A quick survey of articles on the internet show that articles read by adult beginners in ballet outnumber those read by the (somewhat) more self-accepting younger ballerinas and men in ballet. Many older would-be dance students worry that they are too old to get anything out of taking ballet.
There seems to be a degree of self-consciousness in most adult ballet students that I hear from. However, the self-doubt is needless because it really does not matter, except to each individual, what the goals of studying classical dance are. Each to his own.
Some adult ballet beginners will attempt to train long and hard enough to dance in pointe shoes, yet many will not have that aim in mind.
Many want an exercise program that also lends to developing grace and elegance. As exercise, ballet provides high intensity workouts for the lower body, while also challenging the upper body muscles, in a lighter manner.
Properly taught and practiced, classical dance increases both muscles strength and stamina. Reflexes are improved, and if kept up through the senior years, ballet will help increase bone density, balance and muscle strength.
A strong heart and strong lungs' response in an emergency moment relies on muscle strength. The heart and lungs do not actually strengthen by prolonged low intensity exercise (such as walking and running) as previously thought. This is because the stronger the muscles are, the less the heart and lungs NEED to respond to a sudden burst of movement or intense muscle contractions.
I hope that adults who want to do ballet just go ahead. Whatever the flexibility and the resulting ballet positions, whatever the muscle type and the resulting ballet technique, the benefits are enormous and these adult exercisers are way ahead of the aging/degeneration progression.
Define for yourself what you want to get out of ballet classes, enjoy every minute of it, and throw away any needless self-doubts.
To support your ballet training, take advantage of the remarkable ballet education that is available at this ballet store.
Showing posts with label ballet shoes and pointe shoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet shoes and pointe shoes. Show all posts
How to Choose a Ballet Teacher and Dance Studio For Training in Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes
This article gives you 7 highly effective tips about how to choose a ballet teacher. E.g., what a good dance studio looks like; the need for professional training; how to learn real classical ballet;will you need pointe shoes, and more. Many aspiring ballet dancers go through these thoughts in seeking a quality ballet class. Here are some important tips.
Things to consider: What Do You Want For Your Child? (or yourself)?
What does your child want from ballet? Would tap dancing, karate, hip-hop or jazz be a satisfying alternative, or does it have to be ballet? Ballet is a traditional, technical form requiring commitment and discipline. Sometimes it isn't fun! Ballet shoes and pointe shoes can be challenging. But many fall in love with this demanding and traditional dance form.
What will you look for if there are several studios you can check out? The following tips about the basic requirements to good, safe, ballet teaching, will be helpful to parents searching for a good dance studio.
A ballet regimen can be used for a weight loss plan, a childcare outlet, health maintenance, or relief for a troubled teenager. It takes a special love, and can fulfill many requirements of the soul. Many ballet teachers, in glamorous and famous settings, or small and out of the way regions, work just to provide an outlet for this broad spectrum of our needs. Some are experts at teaching pre-pointe, many are not.
*** Locations and appearances: professional dance studios tend to be in older buildings, which have large rooms with undivided spaces, and sprung wooden floors instead of floors set over concrete. A teacher trained in a professional school would choose such a place over a newer facility in a fashionable district with smaller rooms and a concrete floor. If the neighborhood is safe, don't judge a a studio by its lack of "chic". A teacher who chooses an older, low-rent district studio may be providing pupils with safer flooring, better musical accompaniment, and the luxury of smaller classes. If premises have been built especially for dance studios, the best amenities are likely in place.
*** Music: today's economy will not allow all teachers to have live piano accompaniment. While definitely preferable, it will be reflected in the fees you pay. Recorded music for classes does not necessarily mean lower teaching standards.
*** Size of classes: for the beginning levels (i.e., younger children) there should not be classes over approximately 15 students without a teacher's assistant, or the students will not get much individual attention.
*** Hard Floors: floors set directly over concrete have no give, thus creating the potential for injury from falls or repeated landings from jumps. This creates stress and wear and tear on on delicate developing joints and soft tissues. Sprung floors are the best, which is wood on wood supports. There are also floors now made for ballet studios which many studios install.
