Ballet's hardest trick is hiding how much the body is suffering
A professional ballet dancer spends years teaching muscles, joints and feet to do things they were never built for, then performs as if it costs nothing. That illusion of ease is the whole goal, and it is exactly why the art carries such a high risk of injury.
Serious training usually starts somewhere between seven and ten years old. The first lessons are about placement and turnout, the outward rotation of the legs that gives ballet its sideways reach and its signature lines. Several national systems teach this differently: the Russian Vaganova method, the Italian Cecchetti method, the British Royal Academy of Dance and the American Balanchine approach each have their own style and tempo.
Whatever the school, a class tends to follow the same three-part arc. Dancers begin at the barre, a wooden rail they hold while doing pliés and big kicks called grand battements to warm up and find balance. They then move to the centre, working unsupported through slow adagio, quick jumping allegro and turns. Finally they travel across the floor, often on a diagonal, linking leaps and spins. Around age 12, once the foot bones have matured and the ankles are strong enough, girls usually begin pointe work in stiffened shoes. Boys concentrate on soaring jumps, multiple turns and the partnering skills needed to lift a ballerina.
The price shows up all over the body. Deep backbends can pinch the spine, causing spasms or trapped nerves, while holding turned-out legs high strains the hips and can lead to stress fractures and thinning bone. First position is a good example of how technique cuts both ways: rotate from the hips and it builds flexibility, but let the knees do the work and meniscus tears or dislocations become possible. Pointe work and badly landed jumps threaten feet and ankles with breaks, tendonitis and shin splints.
Companies now treat prevention as part of the job. Many run in-house health suites and employ their own physiotherapists, and dancers add Pilates, yoga, swimming and low-impact cardio to build stamina. The Australian Ballet devised a calf-rise exercise to ward off injury that troupes worldwide have since adopted, and it often appears in World Ballet Day livestreams.
Source: Ballet dancer
