Dancing Injury Free

Dancing Injury Free  is a short guide that can be carried in your dance bag.  The book comes from a Master's Thesis on Clogging Injuries for Dianne McGonegal's Master of Dance.  Raw data was collected from a sample population of Modern Cloggers and Appalachian Cloggers.

The study showed that the most common injuries for Modern Cloggers are to the foot (metatarsal arches) and the most common injury for Appalachian Cloggers are to the knee.  For those who do both kinds of dancing, the ankle gets injured more often.

Overuse, the wrong shoes, hard floor surfaces, lack of warm-up and lack of stretching lead to injuries.

The book is intended to keep you dancing longer, giving close attention to your body before dancing by warming up, stretching after you dance and not overusing your muscles.  People over 40 must take even more precautions and not overuse the muscles.  Listen to your body when it hurts, stop and rest.

Because clogging is a blending of many step dances, this book can be applied to any percussive dancer:  tap dancers, Irish Step Dancers, Scottish Dancers, African Dancers, German Dancers, Native American Dancers, English Cloggers, Cape Breton Dancers et. al.  The book discusses was to prevent injuries and ways to treat injuries after they happen.

For those who love to dance, use common sense, warm up the muscles before you dance, stretch the muscles after you dance, wear supportive shoes that slide easily, dance on wood floors that give if possible, and do not overdo.  Read the book and keep dancing injury free.

For workshops on Dancing Injury Free, contact the author at 11410 Palace Circle, Germantown, MD 20876 - 301 353-8433.

I was first told about clogging at a church movement training workshop for kids.  I first saw clogging at the 1983 Greater Washington Area Folklore Society Folk Festival.  I loved it and took lessons immediately, hurt my metatarsal arches (foot bones).  It happened because I wore the wrong shoe (hard clogs) and danced on the wrong floor (hard tile) and did not do any warm-ups.  After getting cortisone shots in my feet and wrapping my feet, I was able to get my feet together to take more lessons from every clogging teacher in the Washington Metropolitan, Baltimore area.  It became my passion.  All clogging groups were full so I started my own group, The Cranberry Cloggers.  We used to practice on the outside stages at Glen Echo before and after the Friday and Sunday night dances. I also spent part of my summer vacation at Augusta Heritage Workshops in Elkins, West Virgina studying clogging, step dancing and dance.   I decided to go back to the University in dance so I could learn how to keep from being injured and keep dancing.  I learned the Alexander techniques and studied exercise physiology and did my Master’s thesis on Clogging Injuries, thus the beginning of this guide book.  The actual production of the guide got delayed about 10 years because of life events: illnesses, divorce, separations, children’s needs, deaths, injuries, name changes, move residences, new group, college tuituion of kids, etc. etc. etc.  The information is still valid and good.  Enjoy and keep Dancing Injury Free.

Dianne McGonegal