*** Body style favoritism in teachers: this can be devastating to your child's self-esteem. Any body type can learn, and benefit from ballet classes. This also applies if you are an adult looking for classes, beginner or otherwise. Ballet endows any physique with grace, strength, and fluidity of motion. Unfortunately the professional world of ballet is affected by fads of body shape just like high fashion. Children studying any kind of athletics should be encouraged to appreciate themselves, and the wonderment of their human body and their abilities, just as they are, and just as they are not.
*** Professional ballet training requires very specific physical attributes. Some teachers will praise a student's classwork relative to the assets they were born with. This leaves all others left behind. A good teacher will teach towards every student's actual efforts, concentration, and physical progress, be it made because of, or in spite of, their physiques.
*** Corrections and teachers' attitudes: a teacher's positive attitude is essential. Difficult routines can still be enjoyed, as they produce accomplishment. Every student should be corrected in every class, and every student should be noted when improvements are seen. A demanding but compassionate person produces the best results.
The technical details of good teaching is - well - technical! More guidelines are available at The Ballet Store.
Things to consider: What Do You Want For Your Child? (or yourself)?
What does your child want from ballet? Would tap dancing, karate, hip-hop or jazz be a satisfying alternative, or does it have to be ballet? Ballet is a traditional, technical form requiring commitment and discipline. Sometimes it isn't fun! Ballet shoes and pointe shoes can be challenging. But many fall in love with this demanding and traditional dance form.
What will you look for if there are several studios you can check out? The following tips about the basic requirements to good, safe, ballet teaching, will be helpful to parents searching for a good dance studio.
A ballet regimen can be used for a weight loss plan, a childcare outlet, health maintenance, or relief for a troubled teenager. It takes a special love, and can fulfill many requirements of the soul. Many ballet teachers, in glamorous and famous settings, or small and out of the way regions, work just to provide an outlet for this broad spectrum of our needs. Some are experts at teaching pre-pointe, many are not.
*** Locations and appearances: professional dance studios tend to be in older buildings, which have large rooms with undivided spaces, and sprung wooden floors instead of floors set over concrete. A teacher trained in a professional school would choose such a place over a newer facility in a fashionable district with smaller rooms and a concrete floor. If the neighborhood is safe, don't judge a a studio by its lack of "chic". A teacher who chooses an older, low-rent district studio may be providing pupils with safer flooring, better musical accompaniment, and the luxury of smaller classes. If premises have been built especially for dance studios, the best amenities are likely in place.
*** Music: today's economy will not allow all teachers to have live piano accompaniment. While definitely preferable, it will be reflected in the fees you pay. Recorded music for classes does not necessarily mean lower teaching standards.
*** Size of classes: for the beginning levels (i.e., younger children) there should not be classes over approximately 15 students without a teacher's assistant, or the students will not get much individual attention.
*** Hard Floors: floors set directly over concrete have no give, thus creating the potential for injury from falls or repeated landings from jumps. This creates stress and wear and tear on on delicate developing joints and soft tissues. Sprung floors are the best, which is wood on wood supports. There are also floors now made for ballet studios which many studios install.
*** Body style favoritism in teachers: this can be devastating to your child's self-esteem. Any body type can learn, and benefit from ballet classes. This also applies if you are an adult looking for classes, beginner or otherwise. Ballet endows any physique with grace, strength, and fluidity of motion. Unfortunately the professional world of ballet is affected by fads of body shape just like high fashion. Children studying any kind of athletics should be encouraged to appreciate themselves, and the wonderment of their human body and their abilities, just as they are, and just as they are not.
*** Professional ballet training requires very specific physical attributes. Some teachers will praise a student's classwork relative to the assets they were born with. This leaves all others left behind. A good teacher will teach towards every student's actual efforts, concentration, and physical progress, be it made because of, or in spite of, their physiques.
*** Corrections and teachers' attitudes: a teacher's positive attitude is essential. Difficult routines can still be enjoyed, as they produce accomplishment. Every student should be corrected in every class, and every student should be noted when improvements are seen. A demanding but compassionate person produces the best results.
The technical details of good teaching is - well - technical! More guidelines are available at The Ballet Store.
Highly Effective Tips For Understanding How To Prevent Knee Injuries in Ballet and Dance
Anatomical information is going to help any ballet dancer survive better. Less pain, less struggle, and better results. How to prevent knee injuries in one area worthy of study. There are four ways a leg (hip,knee,ankle) can deviate from the postural plumb line of the body.
