Whether you’re an aspiring performance artist, professional dancer, or simply love to dance, protecting and caring for your body is incredibly important in pursuing this physically demanding art form. Keeping your body tuned helps to avoid issues, recover from injuries, and increase your dancing years. It also enhances your physical performance capabilities, which results in artistic excellence. We’ve compiled information on common dance injuries and dance physical therapy:
- How Physical Therapy Helps Dancers
- Common Dance Injuries
- Dancer’s Fracture
- Hammer Toes
- Dancer’s Ankle
- Dancer Knee Pain
- Arthritis From Dancing
- Dancer Foot Damage
- Hip Injuries
We know that choosing the right dance studio is essential for good support and correct training. Most dance studios are known for teaching dance to children, but many also offer classes and opportunities for people of all ages. We’ve compiled a list of some of the top dance studios in the Central Valley to consider.
13 Dance Studios in the Central Valley, California
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California Arts Academy (Fresno)
Types of Dance: musical theater, ballet, tap
Focused on correct training, solid technique, and local performance opportunities.
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In the Spotlight (Fresno)
Types of Dance: jazz, contemporary, ballet, tap
Dedicated to creating a quality program with small classes. Solid technique with a competition ephasis.
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Shirley Winters Ballet (Fresno)
Types of Dance: ballet, contemporary, ballroom
A style of training and dance influenced by the Royal Ballet and other European techniques.
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Northwest Studio For Ballet (Fresno)
Types of Dance: ballet
The Northwest Ballet Studio is a professional dance studio located in the heart of California.
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The Dance Studio of Fresno (Fresno)
Types of Dance: musical theater, ballet pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, acro gymnastics
Focused on transforming dancers into artists at the core of their being—connecting students with dance as an art form’ positive energy and excitement
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Deenie’s Dance Workshop (Porterville)
Types of Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern, lyrical, tumbling, pointe
Focused on family-friendly environment; classes for different age groups.
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Momentum Dance Academy (Tulare)
Types of Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, funk, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, tumbling, pointe
Focused on homely experience, open to students with no experience; takes their time to teach properly; courteous staff; great dance routines
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Dancers Edge (Visalia, Hanford)
Types of Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, tiny tots, theatre arts
Focused on fun & safe environment for all ages; individual goals within varying forms of dance, strong passion for dance as a form of art and entertainment
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Dance Arts (Visalia)
Types of Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre, pointe
Focused on instilling self-confidence & grace; molding a well-rounded technical dancer; non-competitive environment; versatile dance education
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CenCal Dance Academy (Fresno, Dinuba, Sanger, Reedley)
Types of Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern & contemporary, musical theatre, pointe
Focused on inclusion of all people and celebration of multicultural communities; expand the love of dance throughout the Valley; access to quality training regardless of income, gender, race, disability, or other social factors.
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Dancing School (Selma)
Types of Dance: ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary
Focused on high-quality instruction; fun and caring atmosphere; enthusiastic, encouraging instructors
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Bethel Ballet Academy (Hanford)
Types of Dance: ballet, pointe, Pas de Deux
Focused on providing classical ballet training; train students in a healthy, Christ-centered environment; community feel
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Evolve Dance Company (Fresno)
Types of Dance: ballet, hip hop
Focused on creating an atmosphere, structure, for quality training and opening opportunities for dancers; family feel; accommodate all ages
How Physical Therapy Helps Dancers
Dancing involves actions that use a large range of motion, often with steps that quickly transition from using one muscle group to another.
The specific muscles required can vary depending on the style of dancing. For example, classical ballet choreography tends to use arm positions that require more strength than tap dance choreography. Or, modern dance often requires dancers to quickly move from standing to sitting, while flamenco dancers generally remain upright. However, most types of dance utilize muscles from your entire body.
Dancers are artists, and their chosen art form requires precise, clean movements and body positions. This requires greater control of muscle groups and flexibility than many other types of physical activities. It is also a weight-bearing exercise, which can cause strain on certain areas. For dancers, and for everyone, physical therapy can help with training problem areas as well as with recuperating from injuries.
Physical therapy can help:
- Increase range of motion
- Work all types of muscle groups
- Increase flexibility
- Increase balance
- Improve posture
Common Dance Injuries
Dancing is very demanding on your body and requires extraordinary flexibility, balance, power, and endurance. In order to properly execute movements, the dancer assumes positions that place excess stress on bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This leads to higher injury rates than other activities.
