Dance Injuries Quotes

Dancers use their bodies in extraordinary ways, so we are chronically pre-arthritic, because of how we use our muscles and our bones.

The worst thing about me is my toes. I've thick joints from wearing pointe ballet shoes - I went to a dance school from the age of 11 and danced every day.

If you looked at my feet, you would know for sure that I used to do ballet. They're completely destroyed and ripped up.

I have a trainer, and I'm not a trainer person. I don't like the attention. I don't like the one-on-one scrutiny. But I've had to enter into a very sort of rigorous rehabilitation program to avoid surgery on my back. I've already had four surgeries on my feet and two on my knee - all from Broadway dancing injuries. On Broadway, they don't really rehab the dancers like they do in sports. It's, "The show must go on" .

Ballet is quite unnatural on the joints. My body is just worn. My joints are 10 years older than me.

With classical ballet you are literally injuring yourself.

It's another myth that dancing distorts or destroys your feet. If you have the right shaped foot to start and a good, strong technique, your feet should be fine.

Aerobic dancing is already adjusting to injury problems and will probably phase out to some extent.

Sports men and women need hip replacements. It was all those years of classical ballet and forcing turn-outs. It can be quite detrimental to your body.

The first year with ABT I learned 13 new roles. Most were lengthy ballets, more complicated than I was used to. I have suffered from tendinitis since I was 13, and it flared up again until the pain was paralyzing. There were times I prayed I'd be sick so I wouldn't have to go on.

The orthopaedic surgeon said that if ever I had hip or groin pain, I should rest until the pain went. However, resting is not part of a dancer's life - so I just danced through the pain.