Biomechanics and Injury Risk in Dance: A Bibliometric Analysis

Introduction There are many physical demands in dance which require intense training and whole body usage. As people continue to dance, injuries remain a primary issue. Research has associated injuries from dance with overuse, extensive training, and biomechanical risks which lead to pain, long-term physical and psychological effects, and even removal from dance. This bibliometric analysis aims to analyze global research of injury risks from dance movements. Methods A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science database to identify publications related to dance biomechanics and injury risks. A boolean search strategy was developed incorporating three conceptual domains without restrictions: (1) dance, (2) biomechanics, and (3) injury risk. VOSviewer was used to analyze publications by country, co-authorship networks, and collaboration patterns. Analysis on number of yearly publications and top cited authors were performed using Microsoft Excel. Results In total, 1,660 publications were identified. An overall increase in annual publications was found from 2002-2025 with the highest number, 110 publications, produced in 2018. The US produced the most publications (507), followed by England and China. The most common keywords found were “dance” and “biomechanics.” Co-authorship analysis identified three distinct networks of collaboration with author “Cortes, Nelson” serving as the primary connection. The top cited publication was produced by Bittencourt et al. in 2016 with 587 citations. Conclusion Research in dance movements and injury risks has grown over the years. Future research should emphasize expanding studies into other genres of dance while also focusing on ways to help prevent injuries in dancers.