*** 1. Knees that angle in toward each other, with the feet facing straight forward; this is called tibial torsion. You can also see this clearly if you sit on a table and let the calves and feet dangle over the edge. Here your knees are straight in front of your thighs, and the lower part of the leg turns out.
Compensation for this is understanding and using your turnout from the hips, as best you can, and never allowing pronation, or "rolling ankles". It is easy for legs like this to get a good turnout in the foot positions, but it should be worked to get the leg as close as possible to postural plumb line.
***2. Knock knees is when the knees face forward when the feet are parallel, but the inside of the knees touch and the feet are apart on the floor, a little turned out, and slightly pronated (rolled in).
***3. Bowed legs. This where the knees turn in slightly and the outside of the calves bow outwards. The feet can rest comfortably close together. The feet may also pronate slightly, yet will come to a correct position, flat on the floor, when the turnout is held well in the hips and thighs. This may straighten out the whole leg in some cases.
***4. Hyper-extended legs, where the knees go beyond straight and the calves sway backwards. This will pull the body weight back onto the heels, and the thighs will turn in as a result (which can lead to tears around the knee). The correction of stacking the ankle, knee and hips above each other along the plumb line, strengthens the legs. It also corrects the weight on the whole foot, and keeps the body weight forward enough. Uncorrected, this will lead to other complexities of technical inaccuracies, especially in doing ballet on pointe, if they do not show up before that.
The knees are wonderfully engineered joints. The details are described well elsewhere. Suffice it to say they are held in place by muscles, ligaments and tendons, and when healthy, all the moving parts glide and move well. The knees bend and straighten a zillion times for dancers and sports enthusiasts, without mishap, if used correctly..
Turnout enables easy pivoting to change direction without straining the knees. Many athletes now study basic ballet and turnout to prevent knee injuries.
A sharp pain in the knee, a pop, any clicking or feeling of impeded movement around or under the knee warrants an immediate pause. Any dance teacher or sports coach will want you to get it looked at by a chiropractor or sports medicine practitioner right away.
Tears can occur in the tendons, ligaments and other supportive tissue around the knee. Usually ice and rest will reduce the inflammation and heal theses injuries. Sometimes tissue will tear off and go under the kneecap, and this must be removed.
Normal growth in kids and teens can cause imbalances in muscle flexibility and strength which can lead to injuries and inflammation from overuse. Regular stretching and relaxing efficiently with the help of a soft rubber ball rolled on tight muscles, can help this temporary condition.
Correct turnout, foot strength in landings, in fact all ballet position placement, helps protect the knee joints. A sprung floor is also essential, rather than dancing over concrete.
If you are a serious ballet student or athlete, take a look at the anatomy of the knee structure. It is brilliant, and you'll see clearly why you are taught the way you are, to prevent knee injuries in ballet shoes and pointe shoes, or on the fields and courts.
*** 1. Knees that angle in toward each other, with the feet facing straight forward; this is called tibial torsion. You can also see this clearly if you sit on a table and let the calves and feet dangle over the edge. Here your knees are straight in front of your thighs, and the lower part of the leg turns out.
Compensation for this is understanding and using your turnout from the hips, as best you can, and never allowing pronation, or "rolling ankles". It is easy for legs like this to get a good turnout in the foot positions, but it should be worked to get the leg as close as possible to postural plumb line.
***2. Knock knees is when the knees face forward when the feet are parallel, but the inside of the knees touch and the feet are apart on the floor, a little turned out, and slightly pronated (rolled in).
***3. Bowed legs. This where the knees turn in slightly and the outside of the calves bow outwards. The feet can rest comfortably close together. The feet may also pronate slightly, yet will come to a correct position, flat on the floor, when the turnout is held well in the hips and thighs. This may straighten out the whole leg in some cases.
***4. Hyper-extended legs, where the knees go beyond straight and the calves sway backwards. This will pull the body weight back onto the heels, and the thighs will turn in as a result (which can lead to tears around the knee). The correction of stacking the ankle, knee and hips above each other along the plumb line, strengthens the legs. It also corrects the weight on the whole foot, and keeps the body weight forward enough. Uncorrected, this will lead to other complexities of technical inaccuracies, especially in doing ballet on pointe, if they do not show up before that.
