Dance partner or dance floor?: exogenous factors resulting in accidents in professional dancers.

OBJECTIVE: Injury prevention in professional dancers is very important due to the high risk for acute injuries posing a threat to dancers' careers. Causative factors of acute injuries in professional dance can be divided into exogenous and endogenous factors. Although both are known in professional dance, there is still a lack of data to have a differentiated view. The aim of this study is to analyze exogenous factors resulting in work accidents of professional dancers. METHODS: The data for the evaluation were obtained from work accident reports (n = 1,438, female 722, male 716) from six Berlin Theatres. Evaluation and descriptive statistics were conducted by SPSS 18 and Excel 2007. RESULTS: About half (48.5%, n = 698) of all work accidents are caused by exogenous factors. The "dance partner" is the most common exogenous factor (39.9%), followed by the dance floor (28.24%) and props (13.6%). The lower extremity is the most frequent structure injured in either sex (male 47.3%, female 61.3%), followed by the upper extremity in females (14.6%) and spine in male dancers (19.8%). The stage is the most common injury location in both genders (males 63.9%, females 56.8%). Acute injuries caused by exogenous factors were particularly sustained during performances (males 58.8%, females 50.5%) and during rehearsals (males 33%, females 39.9%). CONCLUSION: This study shows the key significance of exogenous factors in acute injuries in professional dance. Preserving the dancers' health and preventing injuries takes top priority, and therefore, interventions in the artistic work cannot be ruled out when preventive measures are implemented.

Survey of health problems in musical theater students: a pilot study.

UNLABELLED: Musical theater performers are the "triathletes" in the performing arts. The field requires versatility in a combination of skills including dancing, singing, and drama in a high frequency of performances. The aim of this study was to analyze and evaluate the health situation of musical theater students using a complete musical educational institute as an example (n = 37). METHODS: The basis for the evaluation was a questionnaire survey (standardized F 1000). All students of the school participated (20 males, 17 females). RESULTS: Of the students, 62% have a part-time job for financial reasons, and 67.7% state only a "partial satisfaction" with their body. Regarding injury, 45.9% claim to sustain an orthopaedic injury up to twice a year, and 29.7% up to three or four times. A total of 49 acute injuries (1.3/student) and 42 chronic complaints (1.1/student) were stated. The lower extremity was the most common acutely injured region (65.3%), followed by the spine (16.3%) and upper extremity (14.3%). Of chronic complaints, the lumbar spine was the most commonly affected area, followed by the hip joint and pelvic area. Thirty-three and 24% of acute injuries occurred during "spins" and/or "stretching," respectively. There were various causes for physical and mental problems. DISCUSSION: The results show both parallels and differences to the relevant literature. It is shown that health hazards already arise in the education of musical performers. This provides particulars for the implementation of injury prevention measures during the theoretical and practical education of musical students.

Dance floors as injury risk: analysis and evaluation of acute injuries caused by dance floors in professional dance with regard to preventative aspects.

UNLABELLED: A dance floor is often the only support of movements in dance. A dance floor surface that shows deficiencies, can result in acute injuries and chronic problems. Although the significance of an adequate dance floor is well known, there is still a lack of differentiated analyses of dance floor-related acute injuries. OBJECTIVE: This study presents data on acute injuries exclusively caused by the dance floor. METHODS: The data were obtained from standardized work accident reports from consultants (F 1000), documentary accident records from all Berlin theatres, a state ballet school (n=2,281), and case records from the Berlin State Accident Insurance (UKB) covering a period of 17 years. All analyses and descriptive statistics were conducted with Excel 2007 and SPSS 18. RESULTS: Dance floor surfaces were the causative factor in 12.8% of all accidents (n=291, female 183, male 108). Almost two thirds (62.6%) of all accidents in professional dancers happened on stage, and almost half (49.5%) occurred during performances. As for causative factors, 53.1% of the professional dancers (P) and 42.5% of the dance students (S) claimed that the floor had been "too slippery," with "getting stuck" or (tripping) as the second most common problem (P 18.4%, S 11.3%). Of the injured dancers, 41.8% were older than 30 years and can therefore be categorized as experienced. CONCLUSION: Dance floors play a significant role in the occurrence of acute injuries, even in experienced dancers. Performances on stage seem to be a particular risk. However, injury prevention measures should include all work locations (P) as well as non-dance-specific locations (S).