Avoiding Injury from Belly Dance

If it hurts, don't do it!

Maybe you're doing it wrong, and your teacher can correct your technique. Maybe you're doing the move correctly, but your muscles lack the strength to execute it properly at this time. Or maybe your particular body is simply not able to do this move due to previous injury, surgery, or just plain structure.

In any event, if you feel pain, stop immediately and find out why. No dance move is important enough to risk injury!

Most people understand that poor posture can look bad, so it's no surprise when a dance teacher corrects rounded shoulders and slumped stances. But there's another reason for using good posture -- in some cases, bad posture can cause injury!

Many women, in particular, are accustomed to standing with their rears protruding in the back. That's because a woman in high heels needs to push her buttocks to the back just to keep her balance.

The problem is that when she's not in high heels, a dancer still adjusts her body into the position she is accustomed to. As a result, when flat-footed she still tries to push her buttocks behind her, which leads to a dangerous arch in the lower back.

If you try to do hip accents and shimmies with your lower back excessively arched and your bottom thrust behind you, you risk damage to your sciatic nerve. A damanged sciatic nerve can lead to a lifetime of lower back pain.

So what is the correct posture for avoiding injury? Here's what you should practice:

• Feet. Stand flat-footed with feet a small distance (about shoulder width) apart.
• Knees. Gently relax the knees, so there is some bounce to them.
• Pelvis Angle. Rotate the pelvis so that the triangle formed by the two points on the front of the pelvis and pubic bone points directly down to the ground. Another way to visualize this: thrust the hips forward, and then keep them there. Feel the extension in the lower back. This is the most important point for preventing lower back injury!
• Chest. Pretend the breastbone (sternum) is attached to a puppet string, and the puppeteer is lifting directly up. This will open up the lower abdomen.
• Shoulders. If the shoulders are pointing forward, draw them back on each side so that a line passing through them would be straight, not an arc.

After assuming the above posture, ask a friend or family member to check your shoulders to make sure they form a horizontal line, and check your lower back to make sure the spine through the lower back is straight, not arched.

Floor work looks wonderful, but certain moves can lead to knee injury. If you have any history of knee trouble, ask a doctor or physical therapist to advise you before trying any floor work moves.

Many dancers bang their knees as they descend to the floor or perform floor-based movements.

For example, consider the knee walk in this photo where you start from a kneeling position, reach forward with one foot, then draw yourself forward onto that leg until its knee reaches the floor. It can be risky if you don't take care to give your knee a gentle landing, yet some dancers bang their knees as they crawl from leg to leg. When doing floor work, consider wearing athletic kneepads under your pantaloons to cushion your knees. (You should be wearing pantaloons anyway to prevent your floor work moves from exposing your crotch to public view.) If your pantaloons are sheer, choose flesh-colored kneepads. PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by John Rickman, San Jose, California.

One dance move that is especially dangerous for your knees is the Turkish backbend, shown in this photo to the right. Although this move looks really great, it puts incredible stress on the knees. One time after I performed a Turkish drop, which consists of spinning and dropping abruptly into this position, I had knee pain for the next 2 months. The best advice for safety is, "Don't do it!"

If you, like me, can't resist doing these backbends, here are some tips to make them as safe as possible:

• Build Leg Muscle Strength. Before ever attempting this backbend, spend several weeks performing daily exercises to strengthen both the front and the back of the leg muscles. If you have access to a gym, use the leg extension and leg curl weight machines. Otherwise, use toe touches (try to touch your forehead to your knees while keeping your legs straight) to build the muscles in the backs of your legs. To build muscles in the front, especially in your thighs, kneel on the floor with your torso upright. Slowly lean back just a little, with your body tracing a straight line from your knees through the top of your head. Hold this position as long as you can--you'll soon feel the pull in your thigh muscles.
• Build Abdominal Strength. Use sit-ups or crunches to build strength in your abdominal muscles.
• Work Up To It. Before you ever attempt your first backbend, perform the above exercises daily for several weeks to build strength and flexibility in your leg muscles.
• Use Knee Pads. When you're ready to try the backbend, either wrap your knees in an athletic bandage, or put on athletic kneepads. Your knees will thank you for the support!
• Don't Bang Your Knees On The Floor. Whether you descend gradually to the floor or perform a dramatic Turkish drop, avoid banging your knees on the way down. Learn to absorb the impact spread across the surface of your shins.

Your neck is very delicate. An injury can give you a lifetime of pain or partial paralysis. Treat your neck with respect.

Many belly dancers like to do hair tosses, especially when performing the Khaleegy women's dance shown below, raks al nasha'ar. (This is the dance that some teachers refer to as "Saudi".)

The problem is that this move can be dangerous. In one dancer I know, it actually caused a condition known as "dissection" of a neck artery, where the inner wall detaches and bunches up, creating a partial blockage, a type of stroke. This interferes with flow of blood to the brain.