The knees are wonderfully engineered joints. The details are described well elsewhere. Suffice it to say they are held in place by muscles, ligaments and tendons, and when healthy, all the moving parts glide and move well. The knees bend and straighten a zillion times for dancers and sports enthusiasts, without mishap, if used correctly..
Turnout enables easy pivoting to change direction without straining the knees. Many athletes now study basic ballet and turnout to prevent knee injuries.
A sharp pain in the knee, a pop, any clicking or feeling of impeded movement around or under the knee warrants an immediate pause. Any dance teacher or sports coach will want you to get it looked at by a chiropractor or sports medicine practitioner right away.
Tears can occur in the tendons, ligaments and other supportive tissue around the knee. Usually ice and rest will reduce the inflammation and heal theses injuries. Sometimes tissue will tear off and go under the kneecap, and this must be removed.
Normal growth in kids and teens can cause imbalances in muscle flexibility and strength which can lead to injuries and inflammation from overuse. Regular stretching and relaxing efficiently with the help of a soft rubber ball rolled on tight muscles, can help this temporary condition.
Correct turnout, foot strength in landings, in fact all ballet position placement, helps protect the knee joints. A sprung floor is also essential, rather than dancing over concrete.
If you are a serious ballet student or athlete, take a look at the anatomy of the knee structure. It is brilliant, and you'll see clearly why you are taught the way you are, to prevent knee injuries in ballet shoes and pointe shoes, or on the fields and courts.
Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes - How To Build Confidence
Ballet training is rigorous, exacting, and the finer details of technique all count. Keeping up your self-assurance is challenging. Things that are wrong about what you are doing in your ballet training are mentioned repeatedly. Most teachers want to help their students build confidence. Ballet students worry about their progress, their pointe shoes, their ballet wear, and how they compare to everyone else.
How do you know you are doing things right in ballet class? You count on being told if you are doing something wrong. Not that all teachers correct everyone, every class. Most teachers do, or try their best to, but some do not.
You want your teacher to correct you. And you get corrected. It is all about what is wrong. You want to measure up to all that is expected.
Some students are fine with this. Maybe their self-assurance is a given. Maybe they do not aspire to a ballet career, and they just enjoy doing their best.
However, if you are seriously dedicated to becoming professional, it can be discouraging.
The demands of ballet technique encourages self-criticism. But being aware of your particular technical weaknesses is different from nagging and criticizing yourself. Awareness is helpful, and self-criticism is not. Once it becomes a habit it takes on a life of its own.
Knowing what your body is capable of, right now, and in the long run, is important. The purpose of good training is to teach you what the ideal is, and how to compensate safely, yet aesthetically, for what you do that is less than ideal. Not all teachers are trained for this.
If you are not in a big city with many studios to choose from, do not despair. The information about ballet training that used to be available only by being in a particular teacher's studio, is now more widely accessed. Not that a book or video can replace excellent classes, I am not saying that.
If you need a boost in self-assurance, and need to build confidence, get all the information you can. From your teachers, and from other sources too. And it is okay to KNOW that there are some things you do very well.
Here is a guide with which you can review and improve all your knowledge and dance moves in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
How do you know you are doing things right in ballet class? You count on being told if you are doing something wrong. Not that all teachers correct everyone, every class. Most teachers do, or try their best to, but some do not.
You want your teacher to correct you. And you get corrected. It is all about what is wrong. You want to measure up to all that is expected.
Some students are fine with this. Maybe their self-assurance is a given. Maybe they do not aspire to a ballet career, and they just enjoy doing their best.
However, if you are seriously dedicated to becoming professional, it can be discouraging.
The demands of ballet technique encourages self-criticism. But being aware of your particular technical weaknesses is different from nagging and criticizing yourself. Awareness is helpful, and self-criticism is not. Once it becomes a habit it takes on a life of its own.
Knowing what your body is capable of, right now, and in the long run, is important. The purpose of good training is to teach you what the ideal is, and how to compensate safely, yet aesthetically, for what you do that is less than ideal. Not all teachers are trained for this.
