Use of the Theraband For Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes

There are many uses for the therabands, so I'll discuss a few here, focusing on the feet, toes and ankles. If you are already doing pointe work, these exercises will enhance your precision of technique, save your calf muscles from over-work, and increase your gracefulness in pointe shoes. Most ballet stores carry some brand of stretchy bands, and they can be ordered on line as well.

If you are in a pre-pointe class, or organizing your own pre-pointe practice, you can learn four basic exercises to strengthen the sole of the foot muscles, and then do them with a stretchy band. Feet and ankles must be strong enough before starting pointe work, for slow releves through the metatarsal area, and slow controlled lowering, without any sickle in or out of the ankle joint.

"Toe swapping" is done starting with the feet flat on the floor. Simply lift the big toes up, leaving the foot and the other toes flat. Do not lean the foot toward the big toes, the sole of the foot should rest on the floor with no twisting. Place the big toes down, and lift the other four toes. You may cramp, in which case stop and roll your foot over a tennis ball or pinkie ball, to relax the muscles.

Do this 10 times, a total of twenty lifts. Initially, you may find that your brain can't even find the muscles to do this precisely - but your brain-to-foot communication will improve. When your movements are precise, you can add the stretchy band. Sitting down with your legs straight in front of you, flex the feet and place the stretchy band behind the toes.

"Playing the piano" with the toes is just like it sounds - lift all toes to start, and place the big toe, the next toe, the next and so forth. Do the reverse, lifting the little toe, the next, and so forth. Relieve cramping if necessary, and do both movements 10 times each.

Once your movement is well-defined, add the stretchy band, sitting, feet and toes flexed, with the band behind the toes. Your toes will keep contact with the band, with more resistance when pressing against it. If you use the band before your movement is exact, it will not do much good. Try it and you'll see why, nothing really happens.

For ankles, if you are wobbly going up and down in slow releves, in soft shoes, you are not strong enough to be in pointe shoes. You must check your overall posture, use of the core muscles, turnout and how your feet rest on the floor when flat. Wobbling can be for many reasons. But, back to the ankles,

If you get corrections for sickling in where your weight goes towards the outside of your foot: sitting, legs straight, loop the band around your right foot, at the metatarsal area. Hold the band ends with your left hand. Pull the foot outward, and you will feel the muscles on the outside of the foot/ankle area working. Pull and hold for 10 seconds 10 times. Repeat other side.

If you go up onto demi pointe or pointe and your weight leans onto your big toe, you would loop the band and pull your foot inward, working the muscles on the inside of the foot/ankle area.

Another strengthening exercise is (sitting, legs straight out in front) to slowly stretch the feet, splaying the toes apart and stretching them long.(Meaning, DO NOT CURL YOUR TOES). You can use the theraband around the metatarsal area for resistance, except for one instance. If you have highly mobile ankle joints, repetitive pointing and compressing a pointed position can irritate the back of your ankles. You do not need that particular movement at all. You DO need to increase strength in the soles of the feet and to control slow rises with no loss of ankle control.

If you are a late starter or adult beginner in ballet, start these exercises now. Doing them 5-6 days a week will diminish the gap between your understanding of ballet technique, and the strength needed to do it.

In your slow releves onto pointe, and back down, your ankle should not lean or change angle in any way. If your big toe is much longer, you can use toe levelers in your pointe shoes. If your second toe is longer, you need to fit the shoes so that it can straighten, using padding for your other toes.

So three things: get strong, get control, prevent shin splints and other dance injuries.

Even with exactly the right fit in ballet pointe shoes, the shoes lend SUPPORT, the feet provide the CONTROL.

Get The Perfect Pointe Book - it is a wonderful complete dancer's guide for those who want to get into pointe shoes faster and more safely.

How to Learn a Ballet Style Workout at Home

A concern many dance teachers share is the learn-ballet-online concept. Learning ballet from scratch without a teacher is simply not a realistic goal. In fact, the chance of avoiding a dance injury is almost nil. If you cannot get into a ballet class, there are many styles of full body workouts that fulfill the healthy requirements for building muscle, flexibility, and rejuvenating yourself.

I've looked at many ballet workouts that you can rent or buy on DVD. They are suitable for retired professionals or advanced students who know what they are doing. Although some come with ballet instruction for the basics like plies and tendus, it is a basically look and copy format. I do not see how anyone can get any good out of this.

Most people want to feel the elegance and grace of movement and that is why they choose ballet. Yet there is no such experience to be had struggling along with a routine that you don't understand.

The basic Pilates DVDs could be learned if a viewer studies every detail carefully. Pilates is wonderful for the elongating movements of the limbs, and careful strengthening of the core muscles. However, I still recommend classes to get you started, and more classes when you feel you can do a more advanced routine. When is that? Not when you get a little mentally bored with your routine, but when your body can do it easily and you need more challenge to your muscles.

At that point, it is best to go to a basic class, and tell the teacher you feel you are ready to do more, but that you want to make sure you are doing everything right before you move on.

The Classical Stretch DVDs are excellent for getting a good explanation of the exercises, and also getting the basic version suggested that you can do if you are not ready to do what you are looking at. The routines are developed with a balletic style and are also elongating. They combine ballet and Pilates and also draw from Tai Chi a little.

There is even a Classical Stretch DVD to help you improve your golf swing!

The how-to-learn-at-home scenario is a very individual thing. Depending on your background with exercise and ballet training, you can certainly find something. (if you have health issues or previous injuries, check with your health practitioner). Look at the reviews on the products you like, and start carefully. That will do the best for your muscles and help you avoid injuries.

You can look at many workout DVDs here with descriptions and reviews.