Too many dancers simply watch someone else do a hair toss, then start tossing their own without first building strength in the neck. If you want to add this move to your dance repertoire, try doing these exercises every day to prepare your neck:

Forward And Back. Following the posture advice above, stand in place, arms dangling at your sides. Bring your chin down to your upper chest as far as it can go without sacrificing the shoulder position described above. Hold it in position for a few counts. Next raise your chin and tilt your head back as far as it can go. Do this in a slow, controlled fashion. Avoid abrupt movement. Repeat these forward and back positions several times. Side To Side. Check your stance to ensure your rib cage and shoulders are still in position as described above under posture. Tilt your head toward the left, as if trying to touch your left ear to your left shoulder. Be careful not to raise your shoulder to meet it! Feel the stretch in your neck on the opposite site as you hold the position for a few counts. Gently bring your head back to the upright position, then repeat the move on your right side. Do this a few times. Head Slides. Check your stance to ensure your posture is still correct. Now, looking straight forward and keeping your head upright, move your entire head horizontally to the right. If you had a pen attached to each ear, it would draw a straight horizontal line, parallel to the floor. Be careful not to tilt your head toward your shoulder, and be careful not to hunch your shoulder. Now repeat the same move to your left. Do several. Feel the stretch in your neck as you go gently from side to side.

Do just a few of the above exercises first, then over time slowly build the number of repetitions as you gain strength.

Whenever you start practicing hair tosses, try to avoid circular motions that involve tilting your head toward one shoulder, then toward the back, then toward the other shoulder. It's okay to circle across the front, but circling across the back is risky. That combination of tilt and rotation across the back can cause neck injury.

Take it easy when you first start doing hair tosses. Do just a couple, then stop. One time I performed hair tosses in a show without having first built up the strength, and my neck hurt for over a week afterward!

If you have practiced or performed hair tosses, pay careful attention to your overall health for the next week. In particular, watch for headaches, vomiting, neck pain, vertigo, disorientation, and loss of balance - any of these could be a symptom of dissection of the artery. If any of this happens, go to an emergency room and be prepared to tell the doctors that you may have experienced a neck injury.. Another thing to watch for is pain in the neck vertebrae area - this could signal injury to the spine in this area, and if you experience it I'd advise going to see an orthopedic specialist.

The first time you find yourself in a hospital's emergency room as a doctor digs a glass bead from someone else's costume out of your foot, you'll understand why I'm advising you to wear shoes.

Many people believe belly dancing should be performed barefoot. Some say it's because people historically would have done this dance barefoot in the countries where it originated. Others use it for sacred exploration and feel the need to connect to Mother Earth. Still others simply want to avoid the limitation that rigid soles put on movement.

Suit yourself. I personally wear Hermes sandals every time I perform. When I want a barefoot look, I wear tan ones. This style of sandal can be spray-painted gold or silver for a fancier look, and its soft sole gives the barefoot feeling without the risks. Some dancers replace the lacing with satin rattail cord in a color to match their costumes. I find that wearing the sandals makes me less likely to stub my toe on an uneven dancing surface, less likely to catch athlete's foot from other people, and less likely to get a glass bead in my foot. The photo to the right shows me wearing a silver-colored pair of these. PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by William M. Smith, Sunnyvale, California. Capezio, Danshuz, and Leo all manufacture the Hermes sandals. You might alternatively consider ballet shoes, Scottish ghillies, or ballroom dance shoes.

Although it's true that historically women performed Oriental dance barefoot, the 20th century ushered in an era where Egyptian dancers wore shoes for their shows to demonstrate that they were wealthy enough to afford them. Famous Lebanese dancer Nadia Gamal wore high heels to seem taller and consequently popularized towering heels throughout the entire Lebanese dance community. So, wearing shoes is ethnically correct! If you watch Oriental dance performed in Turkey, Lebanon, or Egypt today, you're almost certain to see the dancer wearing high heels.

Avoid practicing spins either barefoot, in your stocking feet on a carpeted surface, or in shoes such as sneakers that grip the floor. Instead, wear dance shoes whose soles are designed to not grip the floor, such as ballet shoes, Scottish ghillies, or dance sandals.

Here's why: if your sole encounters too much friction with the floor when you spin, then you run the risk of painfully twisting your knee joint. Ouch! Shoes with slippery soles are the safest footwear for spinning.

You'll know you have a well-informed, safety-minded belly dance teacher if she encourages the posture I described above, corrects your technique, offers exercises for building strength in the muscles needed to perform dance moves, and warns you of the injury risks.

Teachers who encourage arched backs and fail to warn you of injury risks may be hazardous to your health. It's your body, and you have a right to keep it healthy. When your teacher corrects your technique, take her advice to heart, and don't feel embarrassed by the attention. If your teacher tries to get you to do something that feels "wrong" or scares you, get another opinion.

• Dear Shira: Learning Backbends. More advice on learning how to do backbends.

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