Dancing Injury Free is a short guide that can be carried in your dance bag. The book comes from a Master's Thesis on Clogging Injuries for Dianne McGonegal's Master of Dance. Raw data was collected from a sample population of Modern Cloggers and Appalachian Cloggers.

The study showed that the most common injuries for Modern Cloggers are to the foot (metatarsal arches) and the most common injury for Appalachian Cloggers are to the knee. For those who do both kinds of dancing, the ankle gets injured more often.

Overuse, the wrong shoes, hard floor surfaces, lack of warm-up and lack of stretching lead to injuries.

The book is intended to keep you dancing longer, giving close attention to your body before dancing by warming up, stretching after you dance and not overusing your muscles. People over 40 must take even more precautions and not overuse the muscles. Listen to your body when it hurts, stop and rest.

Because clogging is a blending of many step dances, this book can be applied to any percussive dancer: tap dancers, Irish Step Dancers, Scottish Dancers, African Dancers, German Dancers, Native American Dancers, English Cloggers, Cape Breton Dancers et. al. The book discusses was to prevent injuries and ways to treat injuries after they happen.

For those who love to dance, use common sense, warm up the muscles before you dance, stretch the muscles after you dance, wear supportive shoes that slide easily, dance on wood floors that give if possible, and do not overdo. Read the book and keep dancing injury free.

For workshops on Dancing Injury Free, contact the author at 11410 Palace Circle, Germantown, MD 20876 - 301 353-8433.