BELLYDANCE DANGER
There are two areas expressly vulnerable to severe disability through belly dance: The lower back and the knees. The lower back is especially adversely affected when dancers hyperextend it.
The ideal position for the spine is to have the lower back in an upright position. Hyperextension occurs when the pelvis is instead tilted backward. The muscles of the lower back shorten in order to arch the buttocks backwards. It is a habit that can produce profound spine injury that often doesn't show up until after years of misuse. That delay makes hyperextension a particularly dangerous posture but unfortunately one too frequently seen.
Of all dance styles, belly dance is unusually susceptible to hyperextension. Here are two examples:
- With Raks Sharki and cabaret dance arching the lower back creates a stylized "sexy, come hither" look. You often see it when dancers spin.
- American Tribal dance style (also known as FatChanceBellyDance style) adopts a dramatic proud stance with a dominantly lifted chest. Often that is unconsciously accompanied by lower back hyperextension.
Hyperextension psychology:
Arching the lower back creates an aura of attraction. It is a popular performance attitude, used by some of the most fantastic dancers. It is a teasing gesture that often has a sexual undertone. It is a complex physical attitude: you are lifting the chest prominently while moving the pelvis backward, away from your audience. From a psychological point of view, that is fascinating. But it comes at great cost. It is possible to generate the same kind of performance persona using techniques that are safer for the body.
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The dancer on the left is hyperextended.
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The physical logic of hyperextension:
It's easier to keep the chest lifted: If the lower back is arched, the chest automatically lifts. When the lower back is in its proper upright position, complex muscular action is needed to keep the chest lifted. So arching is in essence a short cut to a proud posture.
The abdominals don't have to work as hard: The pelvis should ideally be supported equally on the front and the back. When hyperextending, the lower back muscles are used more heavily than the abdominals, resulting in significant strain on fragile spinal support musculature. Much less abdominal effort is required. One of the reasons imbalance is created is that the lower back muscles are not designed for heavy work while the abdominals are. If anything, effort should be reversed with the abdominals taking on the principal role.
Knee stiffness pushes the buttocks further backward: The next time you have to stand for a while, check your self out in a mirror in profile. Your knees will probably be locked with your rear accentuated and your abdominals bulging forward. Stiffening the knees is a natural reaction to a number of things, fear, boredom and anxiety among them.
The abdominals don't have to work as hard: The pelvis should ideally be supported equally on the front and the back. When hyperextending, the lower back muscles are used more heavily than the abdominals, resulting in significant strain on fragile spinal support musculature. Much less abdominal effort is required. One of the reasons imbalance is created is that the lower back muscles are not designed for heavy work while the abdominals are. If anything, effort should be reversed with the abdominals taking on the principal role.
Knee stiffness pushes the buttocks further backward: The next time you have to stand for a while, check your self out in a mirror in profile. Your knees will probably be locked with your rear accentuated and your abdominals bulging forward. Stiffening the knees is a natural reaction to a number of things, fear, boredom and anxiety among them.
Softening the knees is a fantastic "trick" to shifting the lower back into an upright position and reversing hyperextension tendencies.
Why is hyperextension dangerous?
Hyperextension occurs mainly in the lumbar area of the spine: The major spinal structure of the lower back is the sacrum, 5 vertebrae which have fused together. There is very little mobility in the sacrum, so to arch the spine backwards forces movement into the first joints above the sacrum, the lumbar joints. The lower lumbar joints are very vulnerable to inflammation. They are stressed throughout our lives for different reasons. Chronic hyperextension severely taxes the lumbar joints, damaging the cartilage and increasing nerve inflammation. Persistent misuse of these joints can result in major nerve pain and inflammation, many times surfacing only years later. Conditions like sciatica, herniated disks, pinched nerves become common. Spinal surgery is sometimes required.
The problem with symptoms like these is that life becomes difficult, dancing impossible. Lower back nerve inflammation creates a terrible kind of pain that can make even walking difficult. And years of this kind of disability may happen before relief can arrive, if it does.
Don't set yourself up for it.
Learn to protect your lower back.
Learn to protect your lower back.
The trouble doesn't show up until it is too late.
This is one reason it is so important to study with a teacher who insists on proper alignment using safe and correct dance technique.
Some people can get away with it.
Some professional dancers can use hyperextension as one of their skills. You will find that those dancers are very, very muscular and have excellent abdominal tone all the time. Their muscles are strong enough to protect their spine.
The fallacy that I see at work sometimes in classes taught by teachers of this level of ability is that their students are not as strong and for students to use the same type of styling engenders substantial risk for future injury.
One example of a teacher who refuses to hyperextend her lower back is Suhaila Salimpour. She very strongly teaches that the lower back should be held in an upright position as much of the time as possible. She teaches that core strength is necessary for proper alignment. She is an excellent example of what she teaches.
The fallacy that I see at work sometimes in classes taught by teachers of this level of ability is that their students are not as strong and for students to use the same type of styling engenders substantial risk for future injury.
One example of a teacher who refuses to hyperextend her lower back is Suhaila Salimpour. She very strongly teaches that the lower back should be held in an upright position as much of the time as possible. She teaches that core strength is necessary for proper alignment. She is an excellent example of what she teaches.
Getting relief from hyperextension:
- Stretch out your lower back whenever it gets stressed or tired. The Building Better Balance lower back technique is absolutely marvelous at easily releasing lower back stress and improving its health. The exercise series is seated, requires little effort and is amazingly successful. A link is provided below.
- Keep your knees released: Whenever your back bothers you, check your knees.
- Practice good posture: Practice holding the belly in while lifting the chest and keeping the lower back upright. Experience how that stance feels different from your "normal".
- Increase abdominal strength, especially the lower abs.
- Practice keeping the chest lifted all the time. Keep the lower back upright at the same time. What muscles do you need to use to keep the chest lifted? Think of a bird cage being embedded under the front of the chest, lifting upward.
- Increase upper back strength: Weightlifting is excellent at accomplishing this.
Relevant related articles:
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Exercises to relieve lower spine stress.
Wonderful processes for the spine. Easy exercise for lower back health. Use of dermatomes to diagnose. To vastly improve joint health. Best dance practices. |
Published June 1, 2023.