Have you ever consciously danced through pain? Or watched colleagues do it? The answer is most likely, “yes.” Dancers are notorious for forcing themselves to keep dancing, no matter what. Some level of pain is simply part of being a dancer. “You can’t tell a dancer to never dance with pain,” says Leigh Schanfein, MS, […]

Sore arches may be one of the peskiest pain spots dancers deal with. This small area on the bottom of your feet may seem minor, but it actually does a lot of work: Your arches are what allow your feet to support the weight of your entire body. While any sharp, unbearable pain should always […]

As the temperatures drop and sweater weather begins, most of us groan at the thought of chilly muscles and achy bones. Dancers know that a cold winter can make our bodies feel “off.” Dance Magazine tapped Dr. Thomas Sanders, a board-certified foot and ankle specialist at The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, to find out how […]

Pain is an inevitable part of a dancing life and dancers have a high tolerance for it, according to Sean Gallagher, a New York physical therapist whose practice includes many professional performers. “So when dancers complain, it really means something,” he says. But women and men experience pain differently, and tend to be treated for […]