If you are not in a big city with many studios to choose from, do not despair. The information about ballet training that used to be available only by being in a particular teacher's studio, is now more widely accessed. Not that a book or video can replace excellent classes, I am not saying that.
If you need a boost in self-assurance, and need to build confidence, get all the information you can. From your teachers, and from other sources too. And it is okay to KNOW that there are some things you do very well.
Here is a guide with which you can review and improve all your knowledge and dance moves in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes - Planning Muscle Rest Time
The way of ballet training does not always provide ideal recovery time for your muscles. At professional schools, there are 5-10 classes a week. Out of necessity to complete training, this is planned for 7-8 years.
Repetition of accurate movements is the basis of ballet training. Within a ballet class, muscle groups are always alternated as the barre work progresses. Or, to be more specific, the emphasis on muscle groups changes from exercise to exercise in a well formulated class.
However, over a week's professional training there is usually one day off. That is not considered enough rest for the muscles by a lot of trainers.
If you are not in a full time dance school and you take two or three ballet classes a week, you can add pre-pointe or other practice routines to homework. You still are working every day, but you can plan for recovery time.
Make yourself a written plan. For each 4-6 week period, for example, pick three exercises using three different muscle groups.
You can practice each one on a day when you are not going to class. And rest that muscle group and work a different one on your next practice day. And so on. Make notes every 2 weeks as to how your strength feels in ballet class. Tell your teacher what you are working on, and get feed back.
For example you might choose your core muscles, your foot muscles and your turnout muscles. You can spread that out onto alternating days, and still see progress.
If you are following a professionally created regimen, you can do more work more often, per that guide. You'll be able to test yourself and keep good track of how you build strength.
Always remember to relax and stretch your muscles after working. Have a day of muscle rest, and sew your next pair of pointe shoes. Watch your favorite ballet movie and imagine yourself in your chosen part!
Get your copy of a pre-pointe self-assessment and strengthening program for ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
Repetition of accurate movements is the basis of ballet training. Within a ballet class, muscle groups are always alternated as the barre work progresses. Or, to be more specific, the emphasis on muscle groups changes from exercise to exercise in a well formulated class.
However, over a week's professional training there is usually one day off. That is not considered enough rest for the muscles by a lot of trainers.
If you are not in a full time dance school and you take two or three ballet classes a week, you can add pre-pointe or other practice routines to homework. You still are working every day, but you can plan for recovery time.
Make yourself a written plan. For each 4-6 week period, for example, pick three exercises using three different muscle groups.
You can practice each one on a day when you are not going to class. And rest that muscle group and work a different one on your next practice day. And so on. Make notes every 2 weeks as to how your strength feels in ballet class. Tell your teacher what you are working on, and get feed back.
For example you might choose your core muscles, your foot muscles and your turnout muscles. You can spread that out onto alternating days, and still see progress.
If you are following a professionally created regimen, you can do more work more often, per that guide. You'll be able to test yourself and keep good track of how you build strength.
Always remember to relax and stretch your muscles after working. Have a day of muscle rest, and sew your next pair of pointe shoes. Watch your favorite ballet movie and imagine yourself in your chosen part!
Get your copy of a pre-pointe self-assessment and strengthening program for ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes - Chunking and Imitational Learning In
Please let me explain. "Chunking" is a new verb. It is a scientific word. It means breaking down a movement into its series of mini-movements so that someone learning it can learn it more accurately and faster, and build the right neural pathways. Like a ballet class, or a ballet exercise. Neuroscientists use this word. Try not to think "chunky" because to a dancer "chunky" is a very threatening idea.
I am trying to be serious and academic about this but the verb "chunking" is too funny.
Brandeis University's Volen Center for Complex Systems published a study "Monkey See Monkey Do". It attended to the lack of research on imitative learning, which has apparently been neglected, in favor of studies in verbal learning, even though we learn more through imitation than by words. The study notes that:
"Several strategies may help leverage a learner's attention and motivate imitative learning. Organizing the motor skill practice is key. For example, Sekuler, an expert on the neural and cognitive terrain of visual memory, says that breaking down a behavioral sequence into chunks can aid imitation learning, just as chunking can help us memorize a string of seemingly unrelated digits or other material. Agam and Sekuler have their sights set on identifying strategies that teachers and coaches could use to make complex actions more "chunkable," and therefore easier to imitate.
