Professional dance is a high-performance field that carries significant risks of injury and physical wear and tear. Researchers at Goethe University in Frankfurt have for the first time accurately measured strains in the musculoskeletal system. The study involved 28 professional dancers who wore suits with sensors during ballet training. The data revealed high levels of tension during all stages of training. The findings support the development of injury prevention strategies and highlight the high physical demands of this occupation.
Ballet is an art of illusion. The dancers appear to be floating across the stage, momentarily seeming to defy gravity as they leap. The effort behind this lightness and grace usually remains invisible to the audience.
Professional dance is a high performance sport. It requires exceptional body control and athleticism, developed through years of intensive training. ”
Professor Irene Wanke, Goethe University Frankfurt Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine
Wanke brings personal experience to this study, having previously performed as a professional dancer. She is currently examining her former field from a medical perspective. The physical toll of training, rehearsal, and performance is evident, with approximately half of all dancers experiencing at least one work-related injury each year. Common injuries include strains and sprains that affect the legs, ankles, and feet, as well as lower back problems. Many continue to work despite the pain, driven by dedication to their profession. By their late 20s, 25% have already developed osteoarthritis, compared to well below 5% in the general population.
suit with sensor
To date, there are few objective measurements of the physical demands of professional dance. This new study addresses this gap and was carried out in collaboration with Germany’s Dance Film Institute Bremen and the Accident Insurance Agency of the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Lower Saxony. To collect the data, Wanke and her team, along with Austrian physicist and biomechanist Dr. Christian Maurer Grubinger, used an innovative method. 16 female and 12 male dancers from the Staatstheater Oldenburg and the Theater Kiel wore suits with sensors during training. These recorded the acceleration and body position of the head, torso, arms, wrists, legs, and feet at a rate of 240 measurements per second. Data was transmitted wirelessly to a computer for analysis.
“We used a system widely applied in occupational medicine to assess physical strain,” explains Wanke. “Typically, trained observers assess the characteristic movements of a particular occupation, such as through video analysis. In our approach, the data is instead obtained by a program developed specifically for this project.” Each movement or posture is assigned a score. The more stress there is on the joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, the higher the Rapid Whole Body Assessment (REBA) score.
Risk of injury during training
“Participants spent more than 60 percent of their training time in the medium-risk range and an additional 30 percent in the high-risk range,” Wanke says. Therefore, the level of risk is quite high even during training, but training is aimed not only at maintaining technique, but also at preventing injuries. Female dancers spent more time in high-risk locations than male dancers and were therefore exposed to greater ergonomic stress on average. This may be partly explained by differences in body structure, meaning that certain movements and postures place greater stress on the body.
Classical dance training has remained largely unchanged over the past 300 years. It follows a three-stage structure. Stage 1 consists of practice with a crowbar, while stages 2 and 3 are performed in open space, starting with a sequence of slow movements, followed by a pirouette, and culminating in a big jump. As training progresses, the exercises become increasingly dynamic, placing greater demands not only on the cardiovascular system, but also on concentration, coordination, and body control. “Research shows that people tend to be less focused during Phase 3, and errors and inaccuracies occur more frequently,” Wanke explains.
Optimization opportunities
Overall, this data suggests that especially high-load dynamic exercises should be scheduled early in the training session, as is often the case in other sports. Training can also be adapted in a more gender-specific manner to reflect different physical demands. Organizational changes in performance venues may help further reduce the risk of injury and wear-and-tear-related conditions. During a jump, your bones, muscles, and joints are subjected to great forces, especially when you land. A specialized dance floor can greatly reduce this burden. Although many educational institutions have such flooring installed in training spaces, rehearsal and performance stages are often still lacking flooring.
Existing flooring can be further optimized. However, what structural measures are most effective in mitigating dance forces has not yet been systematically studied. “This will be an important focus for future research,” Wanke concluded.
sauce:
Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Reference magazines:
Fehringer, V. Others. (2025). Ergonomic risk assessment for professional dance using motion capture and ergonomic assessment with Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). sensor. DOI: 10.3390/s26010070. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/26/1/70
