I experienced knee pain in the beginning too. In my case I was incorrectly using a slight twisting motion in the knees in the attempt to achieve that beautiful flowing figure eight looking hip rotation I've seen Latino people use. In my case, my orthopedic DR found a slightly torn minscus, so make sure you are not using incorrect knee technique.

I also noticed increased pain while practicing turns, so even when I did return to practice, I limited or avoided turns too .I certainly didn't want damaged knees preventing me from dancing (which is my passion) or causing serious damage.

I stopped dancing for a while and took it easy until the pain went away. Then I began to practice just a little each day, stopping as soon as I felt even an inkling of pain. In other words I gradually built up my strength. A physical therapist friend also gave me some exercises to help build knee strength. Interestingly, I noticed that when I correctly used the inside of my foot (without twisting the knee) there was LESS stress on my knees than when my foot was placed using the middle of my foot. I hope I explined it well. I don't know the correct terminology.

I'm now able to dance without resulting knee pain. I'm told I have very nice Latin motion for a beginner.

Surely the experienced dancers here will have good advice, but perhaps my experience will be of some help too.

I am doing some research about ballroom dancing and injury prevention. I am interested in finding out specifically what type of stretches/exercises you do, how often you do them, and when you do them.

Latina. Are you making sure that your feet have the correct turn out and what is most important is that you don't let the knee follow the toe. The knee always points in the direction you are going. And from the front only one leg should be seen. That's if it is done properly. All of this is covered on Slavik's tape Inovation

Hello,
I'm in my mid-40s and have danced for 6 years with various injuries. If you have pain, my recommendation is to stop and take care of it immediately. This may mean just not dancing for a day, taking anti-inflammatories and using heat/ice. Don't ignore pain, as difficult as it is to stop or even just take it easy or you may end up further injured or have to deal with a permanent condition.

What kind of shoes are you wearing? Sometimes when I've had knee pain, it is because I'm wearing dance sneakers which can stick to the floor. If you don't have a good pair of dance shoes, I would recommend looking into that.

Take care of yourself and good luck!

Latindancelearner. I dont know if this will help. Slavik on his tape says
that the knee points in the direction you are going. With the feet turned out you will be using the inside edge without trying. Another point is that on a Rumba Walk looking at you from the front on only one leg should be seen. Seeing only one leg at a time will take care of the hip action. Keeping the knee pointing to the front will keep any unecassary strain off the knee. Here is a very simple excercice to teach which hip should be the highest. Stand feet apart left foot pointing to the side with the knee straight and the heel off the floor all the weight is over the right side with that knee absolutely straight. Which hip is up and the highest. Change sides . Which hip is now the highest. If you step forward instead of to the side the same action will take place as it will when you step back. All that now needs to be looked at is the nuetral position when going from one to the other. The very high instep as the foot goes close to the other will help. But keep that knee pointing in the direction you are going. All of this is covered on Slavik and Karina's DVD.Have Fun and remember Karen Hardy's advice. Practice Rumba Walks Forever.

Thanks for your advice.......

I would agree that if your in pain you should get advice from your doctor, in the mean time however be sure that the knee and hip joint follow the same alignment they should line up with the big toe when bearing full body weight. Also in the beginning try to limmit your practice time all tjings in moderation.

Danceintacoma, thank you for a simple to remeber and easy to do rule for protecting my knees when dancing. I've exercised vigorously all of my life, but never had knee pain until I started dancing.

For me, knee pain means I'm not doing something quite right. To prevent it, I try to make sure that I am keeping my toes turned out and allowing my ankle to articulate fully. I find that if my knees hurt, I tend to tense up the whole leg, but if the ankle isn't moving freely, it just transmits all the stress straight to the knee.

Please be extremely careful not to lock your knees with any type of motion. This will and does cause stress on the knees. I stress this to all of my students.