The researchers' long-term goal is to devise simple methods that will allow teachers and coaches to take any arbitrary complex action that they want to teach--like that series of dance steps or that perfect golf swing, and then re-package that action into components that make for optimal learning."
If the researchers had watched a classical ballet, and then a ballet class, they would see a supreme example of chunking. Don't you just love that word? All those pre-pointe routines make pointe work chunkable.
The gazillion degages are chunking the aspired to, smooth, floating, gliding glissade. The stretchy, elastic, muscle-elicious fondu in adage are chunks of grand allegro.
The quick footwork exercises at the ballet barre are chunkettes of petit allegro.
I do not mean to diss brain research but I find this hilarious. So please appreciate the careful chunking that your ballet teachers are so good at, in helping you develop organized thought patterns, build neural pathways and build strength in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
The best example of chunking that I know right now is the pro student's manual about dancing inballet shoes and pointe shoes, which chunks perfectly for pre-pointe practise and essential ballet technique for all.
I am trying to be serious and academic about this but the verb "chunking" is too funny.
Brandeis University's Volen Center for Complex Systems published a study "Monkey See Monkey Do". It attended to the lack of research on imitative learning, which has apparently been neglected, in favor of studies in verbal learning, even though we learn more through imitation than by words. The study notes that:
"Several strategies may help leverage a learner's attention and motivate imitative learning. Organizing the motor skill practice is key. For example, Sekuler, an expert on the neural and cognitive terrain of visual memory, says that breaking down a behavioral sequence into chunks can aid imitation learning, just as chunking can help us memorize a string of seemingly unrelated digits or other material. Agam and Sekuler have their sights set on identifying strategies that teachers and coaches could use to make complex actions more "chunkable," and therefore easier to imitate.
The researchers' long-term goal is to devise simple methods that will allow teachers and coaches to take any arbitrary complex action that they want to teach--like that series of dance steps or that perfect golf swing, and then re-package that action into components that make for optimal learning."
If the researchers had watched a classical ballet, and then a ballet class, they would see a supreme example of chunking. Don't you just love that word? All those pre-pointe routines make pointe work chunkable.
The gazillion degages are chunking the aspired to, smooth, floating, gliding glissade. The stretchy, elastic, muscle-elicious fondu in adage are chunks of grand allegro.
The quick footwork exercises at the ballet barre are chunkettes of petit allegro.
I do not mean to diss brain research but I find this hilarious. So please appreciate the careful chunking that your ballet teachers are so good at, in helping you develop organized thought patterns, build neural pathways and build strength in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
The best example of chunking that I know right now is the pro student's manual about dancing inballet shoes and pointe shoes, which chunks perfectly for pre-pointe practise and essential ballet technique for all.
Are There Genetic Differences If You Dance In Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes?
"Are Dancers Genetically Different Than The Rest Of Us? Yes, Says Hebrew University Researcher ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2006) - What makes dancers different than the rest of us? Genetic variants, says a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem." Part of dancing in performance is transporting the audience to where YOU are while you're dancing. They are not just looking, they are going with you. You change their brain chemicals!
"The dancer "type," says Ebstein, clearly demonstrates qualities that are not necessarily lacking but are not expressed as strongly in other people: a heightened sense of communication, often of a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait."
What an intriguing subject!
Tricking your brain with your own nutritional chemicals and neurotransmitters is an art, I have learned - it's more than eating well and thinking well.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060213183707.htm is where you'll find the whole article.
"...a heightened sense of communication, often a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait.".....you know that electric field that snaps into the audience when a powerful dancer steps onto the stage? It pervades everyone. They are IN that field.
Ballet is ceremonial starting right in class. The world is shut out while students work and the teacher works, in a field of concentration. All the right brain chemicals are neurotransmitting with enthusiasm.
The brain chemical serotonin is found lacking in depressed people - it is abundant in dancers and other artists. Despite the stressful lifestyles, lack of social support, common disorderly eating (and sometimes eating disorders) serotonin is abundant. It seems to be related to the "ceremonial nature and a strong spiritual personality trait". I have known dancers I wouldn't put in that camp - and I envied them! They came to work, did a reasonably good job and went home.
