Contingency plans that support dancers’ mental and physical health
By Emily Hansel
While dancing in a recent performance, I experienced a somewhat minor, recurring injury mid-show. I was in minor discomfort for the rest of the show. I finished the performance without much modification of the choreography and returned for a full day of performances the following day. I am fairly used to this particular injury occurring and then healing within a matter of days. But this time it did not heal so quickly. In retrospect, I’m wondering if I should’ve taken a day off to rest. Instead, I danced on the injury, making it worse and extending the amount of recovery time.
The production closed eight days after my onstage injury, and it was after the run concluded that I began to wonder if my injury was a more serious matter than I’d previously considered. What if every time my little injury happens it’s actually causing damage that will one day accumulate into something serious that I could’ve prevented? It strikes me as odd that I didn’t even let myself ponder this issue during the run of the performance. I held an important role in the show and because I wasn’t feeling intense pain, I felt it was my responsibility to continue performing. I enjoyed doing the show and didn’t want to miss out on dancing for a live audience. I didn’t have an understudy and didn’t want to leave the company in a lurch. Not to mention, my contract stated that I would not be paid for shows I did not complete, and I wanted to receive my full fee for the gig. It was a no-brainer and wasn’t even a conscious decision to continue performing for another week.
As I write this all out, I’m thinking my experience might be coming across as more dramatic than it felt. Realistically, this type of dancing with a minor injury is a commonplace, borderline mundane occurrence that many dancers experience on the reg. (I’m speaking specifically to my expertise as a dancer and choreographer in the realm of ballet and contemporary concert dance.) Whether it’s attending rehearsal while ill or performing on a sprained ankle, whether it’s a sense of obligation to one’s self, one’s castmates, company leadership, or an audience, the pressure to dance while sick or injured can be strong.
Choreographers, directors, and other leaders can help mitigate this pressure by embracing adaptability and making contingency plans from the outset of a process or project.
In the situation I detailed above, I would’ve felt supported by having an understudy or second cast. This would’ve allowed me to take one day off to heal and prevent my injury from growing worse without feeling guilty about making company leadership scramble to find a new dancer to fill in—or guilty about leaving my fellow castmates in the virtually impossible situation of integrating a brand new dancer into the show with no rehearsal time. Of course, hiring understudies or double casting a show requires forward thinking and budgeting from the start of the project.
Alternatively, as a choreographer, I tend to make abstract work for which an understudy contingency plan would not be a logical solution. If I were preparing for a performance and any dancers left the process, I’d readily proceed with fewer dancers, rather than insert a new person and teach them the steps that someone else was doing. My choreography is not so much about the steps or the number of people onstage as it is about the process and the individuals in it.
Before choreographing or directing a new project, decide whether or not it’s the kind of piece where you might benefit from hiring one or more understudies. If the dance steps themselves and the number of people doing them are important to you, you run the risk of being devastated if a dancer drops out. It’s likely the dancers will be fully aware of this fact and will face avoidable pressure to dance through mental or physical illness or injury.
When crafting a budget for a new project, include a line for dancer sick pay. Offering sick pay can help relieve dancers from feeling obligated to attend rehearsal when they are sick or injured but feel they could power through if needed. Beyond simply offering sick pay, inform dancers how to exercise it and encourage them to use it. Celebrate—rather than penalize—dancers for using their sick pay to attend to their mental or physical health.
Offer flexible means and modes of participation and engagement in the rehearsal process. This could include participation via video call, participation via independent remote work, or participation from a chair or stationary position. If a dancer is injured and/or their abilities shift for a long period of time, offer to work out modifications to the movement or create new choreography to accommodate their new access needs. Try to approach changes like this as creative constraints to guide the choreographic process forward, rather than hindrances that slow it down. I understand this approach can be difficult, given that sometimes dancer injury can initially feel more like a devastating blow rather than an exciting opportunity. I suggest faking it till you believe it and using language around your dancers and collaborators to portray a positive spin rather than a negative one.
Ultimately, respect a dancer’s decision to drop out of a project if they decide it’s the best way to support their health and happiness. Applaud dancers for being forthcoming about their health, injuries, and other access needs. Prioritize adaptability throughout the entire length of a creative process. Let’s think about our “back-up plans” as “equally valuable and totally plausible possibilities.”
Thanks to Theresa Knudson, Jetta Martin, Samuel Melecio-Zambrano, and LizAnne Roman Roberts for dreaming in the dressing room with me.
Emily Hansel is a San Francisco-based dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, arts administrator, and dancer advocate.
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Related articles by Emily Hansel:
Relearning Agency: A Dancer’s Call for Collective Action
Cultivating Healthy, Equitable Workplaces for Dancers
Empowering Dancers through Contracts
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