nothing easy is worth doing

Seems like a decent amount of dancers are retiring early due to being too injured. Had me thinking, do you guys think as dancers overall we’re pushing ourselves too hard? I mean 20 years ago or more you wouldn’t really hear about this as much. I mean we’re coming up with harder moves and training even more, but when is it enough? Thoughts?

@poet-bellefleur I think the sport as a whole does not put enough emphasis on training the right way. It’s like you said, we’re doing more difficult moves, we’re expected to jump higher, move faster, and manipulate our bodies to the same extent as gymnasts and ballerinas. But then do we train the same way as these people? We. Do. Not. In ballet and in gymnastics they put a lot of emphasis on strengthening the various muscle groups and stretching. And if you notice just like the greats in Irish dance, the vast majority start young. And thy build on everything in steps. I briefly remember taking ballet as a child, and was I learning leaps and jumps? Heck no. I was pointing, I was taking little steps, and boy did I spend a lot of time on the bar with technique. Now I guarantee that as you move up in levels in ballet and in gymnastics you start strength training and working on mobility. I know gymnastics definitely does. They are required to be able to hold themselves up and train not just certain arm and leg muscles. They also spend a large amount of focus on mobility. While I believe in Irish dance we do spend a lot of time technique, we do not spend enough time strengthening or muscles, or working on mobility. And this is what is bringing us down as a sport. We act like gymnasts and ballerinas. We dance with great speed and technique and we push ourselves to the extent we could rival the Olympians. But we definitely do not train as smartly as they do. And this is what is causing the injuries. On top of that, most dancers do not ask “how” the injury occurred. You get an ankle sprain and you think “oh my ankle is bad”. But I’ll tell you from experience, that my ankles are pretty strong and I have still sprained them. And it turns out, wasn’t my ankles fault. It’s actually a fault in my hips which are extremely tight. And since everything is connected, my ankles took the fall. I also fixed shin splints in the same manner. It was a cause of tight hamstrings and calf muscles. Wasn’t actually my shins. I think with all the latest information we have on cross training, we are moving in the right direction. But it’s happening slow. But I’d bet my hat that in ten/fifteen years, we’re going to see another dramatic change in dance. Until then, I’m going to be sad for every dancer that has to retire due to injury. My heart goes out to them.

^^^

THIS. I’d also like to add that body mechanics are completely ignored in irish dance. When you compare our jumping technique to that of ballet, it is ludicrous. We are expected to jump in and out of a leap with perfectly straight knees, high up on our toes. There’s no cushioning there. The force needs to go somewhere and it goes right to our joints and ligaments. The bigger the leaps, the more this will be a detriment to our bodies.

❤️❤️❤️

I was like “what are the other girls doing??” Then I realised, and then I had the thought “um I would PAY MONEY TO BE THE VOLUNTEER HOLDING THEIR CREDS DURING THE CEREMONY” 😂😂😂

my mind says college but my heart says isolated sheep herder in Iceland

I hate it when people go about saying dancers aren’t athletes I mean seriously. Have you seen them? They do all this crazy acrobatic crap, have to have perfect technique, have to any act the same time, and look perfect at the same time. How many football players look majestic while playing? How many weird faces have you seen olympians make while competing? They look perfect at all times, no matter how hard and tiring their routine is. And they never let you see how tired they are afterwards. Don’t even get me started on injuries. If they sprain their ankle? Wrap it and keep going. Blister? Tape it and go. They will only stop when they literally cannot put weight on their foot or if something seems seriously wrong. Want proof? I’m an Irish dancer. We’re even wider than the average dancer. We wear wigs, short skirted long sleeve dresses, glue our socks on, and let our legs do most of the work. At my last dance competition, I sprained my ankle at the beginning of my dance. I went off stage, wrapped my ankle, did a few small exercises with it, and then went back on and redid my dance. (ps I got third place) if you don’t think dancers are hardcore then you’re wrong.

@thefeckinpiper BECCA YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL I CAN’T HANDLE THIS

BEAUTIFUL