Health Characteristics of the State Ballet of Georgia’s Artists

Abstract

Dancing involves a combination of body, mind, and emotions, which at first glance seems to be a simple process. In reality, this pleasant performance is followed by some physical injuries and pain. In any dance category, specially in case of difficult ones such as ballet, a set of biopsychosocial factors are involved, which affects ballet artists’ health condition. Ballet can, simultaneously, be a way of healing and dealing with stress, while being a cause for a number of serious illnesses. The following research aims to study the Health state characteristics of the State Ballet of Georgia’s artists. Methodology: In frames of the qualitative method, 7 in-depth interviews were conducted with ballet artists of the State Ballet of Georgia (4 foreign and 3 Georgian artists). Results and discussions: Despite a passion and love for ballet, there are numerous physical and psychological problems. Artists have to deal with constant pain. Postponed visits to medical centers are very common, as well as low levels of trust to family doctors. Physical activities, high risk of traumas, in addition to constant stress and stereotyped attitude from the society affects ballet artists’ biopsychosocial condition, which on the other hand, aggravates the already existing stress. Recommendation: In order to enhance the ballet artists’ biopsychosocial condition, improving their health condition, identifying characteristics of their stressors, visits to doctors and functioning of insurance is crucial. This will enable us not only to objectively evaluate characteristics of the risks typical to this profession but also will help us to take effective actions for improving the artists’ health condition.