So my girls are back and we are making up for lost time and missing each other! We had a little breakfast, a little shopping, and watched a little “So You Think You Can Dance.” Another week another injury. Three great dancers down. This spate of injuries is a first for the show and there is confusion as to why. Really? Well, let’s look at what’s changed. The format, that’s what! There is no luxury of a top twenty within which to build skills and stamina. A group of 10 young dancers go from 0 to 100 working full out on skills outside of their skill set with professionals working mostly within theirs. I just think that’s a recipe for injury. After all, about 65% of dance injuries are from overuse and an overwhelming 90% of injuries occur when a dancer is fatigued.
The elder daughter was a dancer for nigh on upon a gazillion years (ok, 13 years). I watched her body change to enable her to do more and more. However this growth was over years not days or weeks. The younger was a gymnast and again tricks and complexity were added as her body and mind were ready to tackle them.
And I guess I wonder why the format change anyway? Ratings? Seems to be since I can’t see how it really benefits the dancers. Sure, it’s great to dance with the all-stars and clearly they push the younger dancers, however they wind up with less time to learn as well as to strengthen their minds and bodies.
It’s important for any athlete (yes, dancers are athletes) to constantly assess where they are and how their body is handling what’s being asked of it. For instance how many hours are being danced each week? How many new styles of dance are being introduced to each dancer for which they don’t really have the technical expertise? Are they being provided sufficient warm up before rehearsals and/or performances? Do the dancers know how to warm up properly for the workload they are experiencing? Is there appropriate conditioning activities provided other than dance such as swimming, yoga, Pilates, gym aerobics? I know that there are limited hours in a week but if there isn’t enough time to make sure the dancers are safe then maybe ratings should take a bit of a back seat.
Given the injury waterfall, I think the SYTYCD producers owe it to the dancers as well as the public to evaluate the entire process. After all I’m not thinking that the public would have sent Alex or Ashley home.
Anyway, it’s just kind of troubling to me. Most of the time mucking with a TV show just impacts the quality of the show and though it may lead to a cancellation the actors are still able to go on to other projects. But if you muck with the format of a dance show, you just might be mucking with safety. Just a thought…
Some People’s Kids: Hard working. Talented. Young. Competitive.