Dancing through Health Challenges
When recovering from any form of health challenge, take many small steps rather than one giant leap into physical fitness. We all know that it is a no no to lean on the barre, but if you are physically weak, it's better to lean on the barre at first and then work to gradually release your grip. If standing for an entire barre seems too exhausting, lay down and finish it on the floor. Try to do just a tiny bit more each time before laying down on the floor.
Ballet & Injury Comeback:
Not all adults are a picture of health. Still most are able to do ballet and make progress is careful. Any physical injury should be reported to the instructor. The instructor can advise and modify exercises for the dancer, but the dancer is the one with instantaneous feedback and the dancer must take responsibility for modifying exercises. Be sure to keep muscles twinking at the center not at ends. Never let the energy of the class push you past your limits. It's okay to stop before others.
Pregnancy:
Consult your doctor, but when consulting, remember that many doctors don't understand what adult ballet is all about. It is best to describe what you do in class. Is it ok to bend, stretch, jump, turn, etc. When I was pregnant my doc told me that I should continue doing the things I was doing and not to fall while doing them. That seems wise advise for any normal healthy woman who is pregnant. If you have been dancing, keep dancing. If you have not, then wait until after the babe is born. (If you are diabetic, be extra careful and ask you doctor a lot of questions before participating in ballet or any form of exercise during pregnancy.)
I continued to teach and dance into my 8th month. My 9lb 6oz was born healthy. I only had two problems. 1) no matter how hard I tried, no matter what I said to my students, they all stood like they were pregnant. I could not get them to suck in their tummies that year! 2) Once while demonstrating a combination, just as I started a ponche arabesque, the babe kicked me hard and changed positions. It caught me off guard. To regain balance I somehow flipped around and ended with my leg in front of me instead of in back of me. My students, thinking it was part of the planned combo attempted to do as I did and a couple of them ended up on the floor, but unhurt. One student asked if I could repeat the move for her. I told her I could not and to this day have no idea what I did or how I did it. We all had a good laugh over that one.
Hip, Joint, Back:
Consult your doctor, but when consulting, remember that many doctors don't understand what adult ballet is all about. It is best to describe what you do in class. Is it ok to bend, stretch, jump, turn, etc. I developed instability in my hip, pain in my leg, inability to left one leg to the front above knee level. I went to see a specialist. He informed me that I would need total hip replacement within two years. Meanwhile I should buy a cane, take pain killers and revisit in 6 months. I was devastated. I bought a cane, but refused the pain killers as I wanted to know exactly what I was doing that caused it to hurt. As a result, I realized that at work I was constantly stepping off a mat with the involved leg, in a diagonal direction. At the end of the shift, I could hardly walk. I removed the mat. I changed the step direction (sometimes a pas de basque, sometimes a pas de bourree. I started wearing ergomates (anti-fatigue matting that straps onto shoes.) I continued ballet classes, doing each exercise up to the point of feeling fatigue in the involved leg. The pain began to leave.
At my six month check-up, the doctor could find no serious problem. Instead of hip surgery he recommended exercise to strengthen the muscles. He recommended exercise that "... use a pelvic lift," said he as he demonstrated a rather nice plea, porta bra, and passe (nice for a doc who had never seen ballet.) It's now a year and a half since I first saw the doc. The cane sits in the closet collecting dust. As long as I take regular ballet classes and wear the ergomates at work, I feel great. When I slack off of classes, my leg develops a wobble and hurts a bit. The same is true for my back. I took a fall decades ago that popped my back in two places. My back has always been weak and the 2 pops didn't help it. As long as I dance, I feel great. When I slack off, I start to slump, my involved leg joints pop & click, and I hurt. I've concluded that my bones don't hold me up. My muscles hold me upright. This has been my experience. Yours problem could be different. I'm not suggesting that ballet can cure all. I am suggesting that it is an option to consider.
Ballet, Treatment, and Healing:
There are now may illnesses that no longer require hospitalization, yet require extended treatment. Little if any research is available to say if ballet can help maintain strength during treatment. The following is one individuals experiences. It is hoped by sharing this, others will share, and a body of knowledge will develop.
5 years ago, I took a crash course in Chemo-Therapy & Radiation Therapy. There are many types of chemos and reactions to them vary from each individual to the next. Based on my experiences, it is better to move between chemo therapy treatments than not to move. My chemo was administered once every two weeks. On treatment day and the next, I did nothing. On the fourth day, I did a light barre. By the next week I was back to a mild light full class. Then the cycle started over. I lost a lot of function during the ordeal but not as much as I would have had I done nothing at all. The most amazing part was that I experienced no side effect for 48 hours after a class and felt my energy was restored by the class. I had to be very careful for my heart wanted to race. My rule of thumb was anything uncomfortable such as racing heart, stop and watch awhile. Radiation was different. I just slept. I lost a lot even though it was over in a month. Coming back from Radiation Therapy was difficult because muscles wanted to stretch at the ends rather than the middle - a feeling similar to tennis elbow. SLOW gradual stretching, taking beginning ballet class, rubbing the centers of muscles while stretching did the trick. It seemed I would never get back, then one day I kicked and my foot was over my head effortlessly. What a great feeling! I was back! (In truth, not back but ABLE to come back!)
During chemo-therapy I experienced peripheral nerve damage in my feet and legs. While in chemo I stuffed my feet in canvas dance boots rather than street shoes. My thinking was that chemo was causing swelling in my feet. Pressure of too large feet inside a too small street shoe could reduce circulation and increase nerve damage. The dance boots had more give and stretch than street shoes. I don't know if it helped because I don't know what my condition would have been had I put street shoes on during that period. I do know that the nerve damage was minor compared to several others who were receiving treatment at the same clinic. (The others were receiving different forms of chemo than I and that could have made the difference.) My nerves seemed to come back to life. After about four years, I went through a period of leg instability and muscle malfunction. I wondered if some of the nerves had come back making some muscles strong while others had not leaving some muscles weak. At any rate my solution was ballet barre, being extra careful to work all muscles evenly and I recovered.
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