-or the challenges of integrating strength and conditioning into the world of performing arts.
In the world of the performing arts recent efforts attempt to join forces with sport science and strength and conditioning (S&C). But traditional structures and methods, for example in the world of classical ballet make the application of scientific principals challenging.
The purpose of a S&C-Coach is to enhance the performance of an athlete by means of structured and well-planned training sessions in the context of a competitive season. The performance of an athlete can be measured and so can the outcome of a training intervention. To apply the methodology of S&C to fields other than sports and athletics seems to be a great idea for as long as there is a physical emphasis. Good examples for the relatively recent introduction of sport science and S&C in non-traditional fields are the performing arts like classical ballet and contemporary dance. Classical ballet has a long-standing history going back as far as the 15th and 16th century’s Italian renaissance and was further developed in 17th century’s France (Paris Opera), Denmark (Royal Danish Ballet), and Russia (Imperial Ballet of the Russian Empire). Nowadays every major city in the world has a ballet company still performing the classical pieces, more or less in their original form. Of course, the art form has developed, and neo-classical and contemporary choreographers have emerged to push the art of dance even further over the last century up until the present day. Doing so has also pushed the limits of what is possible with the human body so much so that apart from the artistic performance of the dancer the athletic performance becomes more and more important in the modern ballet world. And so, it seems logical to assume that modern S&C can help to improve these athletic qualities and additionally help to prevent injuries. As somebody who has worked within a classical ballet company for years, I will try to point out how this is not as easy as it sounds and some (maybe controversial) ideas on how to fit a square into a circle to successfully integrate S&C into the daily practice of a performing artist / dance company.
A typical classical dancer works 6 days a week. A typical day starts at 10 am with 90 minutes of company class which serves the purpose of a warmup and practice of separate dance skills to hone that perfect ballet technique. Then, from 12 pm there are different rehearsals either in couples, smaller groups, or full calls of the entire company which can be up to 3 hours long. There is typically 60 minutes of lunch break. At around 6:30 pm the standard day is over unless it is a performance day. In that case it’s curtain up at 7:30 pm and a typical ballet performance takes between two and four hours across two to four acts. One can imagine that there is not much time for anything else throughout the day or within a week of a dancer considering the additional time spent on a daily commute and social life. Of course, nobody is actually dancing for all these hours, but in a professional setting the exposure to dance can amount to more than 30 hours weekly (Shaw et al., 2021). There are usually multiple casts that rehearse separately even though a second cast might have to be in the same studio to study the choreography by watching the first cast. Depending on the size of the company there might be second or third cast for performances as well, however this depends on the rank of the dancer. Dancers of a lower rank (like copse de ballet) are less likely to have a second cast to cover for them, whereas soloists and principals are more likely to have that kind of luxury. It is mostly due to the increased technical difficulty of the roles a higher-ranking dancer is performing. It becomes clear that dancers in general are exposed to a very high workload and that recovery time is sparse. This is reflected in the epidemiology of this cohort of classical ballet dancers. Yearly percentages of injuries in dancers range from 42% to 92%, with the lower extremities being most effected, likely due to the wearing of pointe shoes (females only) and the typical turned out position of the legs (males and females alike) (Rinonapoli et al., 2020). Overuse injuries contribute with 70% to the majority of all injuries among professional ballet dancers (Shaw et al., 2021).
So, it becomes clear that a person must have a certain mindset to take on this strenuous career of a classical ballet dancer. And it so happens that this kind of driven personality is also found in very successful athletes. The problem usually is that ballet dancers don’t see themselves as athletes, they see themselves as artists. And artists don’t do sports! In fact, especially among female dancers one can find the common misconception and fear of instant and excessive bulking (hypertrophy) when exposed to resistance training (especially when it involves free weights). This fear seems to stem from an idealised body image and the implications of excessive hypertrophy on the dancer’s career. The same ideal that makes young girls starve themselves also makes them scared of the hypertrophic effect of resistance training. This fear is not exclusive to female dancers and can also be found in a substantial subgroup of the male dancers. And to make matters worse most of the decision makers (the artistic team) within a dance company are of course former dancers with the exact same idea of an ideal dancer and the reservation towards resistance training. The chain of thought goes something like this: Arnold Schwarzenegger is big because he uses weights, a dancer needs to be skinny and avoids things that lead to bulk, ergo: Dancers avoid weights! This can result in awkward discussions in the gym when a ballerina signs up for a session and asks if it is possible to make her legs thinner (the ballet staff told her they look bulky). Now, it is clear that S&C with all its tools can make a huge difference in a dancer’s performance, resilience toward injuries, and return-to-stage-times should injury occur. But losing muscle mass is rarely if ever the goal of a strength and conditioning coach, and the gym is most certainly the wrong place to do so. And so, the role of a S&C coach within a ballet company is drastically changed or extended to something that is closer to that of an educator or even a therapist to help overcome some of those misconceptions. To be perfectly clear, it is indeed the case that a well-structured resistance training session can interfere with dancing because of the soreness and stiffness associated with post-exercise DOMs. However, the cases of spontaneous and debilitating muscle hypertrophy are exceedingly rare!
The key to implement S&C in an environment like a classical ballet company lies probably in both sides to approach each other to meet somewhere in the middle. This means that a classical ballet company is unlikely to be run like a rugby club and equally unlikely is the invention of a magic shortcut workout protocol that will fit into the congested schedule of a ballet company. It will rather be the case that an integrated company schedule will allow for sufficient time to make prevention, periodisation, progression, and recovery possible. On the other hand, the sciences of S&C will have to further investigate and recognise the unique demands of ballet dancers, and the differences in repertoire and their impact on injury risk. A recent article by Shaw, et al. (2021) makes a large contribution to this effort by describing the relationship between exposure to dance, dancer characteristics and injury risk over a longer time period in a professional setting. Additionally, it seems to be necessary to have a change in the mindset among dancers and ballet staff regarding the body image that still seems to be widespread within the ballet world. To address this issue, it needs a whole other discussion that probably also includes ballet schools, role models, and decision makers. But this change will help to normalise and habituate preventative strategies like resistance training among ballet dancers and subsequently help to prevent acute and overuse injuries alike. In defence of the ballet companies, it should be recognised that, all the suggestions above are of course dependent on the funding that’s available to the company, and some of the problems that have been addressed here are a result of a lack thereof. For example, to allow for sufficient recovery time it needs either more dancers to form multiple casts, or more time between performances. In both cases this means an unacceptable impact on the company’s finances, either because of higher expenses for dancer salaries or because of lower income from ticket sales. Especially smaller companies with limited funding thereby will struggle to implement any of the above. In conclusion, it shall be said that the integration of science and the arts is a multi factorial-problem that will need further investigations within all fields involved. However, it is a problem worth solving as the incorporation of S&C in classical ballet can be uniquely beneficial for the dancers and thereby positive for the ballet companies as well.
Rinonapoli, G., Graziani, M., Ceccarini, P., Razzano, C., Manfreda, F., & Caraffa, A. (2020). Epidemiology of injuries connected with dance: A critical review on epidemiology. Medicinski Glasnik Ljekarske Komore Zenicko-Dobojskog Kantona, 17, 256–264.
Shaw, J. W., Mattiussi, A. M., Brown, D. D., Williams, S., Kelly, S., Springham, M., Pedlar, C. R., & Tallent, J. (2021). Dance Exposure, Individual Characteristics, and Injury Risk over Five Seasons in a Professional Ballet Company. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 53, 2290–2297.
Thormann Personal Training 