It seems intuitive that injury risk should peak at the highest-volume point of a season. Research suggests something more interesting: transition periods may be particularly sensitive. A systematic review and meta-analysis reported higher injury rates in the second and third months after returning to dance. That does not prove that every post-break period is dangerous, but it reinforces a familiar training principle: capacity and demand need to rise together.
During a break, a dancer does not lose technique overnight, but physical capacities and tolerance for repetition can change. When class, rehearsal, jumps and repertory all return at once, exposure may increase faster than readaptation. The problem is not load itself; preparation requires load. The problem is the speed at which load changes.
Measuring load in dance is still difficult. Rehearsal hours do not reveal how many jumps, how many repetitions of one variation or how much intensity occurred within them. Perceived exertion, session count, task type and the week's recent history can complement the clock. No single marker solves the problem, but recording something already improves collective memory about what happened.
For directors and teachers, transitions are moments for planning. Repertory can return in layers, jump volume can progress, and the next day's response can inform the next step. An intelligent schedule does not make dance less demanding; it distributes demand so that the body has time to become capable of it.