The adolescent dancer: Special considerations

The elite adolescent Irish dancer experiences many challenges during periods of physical growth and maturation. Biological development does not affect dancers uniformly and chronological age is an unreliable representation of the physical maturation of the individual. Skeletal age, measured using x-ray, is commonly accepted as the most reliable measure of biological maturity. The adolescent growth spurt is a period of rapid somatic (bodily) development, which may render the dancer vulnerable to injury as well as deterioration in performance. Injuries involving the growth-plates during this phase can lead to long lay-offs and loss of practice time at a critical stage of any dancer's development. Teachers and trainers need to be mindful that dancers of the same chronological age may be at different stages of the maturation spectrum, with some dancers experiencing rapid growth that places them at a higher risk for adverse events such as injury. Simple strategies which should be employed by teachers and parents include taking regular height measurements to flag up periods of accelerated growth.