The majority of dance-related injuries are due to overuse or misuse, and about a third of injuries are attributed to trauma. Young dancers, as their bones are still growing and are not fully formed in some places, are particularly susceptible to injury.
The most common injuries that affect dancers stem from using joints and muscles too much. These overuse issues can be a result of
- Over-rehearsing on the weekends
- Attending too many classes each evening
- Spending too many long hours at the barre
It’s important to strike a balance between rehearsal and rest. Physical therapy can be a helpful tool that rests some parts of your body while strengthening others.
It is also important to train your body to maintain proper alignment—overusing muscles that are needlessly strained increases the risk of physical trauma. Physical therapy strengthens the muscles around the injured area to support it without allowing harmful compensation. Your physical therapist can work with your dance instructor to ensure that your muscles are being trained and strengthened for optimal performance.
Dancer's Fracture
A dancer’s fracture is a fracture in the shaft of the fifth metatarsal bone.
Like the name implies, this fracture is common in dancers but can occur during any inversion injury. The symptoms include feeling or hearing a “pop,” swelling and bruising towards the outside of the forefoot, and discomfort while bearing weight.
While dancers generally experience popping joints during movement, a fracture pop would be accompanied by pain. Even if swelling or discomfort is minor, it is a good idea to rest and get the area checked if the problem persists.
This type of fracture usually heals very well without needing surgery. Typically, a patient needs to use a removable cast boot, or walking boot, for six weeks. They can bear weight during this time. Serial X-rays are performed to check the healing process.
Physical therapy exercises through PRO~PT can help with recovery from a dancer’s fracture—your qualified, experienced, and certified physical therapist will work to restrengthen the area while also training your body to maintain correct alignment and prevent further injury.
Dancer's Ankle
Dancer’s Ankle, also known as Dancer’s Heel or posterior impingement syndrome, occurs when the tissue at the back of the ankle becomes compressed due to a bony formation at the back of the ankle.
This product of overuse, overgrowth, and incomplete adolescent bone formation is often referred to as an extra bone, called Os Trigonum. The pain may be triggered by an ankle sprain or by the tissue being trapped between the ankle and heel bone. When the soft tissue at the back of the ankle is pinched, it becomes inflamed and painful.
Posterior impingement syndrome, as it is also known, is common among ballet dancers. It can often be treated with physical therapy, shoe insoles, home exercises, and rest.
Sometimes, in more extreme cases, surgery is required to remove the extra bone. But since surgery always results in physical trauma, it’s a good idea to pursue physical therapy as a remedy first. If surgery is necessary, physical therapy is an essential part of the healing process.
Dancer's Tendonitis
The ankle is a crucial joint for dancers because it not only connects the leg and foot, but it establishes lower limb stability. It is one of the most commonly injured body areas in dance.
Incidences of injury to the ankle-foot area account for 27% to 49% of total injuries for ballet, modern, flamenco, and tap dancers. Dancer’s tendonitis, also referred to as Flexor Hallucis Longus (FHL) tendonitis, is an overuse injury from repetitive plantarflexion and dorsiflexion (pointing and flexing) of the foot. This results in inflammation of the FHL tendon.
In dancers, injury to the FHL tendon is usually provoked by the recurrent movement of changing position from a plié position to a relevé position.
- Plié is a French term meaning to bend
- Relevé is a ballet term meaning “raised” explaining the action when a dancer rises up on their toes, whether demi-pointe or full pointe.
This movement of action produces a force that is equal to 10 times the dancer’s body weight. It causes strain on the tendon, especially if the tendon has not been warmed up correctly or if there is improper placement.
There are several methods of treatment that physical therapists can use for tendonitis, all of which are helpful in solving the issue long-term.
Ballet Feet
Ballet dancers are especially susceptible to foot injuries because they often practice for many hours each day. In addition, they typically wear shoes that don’t provide much support or cushioning.
Pointe shoes are designed to allow dancers to stand on their toes but offer little protection from the impact of landing jumps. As a result, ballet dancers often suffer from issues with the bones and joints in their feet.
