Dealing with a dance injury? Dr. Brian Goonan, a Houston-based psychologist who works with dancers, gives advice on refocusing your emotions when you’re on the road to recovery. Reflection over criticism It’s normal for dancers to slip into a spiral of “shoulda-woulda-coulda” after an injury. “You don’t want it to happen again, so you’re trying […]

It felt like fabric ripping in my shoulder. In spring of 2019, while on tour with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Florida, I slipped on some sweat during a solo in Esplanade and landed shoulder first. I couldn’t lift my arm for the rest of the last section, a series of catapults across the […]

It was Boston Ballet’s first full run-through of its upcoming show, Kylián/Wings of Wax. As he prepared with a plié for a big saut de basque, principal dancer Paulo Arrais, 32, heard a Velcro-like sound and suddenly fell to the floor. He went into a state of shock, hyperventilating and feeling intense pressure on his […]

For dancers, few things are as worrisome as the thought of a career-ending injury. But when that nightmare becomes a reality, how do you readjust to life without the part that made you whole? And what can you uncover in this fight to discover your new identity and place in the world? These questions and […]

Ankle injuries in dance are extremely common, but not all are created equal. When can you simply R.I.C.E.? And when do you need to seek professional advice? You don’t want to miss a potentially severe injury such as a fractured bone. Here are three warning signs that you should see an expert: 1.You can’t dance […]

It felt like something out of a movie. One week before our studio’s yearly benefit concert, my dance friends and I stood awkwardly at a local high school party when the music to our competition-dominating jazz routine came on. Obviously, we had to perform. Just as we finished with a synchronized strut, my flip-flop slipped […]

I’d been a professional dancer for five years when I realized the pain I’d been feeling in my hip and down my sciatic nerve was not going away. I had been treating it for two years as we dancers do—with regular visits to my masseuse, physical therapy, baths, ice and lots of Aleve—but I never […]

In my last years dancing, the tears came constantly. And I felt a deep shame and embarrassment every time it happened in the studio, which only exacerbated the situation. I felt my tears were giving me away—a manifestation of my weakness on display for all to see. The truth is that science has proven that […]