Its more frustrating than continual audition rejection, its more exasperating than the tirelessly competitive work environment, its more defeating than the occasional dry period of work. I am referring to the nightmare of injuring yourself as a performer. Nothing is more discouraging, of course physically, but also emotionally than the inability to do what you love (and support yourself financially) because of an accidental ailment. As someone who works in the stunt industry I’ve seen actors pause their careers for months or years at a time from shattered knees and torn shoulders….or worse, I’ve seen careers dwindle away entirely from injuries too serious to recover from.

Dancers, acrobats, and stunt artists continually push themselves to the limit and subject their bodies to painful abuse for the sake of a good show. How do we recognize when we’ve reached our limits, and when we do, how the heck are we supposed to stop?? What happens when you perform in a permanent Cirque show as an aerialist and you break your leg? You simply stop eating and paying rent for the next six months while your frail, damaged body tries to get back to the way it once was? And when it does heal, how much more likely are you to re-injure an already fragile body part?

Equally challenging is when a performer has a minor injury like sore wrist or a sprained finger. They deem the pain as simply a factor they must endure in order to keep their job, and they persist in tumbling on it several times a day, five days a week. This minor injury, when exposed to more abuse, will exponentially increase and lead to perhaps wildly more serious problems. My overall concern can then be summed up in one question: how responsible is the employing company for preserving the health and well-being of their performers?

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