Ballet Pointe Shoes For the Lower Arch

Many young would-be ballerinas are reaching for the top in their dreams, for the beautiful pink satin pointe shoes and Swan lake tutus. Then they get into ballet class, and eventually into pointe shoes and their feet just don't look quite right. Did something go wrong? No, but they just bumped into the wall of Fashion in ballet. And then they go on to learn......

.....that this is something they cannot change, at least not very much. The truth reveals itself - their feet will never, never, point like - well, like most dancers that you see in a professional ballet company.

Oh woe. And beyond woe. This is true heartbreak for the aspiring ballerina. Not only are young dancers chosen for professional ballet school training largely on their physical attributes (because most teachers sitting in on auditions do not necessarily know how to spot real talent, or the young auditionee in question just does not do a good audition that day), but let's face it, high arches in the top curve of the foot are - Ballet Fashion.

This really, truly sucks. It is is SO not fair. But, there is always hope.

I still continue to see that choreographers as well as teachers are addicted to physique, in ballet. Too bad for them.

I am amazed that not one person in my personal circle of friends has a yearly subscription to a ballet company, even though I am dazzled at the sheer NUMBER of ballet companies in this country. There is definitely a growing job market.

Here's the thing. If you have those lower arches that do not curve on top of your foot - there are 2 things you must do:

1. Get really strong in your feet so that you can do everything better than - everybody.

2. Find the exactly right fit and kind of pointe shoe that will support and show off your foot to its best advantage.

A place to start is with: Gambas, which are much softer than, say, Freeds. Try on every vamp height, and width that you can, in your local ballet store.

Try the Bloch Amelie which has a graded shank, for more subtle use of "going through the foot", a slightly V-shaped vamp, and gently curved insole.

But try every pointe shoe that you can. Get the latest and best professional manuals on preparing for pointe work. Let ballet fashion accommodate YOU.

Reaching for the top is the nature of artists. A foot muscle or two may have to be worked on. Ballet class is your routine opportunity. Ballet and pointe shoes can present obstacles - or your path to fulfillment. Is it your sole or your 'soul of art' that will be ultimately judged? Do your best, and do not lose your inspiration to succeed.

Go here to get an overview of the available ballet shoes, pointe shoes, ballet wear and professional ballet manuals that will help you fulfill your ballet dreams.

Understanding Muscle Function and Correct Posture in Ballet

Understanding how one can build strength in ballet class, stretch safely, and get the core muscles correctly applying classical ballet technique, enhances the amazing potential you have to enjoy and effect health and weight loss or gain. Every ballerina has done the same things you can do in ballet, to progress as far as your physique and dedication will allow. Ballet is a full body workout, but some aspects of technique are commonly not presented with clarity as to what the anatomical factors are.

Easy learning is possible if you have a little extra time. Without having to study like a kinesiologist, you can learn what a muscle is and how to get the best use out of it. Correct skeletal placement and flexibility are needed to develop the core muscles that lead to the elegance of a ballerina and the precise professional footwork of a male virtuoso.

Muscles have certain behaviors. They can stretch long, like an elastic. With repetition and patience, the muscle will shrink back a little less. On the subject of stretching, it's good to be warmed up because collagen, in your connective tissues, becomes more fluid when you are warmed up and allows more movement in your body.

Stretching a muscle requires knowing the correct position to stretch it in.

For instance, stretching the hamstrings, the long muscles running from the sits bones to below your knee, requires that you stand correctly with one leg in second on the barre, the kitchen counter, or whatever you've got as a support. Or, you can sit on the floor in your widest comfortable second position, with your pelvis in neutral, as though you were standing.

If standing, your posture must be as correct as possible. Spine neutral and elongated by the lengthening support of the abdominal and spinal muscles, turnout held in the deep rotators, and the gluteals or butt muscles not over-supporting, allowing your hip bone and pelvis of the working side to relax down. This way you will do a side bend towards your working leg, or a demi plie remaining straight in the spine, and if you maintain your placement, the hamstring will begin to stretch like a piece of elastic.

That's just one example, you could be in a devant position, or an arabesque position. Once you reach your maximum stretch, before you get to a point of pain, you can hold that stretch for up to 90 seconds. During that time, you'll feel the muscle (and other muscles that are also getting a stretch), let go a little, and a little more, and then relax into the stretch fully. Every dancer has a different point in the stretch time where they will feel it's time to return to the initial position. At some point, the muscle will start pulling back, and that's the time to stop.

Bouncing doesn't help, although after your first stretch is over, you don't have to return to your initial position. You can release out of the stretch and go into it again. It requires some almost meditational attention to sense when you're doing too much, as opposed to pushing to the sharp pain signal that you get from being too demanding of your muscles.

Sore muscles come from tiny tears in the muscle fibers. A hot soak followed by icing, good nutrition and sufficient water intake helps your body recover and maintain a muscle that responds quickly to your brain, and has the strength to do what you want it to do.

Muscle spasms must be attended to with massage or use of a rubber ball, to work them out. Lactic acids remaining in the muscles create chemical damage. Massage and ice stimulate the circulation needed to carry away the lactic acid and other waste products in the muscles tissue.

So - in relation to the correct use and build up of strength in the core muscles, you must have correct placement. If you don't have correct placement, you stretch until you do. Then you are in the ballet positions required to work anatomically correctly. It is a process, longer for late starters in ballet, but still with potential.

Ballet and the people who do it are amazing. Whether you are a ballerina, a late starter, or a pre-professional, understanding something as simple as a muscle, and how to take care of it gets you the most out of your full body ballet workout. For a career builder, to lose weight, gain muscle or "just" to dance, keep being amazing!