What caused Ballet Studio E to find fault with or question how ballet is taught?
Studio Director Hillary Evans was tired of hearing the adage that “a dancer is always in pain”, and sickened by the idea that teens and young adults had to ‘just accept’ having physical pain and conditions usually only reserved for the elderly. She certainly didn’t want this to be a reality for her dance students. So, while still a dancer herself, she began examining causes and solutions for dancer’s unique injuries. She turned to established literature, the advice of respected physicians and medical practitioners in the field of dance and sports training, from orthopedic surgeons and podiatrists to physical therapists and dance therapists. What she learned is that many problems of dancers actually stem from their earliest dance training. Some of the most common problems are students using turn out ( the ‘v’ shape of the feet caused by lateral rotation of the legs from the hip socket) too soon, being given steps too advanced for their bodies, or too many classes as a whole. When Ms. Ev
