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Injury is a common occurance for many dancers around the world on a regular bases because of the intensity of the art form. Getting injured can be extremely frustrating for dancers, as it can make them unable to participate in some points of class or have to take a full recovery period when they have to completely rest and not train at all.

When you have an injury that limits the things you are able to participate in in class it can be extremely isolating and frustrating because you want to train and get better but you physically can't or aren't allowed to.

Because you are not able to participate in class you therefore can not progress and get better and this can be extremely annoying.

In ground based contemporary everything seems to link together seamlessly, starting with the basic shapes and foundations, this then leads on to bigger and more complicated movements. Starting with just the primary shapes then makes the new moves not so overwhelming and easier to manage. Not being able to follow the planned session and missing out on learning crucial movements is mentally challenging because although you want to, you can't and will inevitably become behind in the class, because you haven't been able to train in the same way that everyone else has, making it harder to catch up when you are eventually able to join in again.

An article called "And The Dance Goes On: Psychological Impact of Injury" says "To begin with, dancers are reluctant to acknowledge being injured for fear of being replaced in a performance and losing potential income. There is pressure from choreographers, peers, and the dancers themselves to continue to rehearse and perform despite pain and injury, simply because the show must go on." (Lynda M Mainwaring, 2001 : 105). I believe this to be a universal experience for many dancers, many of us will choose to ignore our injury's for fear of missing out and falling behind, and this is obviously not a good thing to be doing.

Going back into class after recovering from an injury can be scary and you may experience some of these challenges when going back into class. A Lot of dancers want to challenge themselves but find it hard to know when they are at their limit and stop because this could cause getting re injured.

Psychological challenges when coming back from an injury include : fear of getting re-injured, isolation and lack of confidence. You may feel that you have fallen behind everyone else because you haven't been able to participate fully in class, so you may loose some confidence and feel like you've missed out on a lot. You may also feel as though you need to take it easy when coming back into class, to make sure you dont get re-injured, making it even harder to make progress.

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I have been studying how sleep can affect an athlete's performance and how those who get the right amount of sleep will see improvement in their dancing quicker than those that don't.

The average athlete needs 7-9 hours of sleep per night, whereas the normal person needs only 6-8.

Getting enough sleep is crucial for a training athlete's life as it can help with your focus in class that can help you progress quicker in your dance and class.

Less than 6 hours of sleep for 4 or more nights has been shown to impair mood and performance in dance, making it harder to make progress.

Michael A Gradner's article “Sleep and sport” states that getting more sleep can have “significant improvements in... restfulness, and decreased fatigue” (Michael A Gradner, 2024) . This makes it easier to handle intense training session and continue to be focused and in the class when doing it.

However, sometimes people can find it hard to get to sleep… Some causes of sleep deprivation include:

Blue light - screens / certain lights contain them - using things like blue light glasses and putting ‘night mode’ on your phone helps to stop the blue light affecting you - making it easier to sleep.

Caffeine - caffeine stays in your system for up to 6 hours after you've had it, whether you think it does or not. Caffeine is in things like coffee, tea, and energy drinks. So, you should avoid having these in the afternoon, definitely not in the evening as they can affect your ability to go to sleep.

Getting the right amount of sleep is crucial for ground based contemporary, a lot of information is thrown at you in the class and having enough sleep allows you to be fully engaged in the class and focused, helping you to process this infomation easier and not become overwhelmed. This can help you take in information easier and quicker, helping you to progress quicker.

We do exercises in the centre near the beginning of class, starting at a slow pace and then doing it double speed. You need to be fully focused to get the sequence right as its so fast there is no time to think a lot about it. One of the sequences is shown below.

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Stretching and improving flexibility can be important for dancers as it can make certain moves easier to handle and effortless. Studies show that "High levels of flexibility and ROM are core elements in dance for optimizing versatility of movement." (Deighan, 2005 : 13)

In dance science we have been learning about different types of stretching, some of these include :

Static stretching - staying still whilst stretching to your maximum

Active - holding a stretch position on your own

Passive - static stretching held by something else ( partner, towel)

Consistently stretching will help improve flexibility and therefore help certain movements in class feel easier. For example in Ground based contemporary stretching your back will help with all the bridges and shoulder rolls (as shown below), making them feel slicker and easier to do in the exercises.

Multiple things can limit your flexibility and range of motion, some of these include : age , body temp, stress and emotional fatigue.

It is important to know when and how you should stretch. With contemporary you might want to save big static stretches for after the class so that you know your body is property warm and that you can handle a big stretch like that.

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Periodisation is the act of dividing a period of time into shorter periods (Cambridge dictionary).

Periodization in the dance scene refers to an " organized, planned gradual increase in training while alternating exercise and rest periods. The goal is to increase strength, flexibility, and balance leading up to the dance performance"

(Haas, 2020)

This is at London Contemporary Dance School to help with burnout and also to not get overworked. We use it throughout the week and the term - having two short weeks instead of a full week off to allow our bodies to rest but not let our fitness decline so that it is easier to get back into the swing of things when we do come back from our break.

It is also used in the week : we typically start off on Mondays with 2 physical classes and by Fridays there are about 4 or 5, so using periodisation helps to build up my stamina throughout the week so I am not exausting and overworking myself at the start of the week.

I really like that we use periodisation, it helps with my stamina and building my energy levels throughout the week without exausting them on the first day.

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For this submitive assignment I have chosen to focus on the class Ground Based Contemporary with Arran Green. I will be taking some topics that we have been learning about in dance science and explore how they link and affect ground based contemporary. The topics from dance science that I have chosen are : The psychological impact of injury, sleep and rest, and stretching and flexibility and I will be exploring in this assignment how they link back to Arrans Contemporary class.

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Cambridge University Press, 1995, Cambridge dictionary

Avaliable at : https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/periodization#google_vignette

Date of access : 6/12/24

Jacqui Haas, 2020, Dance Anatomy - 3rd edition

Avaliable at : https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/periodization-for-dancers?srsltid=AfmBOoqaooc-FlsbNp6dfHU5de49b8wIi9ViA4cQOlXfTx5nEbwvcQT5

Date of access : 8/12/24

Lynda M Mainwaring, 2001, Journal of dance Medicine and science

Avaliable at : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1089313X0100500402

Date of access : 24/11/24

Martine A.Deighan, 2005, Journal of dance medicine and science.

Avaliable at : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1089313X0500900103

Date of access : 6/12/24

Michael A. Grandner, 2024, Sleep and Sport: Physical Performance, Mental Performance, Injury Prevention, and Competitive Advantage for Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers

Avaliable at : https://www.michaelgrandner.com/book-sleepandsport.html

Date of access : 29/11/24