Franziska Koch

Traumatic injuries in revue dancers

Revue productions are a combination of dancing and singing, musical and spoken sequences, and acrobatics, performed with or without a story line, and characterized by a versatility of dance styles and a high number of performances (over 250 in a 10-month season). The aim of this quantitative single cohort study is to evaluate work-related traumatic injuries in this dance genre. Data were obtained from work accident reports of the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the public sector in Berlin (UKB) involving 440 revue dancers (183 males and 257 females). Analysis was conducted with Excel 2007 and PASW Statistics 18. One out of three female dancers and one out of two male dancers sustained an acute injury in the course of a theatrical season (0.22 injuries per 1,000 hours). The incidence rate was 0.44 for males and 0.31 for females, with the lower extremity as the most commonly injured body region, followed by the spine. Of all occupational accidents, 75.1% happened on stage, with 69% during performances. The dance partner and dance floor were the most common exogenous factors resulting in a traumatic injury. Of all traumatic injuries, 81.7% occurred in the first 3 hours after starting work. Gender specific differences could be observed. Due to the limited availability of comparable studies of other forms of professional dance, in this study revue dance is largely considered as an independent genre.

Traumatic injuries in professional dance-past and present: ballet injuries in Berlin, 1994/95 and 2011/12.

OBJECTIVE The physical requirement profile for professional dancers has changed significantly during the past decades. The aim of this first comparative study is to present a differentiated analysis of work-related traumatic injuries sustained by professional ballet dancers at the end of the 20th century (1994/95) and now (2011/12). METHODS The data for evaluation were obtained from work accident reports (n=241; 1994/95, n=155; 2011/12, n=86) from three Berlin theatres. RESULTS An increase in incidence of injuries could be observed only in male dancers (0.3 injuries/yr in 1994/95 vs 0.4/yr in 2011/12). Numerous significant differences were found between injuries in the earlier time span and in the present. Movement contents resulting in traumatic injuries have changed. Furthermore, differences as to injury types, injured body region, nature of causes, dance activities prior to injury, and attitude after sustaining an occupational accident were observed. The lower extremity remained the most common injury site (66.7% in 1994/95 vs 57.0% in 2011/12, p=0.697. (The frequency rate of traumatic injuries to the spine has increased significantly (13.5% in 1994/95 vs 24.1% in 2011/12, p=0.026, (with injuries to the lumbar spine region more than tripled (5.8% vs 20.3% respectively). Few deviations were observed as to injury locations and organizational and time aspects (e.g., time of year of injury). CONCLUSION Dance is progressing as evidenced by the numerous aspects resulting in traumatic injuries. It is not organizational or time changes but rather work- and content-related factors that result in significant differences between past and present injuries.