624 - Break A Leg: The Injury Risks and Overall Benefits of Recreational Adult Dance Classes

Thursday, February 19, 2026

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM AST

Presenting Author(s)

AM

Amber V. McKenna, MD

Resident Physician
University of Wisconsin Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Co-Author(s)

BW

Bonnie J. Weigert, MD

Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Submitter(s)

AM

Amber V. McKenna, MD

University of Wisconsin Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Objectives: Dance training is associated with a high risk for injuries in the pediatric population across multiple techniques and levels of training from recreational to pre-professional. This high injury rate continues in professional adult dancers, but less is known about recreational adult dancers. Classes for this population are becoming increasingly popular. In our area, there were 32 classes offered across 9 studios. Recent studies have shown recreational dance to be beneficial for specific health conditions including Parkinson's disease, dementia and depression. This study was developed to investigate injury risk and physical and mental health benefits of recreational dance in adults.

Design: We surveyed adult dance class participants at the nine local studio with adult classes for ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, tap or hip hop. We offered paper surveys or QR codes to anyone interested in participating. A consent waiver constituted the first page.

Results:

One hundred and twenty-four adult recreational dancers completed our survey. Two-thirds of dancers took one class per week (66%, 81/123). Seventy percent of respondents took one or more dance classes before age 18 (86/123). Fisher’s exact test showed a correlation between current age and having an injury as an adult (p=0.01) and an inverse correlation with current age and history of childhood injuries (p< 0.01). The most common injuries were to the knee (38%), back (32%, and ankle (21%). Ballet dancers had significantly more ankle (p=0.05) and knee (p=0.05) injuries than non-ballet dancers. Most adult dancers felt dance class was helpful for mental health/overall mood, energy level, anxiety, depression, balance, strength, overall fitness, and social network/friendships/sense of community.

Conclusions: Adult recreational dancers have a similar injury risk as childhood dancers. Consideration should be given to minimizing injury risk in this population. Recreational dance is helpful for mental health, physical health, and social health in adults.