Injuries in Ballet

Published April 11, 2025

Injuries in Ballet

On April 1 a few years ago, I was in a meeting with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre artistic director Alexander Van Alstyne. It was a week before The Frozen Snow Queen was to premier at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts with the Reno Phil.

Filer image element — *The Frozen Snow Queen - Cordelia*

We were going over ticket sales and our final marketing push before the shows. In addition to being on the board of directors of A.V.A. Ballet Theatre, I donate my time doing all their marketing and public relations.

As the meeting was progressing, Alex’s smartphone dinged and he looked at the message. I actually saw his facial features drop and his skin turn a pale grey. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He was staring at his phone. He turned it toward me and there was a picture of Cordelia Leeder, the star of The Frozen Snow Queen, at what appeared to be an emergency room. Her right foot was purple. “Cordelia’s broken her foot,” Alex said in dismay.

“Didn’t you just have a rehearsal?” I asked. “Was she okay in the rehearsal?”

He seemed confused. “Yes, she looked fine at rehearsal. Her text says that her foot blew up afterwards.”

My mind was racing. Thousands of people had purchased tickets to the shows and the cast of over 50 was ready to go. “Is there an understudy?” I asked.

Alex nodded, his face tight with worry. “Yes,” he said. “There’s an understudy but I’m going to have to re-choreograph the entire show.”

“Maybe Cordelia can power through it,” I said, being the heartless soul I must be when facing adversity. “If she made it through a rehearsal, she can surely make it through the performances. You can wrap her foot up.”

Alex glared at me. “You can’t wrap a foot and put it in a pointe shoe.”

His smartphone dinged. “April Fools” the text from Cordelia read. “I’m not just the Snow Queen I’m the Prank Queen.”

The relief I felt and the look on Alex’s face is something I’ll never forget. We were punked big time. Fortunately, the following week The Frozen Snow Queen was performed on the Pioneer stage to full houses of cheering audiences. The dancers and the Reno Phil put on shows that made me proud to be involved in the arts in northern Nevada.

The reality with performing arts, however, is that the odds of a serious injury actually happening to a dancer are very high. Dance is a very demanding activity and most dancers experience some form of injury in their lifetimes. To do the technical movements, the body takes on positions that place an enormous amount of stress on tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles. All of this strain can lead to high injury rates.

The risk of injury is greatest when a dancer is young – between ages 8 to 12 for girls. During this time, a young dancer’s bones are the weakest, which places them at maximum risk for broken bones and stress fractures. Qualified dance instructors understand this and ensure that safe instruction, such as that in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, are followed.

“The right technique and correct skill progression is crucial in preventing dance injuries,” said Miriam Allen, the co-director of A.V.A. Ballet Theatre. “We must always monitor the intensity and duration of training and performances.”

The most common injuries in ballet are foot and ankle injuries – caused by too much repetitive movement. Knee injuries, lower back pain, and hip injuries are all a result of the unique positions ballet demands.

Bunions are another often painful side effect of ballet. A bunion is a deformity of the joint connecting the big toe to the foot and can be quite painful. When dancing en pointe there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the toes and that may lead to bunions. Most dancers seem to take the pain of pointe work in stride and even joke about it. A group of former “Hello Hollywood Hello” dancers, including Miriam Allen, have formed a club that meets socially on a regular basis and it’s called the “Bunion Club.”

As a choreographer, Van Alstyne keeps the safety of his dancers a major priority. “I adjust the difficulty of the choreography depending on the dancer,” he said. “If it’s too difficult for them it could cause injury.”

Injuries are one of the biggest reasons the career of a ballet dancer is so short. “It is sad to see a dancer who loves ballet and is forced to retire due to an injury,” said Van Alstyne. “They lose their ability to express themselves in dance.”

Some dancers, such as Cordelia Leeder, express themselves in other ways besides performing on stage. Well, Miss Prank Queen is now Dr. Prank Queen. Cordelia graduated from Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine last spring and is in residency in small animal internal medicine at North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine. I’ve said this before in many previous columns: “Dancers are smart.”

Steve Trounday is a board member at A.V.A. Ballet Theatre, the resident ballet company of the Pioneer Center. Their next production is the rock ballet Vortex July 18 and 19 at the Robert Z. Hawkins Amphitheater at the Bartley Ranch Regional Park.