Is over-stretching dangerous or beneficial?

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As the competitive nature of dance has grown, so has the intensity with which dancers strive for perfection. In order to do so, dancers must tackle the many elements of dance, with flexibility being one they chase after with the most force. Many aspiring dancers spend hours on end stretching and working to achieve the desirable flexibility staples such as their over-splits and hyperextension thinking it will help them with their future careers in dance. However, the question is: Is over-stretching beneficial to dancer’s career or can it lead to injuries that force them out of their occupation? Many argue that it is a necessary in a professional dancer’s career, others say it can be detrimental, and some say that it is needs to be done within reason.
Before looking at whether over-stretching is right or wrong, one must understand why it is becoming more and more of an issue that needs to be addressed. It would be no surprise to anyone affiliated with the dance community that dance postures have become more extreme throughout the years, especially in disciplines such as ballet. Elena Daprati, Marco Iosa and Patrick Haggard traced the progressive changes in ballet body postures. They analyzed the variation in the flexibility range of professional ballerinas at the Royal Ballet in London by studying the average flexibility exercised throughout different performance put on by the company between the years 1962 and 2003. In their research, they found that the average angles that dancers extend to in general positions such as arabesque penchée and developé á la seconde increased greatly between 1962 and 2003 . Their findings showed that in 1962, the average angle of the studied ballet dancers’ working legs in relation to their standing l...

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... injuries, and hip arthroscopy in the athlete." Clinics in sports medicine 25.2 (2006): 279-292.
Daprati, Elena, Marco Iosa, and Patrick Haggard. "A Dance to the Music of Time: Aesthetically-Relevant Changes in Body Posture in Performing Art." PLoSO ONE. Internet Systems Consortium, 2009. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Harkness Center for Dance Injuries. "Common Dance Injuries." NYU Langone Medical Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.
Kreahling, Lorraine. "When Does Flexible Become Harmful? 'Hot' Yoga Draws Fire." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Mar. 2004. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Winston, Paul, et al. "Clinical examination and ultrasound of self-reported snapping hip syndrome in elite ballet dancers." The American Journal of Sports Medicine 35.1 (2007): 118-126.
Author, Unknown. "Tackling the Dangers of Dance." University of Wolverhampton. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

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