Ballet injuries: going behind the scenes

New York City Ballet is the ballet company I have worked for over the past 7 years. They are one of the top ballet company's in world. In 2013, AOL created a short web series following New York City Ballet and highlighting important aspects of this top ballet company. The series is called city.ballet and you can find me in the opening of some of the episodes.

Building on from last week's post on dancer's emotional battle with injuries, I wanted to include this episode about ballet injuries. The episode does an excellent job of showing what kinds of injuries ballet dancers get and what it's like when they are unable to do their jobs.

After watching the video on YouTube I read the comments underneath. Most comments are people relating with what injuries they have had. I find that to be really nice because just as Claire says in the video, when you are injured it can feel like you're the only one. Talking with others who are going through the same thing or have in the past can be very comforting. 

Other comments are those who realize how strenuous ballet can be. It's shocking to me that people still don't realize how hard ballet is on the body. I come face-to-face with that fact everyday but, to others who never see the ballet dancers in pain they don't believe they are. One of the comments comes from a man who says he knows nothing about ballet but is very familiar with American football and after watching this video he is rethinking whether football is really the most competitive sport/activity.

I think seeing the dancers in this video explain and show what it's like to be injured is really helpful in understanding how ballet injuries affect dancers. If you are interested in more videos like these watch the whole web series, it is worth it. There are 2 seasons and each episode has an important topic. They can be found on YouTube or AOLgo.com 

There are also two great documentaries about famous ballerinas careers and overcoming their injuries. The first is 'A Ballerina's Tale' which is about Misty Copland who dances with American Ballet Theatre. A portion of the fascinating film is dedicated to her recovery from potentially career-ending fractures in her left tibia.

The second is 'Restless Creature' which is about Wendy Whelan who danced with the New York City Ballet. It is a brilliant film about a 46 year old principal dancer who is struggling to recover from a very serious hip injury while also coming to terms with retiring after 30 years of dancing with the company.

Both films bring the audience in on the passion that each of these dancers have and their lowest moments when trying to recover from injury. They both show what it takes to get back to dancing at a professional level. Both films can be found on Netflix.