Published in Dance Magazine | February 2021
A year of dancing less frequently could give your body a chance to recover from nagging injuries. “Dancers tend to really push themselves through chronic issues,” says Selina Shah, MD, FACP, a dance medicine specialist in the San Francisco Bay Area. “As great as dancers are at hiding those injuries, they ultimately affect technique and performance. This is a forced opportunity for recovery that could benefit dancers in the long run.”
Many dancers fear time off. We grow up being told by teachers that missing class will make us fall behind, or that pursuing other interests could hurt our dancing. This year, there’s been no other option but to take a step back. All dancers are experiencing major interruptions in their training and performing schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic. But as it turns out, there are upsides to a reduced schedule, and dancers who embrace this—rather than fear it—may find they come back to the studio stronger than before.