It is essential to take care of your feet by stretching and warming up properly in order to avoid injuries. Some dancers use exercises that involve tools such as resistance bands, exercise balls, and marbles. This is important for young dancers as they strengthen growing muscles and build a foundation of good technique, but it is good for dancers of all ages to remember to warm up their feet before dancing.
Hammer Toes
A hammer toe is a deformity that causes your toe to bend or curl downward instead of pointing forward. This deformity can affect any toe on your foot, most often affecting the second or third toe.
Although a hammer toe may be present at birth, it usually develops over time due to arthritis or wearing ill-fitting shoes. Dancers who wear specialized shoes, such as tap shoes or character shoes, can be at risk for hammer toe. Ballet dancers who use pointe shoes often deal with many different types of toe issues, including hammer toe.
In most cases, a hammer toe condition is treatable. There are tools, such as toe spacers, toe separators, and soft pads, that ballet dancers use to make pointe shoes less painful. Some of these tools can be used effectively by other people as well. There are also exercises and therapies that can greatly relieve hammer toe discomfort.
Hip Injuries from Dancing
Exercises you can do:
https://pro-pt.net/treatments/snapping-hip-syndrome
Hip impingement is a change in the surface of the hip joint that makes it prone to damage, causing pain and general discomfort. If it is pincer-type impingement, then the hip socket is angled improperly, while cam-type impingement means the head of the femur is misshapen.
Sometimes, arthroscopic surgery is necessary in order to successfully treat hip impingement. Whether or not surgery is considered, physical therapy is an effective way to start the healing process.
According to the American Physical Therapy Association, hip bursitis affects 15% of women and 8.5% of men of all ages in the United States. This painful condition is also known trochanteric bursitis, and it occurs when one or both of the bursae become damaged or irritated.
The most common cause is repetitive activity, but it can also be a result of direct trauma, hip surgery or replacement, bone spurs, poor posture, infection, disease, or improper movement. Physical therapy can help improve balance, flexibility, strength, and movement, and patients usually make a return to full activity after rehabilitation.
Snapping hip is a condition in which you feel a snapping sensation or hear a popping sound in your hip when you walk, get up from a chair, or swing your leg around. The snapping sensation occurs when a muscle or tendon (the strong tissue that connects muscle to bone) moves over a bony protrusion in your hip. Although snapping hip is usually painless and harmless, the sensation can be annoying. In some cases, snapping hip leads to bursitis, a painful swelling of the fluid-filled sacs that cushion the hip joint.
Arthritis
Arthritis, or inflammation of the joints, is one of the most common ailments experienced in, and outside, the dance studio. Dancers typically feel pain and stiffness in their ankles and knees, but depending on the type of arthritis, pain can be felt anywhere. A degenerative disease, osteoarthritis breaks down the cartilage around your bones, causing bones in a joint to grind together. If you are dealing with inner knee pain or pain in other areas of the joints you use while dancing, it could be because of the pressure you’re putting on the joint.
When dealing with arthritis, it is especially important to warm up properly before beginning dance class or rehearsal. Doing small, gentle exercises prepares your body for performing larger movements.
At the beginning of dance class, wear layers of outer clothing that you can shed as your muscles get warm. Be aware of which movements trigger discomfort so that you can address those movements later with your physical therapist.
Knee Pain from Dancing (Patellofemoral Pain)
Patellofemoral pain is pain around the kneecap generally caused inflammation of the patella. This causes pain in natural knee movement. While there are different causes that could lead to anyone having this problem, young females are the most at-risk demographic.
The primary symptom is pain, and treatment may involve physical therapy and/or arthroscopic surgery.
Finding a Physical Therapist for Dancing Injuries + Performance
When finding a physical therapist to help with dance-related injuries, It’s not necessary to look for a physical therapist who is specialized in dance injury treatment. Licensed, experienced, and knowledgeable physical therapists deal with many of these physical issues on a regular basis.
Find a physical therapist and/or a clinic that has good reviews and testimonials in your local area. Make sure they are willing to create a treatment plan that fits your specific type of dance, as well as your individual body and issues.
At PRO~PT, our physical therapists help heal all kinds of dance-related injuries and issues. On the first visit, we’ll do an evaluation. Then, we’ll put together a plan that works with your treatment and your livelihood.
Call your nearest PRO~PT clinic in the Central Valley.