your dedication.  Most dance schools do not prevent this attitude.  In fact, they may foster it.  Yes, we want to instill drive and dedication.  No, we don't want them to wimp out just from a little muscle soreness that comes from intense work.  But we are doing no favors when we instill a belief in dance students that any rest under any circumstance is wrong. 

My dancing would be more frequent and much stronger now if I had taken the appropriate steps to rest and recover back then.  I can't turn back the clock and get my old ankles back.  I can only do the little that my joints allow me to do, knowing I should be able to do much more.  That is the worst pain of all.

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