This article from sciencedaily.com is extremely interesting. There are genetic differences in artists. It indicates a power we don't suspect. It indicates a consciousness that is a component of talent, I think. Not physical ease, but the intangible magnetism where we follow the dancer wherever he/she goes.
It's a brain chemical thing. What isn't? Yet, it is more.
"The dancer "type," says Ebstein, clearly demonstrates qualities that are not necessarily lacking but are not expressed as strongly in other people: a heightened sense of communication, often of a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait."
What an intriguing subject!
Tricking your brain with your own nutritional chemicals and neurotransmitters is an art, I have learned - it's more than eating well and thinking well.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060213183707.htm is where you'll find the whole article.
"...a heightened sense of communication, often a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait.".....you know that electric field that snaps into the audience when a powerful dancer steps onto the stage? It pervades everyone. They are IN that field.
Ballet is ceremonial starting right in class. The world is shut out while students work and the teacher works, in a field of concentration. All the right brain chemicals are neurotransmitting with enthusiasm.
The brain chemical serotonin is found lacking in depressed people - it is abundant in dancers and other artists. Despite the stressful lifestyles, lack of social support, common disorderly eating (and sometimes eating disorders) serotonin is abundant. It seems to be related to the "ceremonial nature and a strong spiritual personality trait". I have known dancers I wouldn't put in that camp - and I envied them! They came to work, did a reasonably good job and went home.
This article from sciencedaily.com is extremely interesting. There are genetic differences in artists. It indicates a power we don't suspect. It indicates a consciousness that is a component of talent, I think. Not physical ease, but the intangible magnetism where we follow the dancer wherever he/she goes.
It's a brain chemical thing. What isn't? Yet, it is more.
Adding Turns in Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes
Building strength and good dance technique has to happen long before you get to multiple turns. Once there, increasing your turns is not too difficult. The feeling of spin is controlled through good spotting, musicality, and the same old practise, practise and practise!
One aspect of fast spinning is spotting. You must have a relaxed neck and quick and accurate head movement. Such as, no inclining the head. Inclining happens when you leave the head too long. For more neck flexibility, ice it for 15 minutes after hot showers, and tilt the head sideways for gentle stretches. Do not roll the head around in circles; the neck joints are not designed to do that.
You can work up to more turns by adding half a turn at a time. Do four and a half, which means changing your spot to the back after three and a half turns. That will just kind of bring you around to the back, to catch up to your head. And voila you have done another half a turn. Don't strain, and come down into a soft, controlled stretchy demi plie. Repeat this until it is easy, then add another half, and another half. Little by little as needed, so that you are not compensating for any postural loss, or losing control over your ending position.
I had a teacher once who set pirouette exercises like that, starting with two and a quarter turns. It meant changing your spot to the next wall, and coming around to it. Really easy, not too much difference. You'd do a double, then 2 and a quarter, 2 and a half, 2 and three quarters, then three. Or start with a triple, and do three and a quarter, etc. In pointe shoes, it takes not much more than a thought to add a quarter turn.
Another teacher I had used to say "during your preparation, imagine you are spiralling your spine in the opposite direction to where you are going to turn. Like your inner muscles are twisting to the left, though your shoulders stay square to the front; the prep position doesn't change outwardly. Then when you go up onto releve and turn, you release that twist and it makes you spin. That's a mental trick, and it really works for some people.
Assuming your technique is good, and your postural plumb line is correct, just keep on adding quarter or half turns, and let each addition get easy and natural.
One aspect of fast spinning is spotting. You must have a relaxed neck and quick and accurate head movement. Such as, no inclining the head. Inclining happens when you leave the head too long. For more neck flexibility, ice it for 15 minutes after hot showers, and tilt the head sideways for gentle stretches. Do not roll the head around in circles; the neck joints are not designed to do that.
You can work up to more turns by adding half a turn at a time. Do four and a half, which means changing your spot to the back after three and a half turns. That will just kind of bring you around to the back, to catch up to your head. And voila you have done another half a turn. Don't strain, and come down into a soft, controlled stretchy demi plie. Repeat this until it is easy, then add another half, and another half. Little by little as needed, so that you are not compensating for any postural loss, or losing control over your ending position.
I had a teacher once who set pirouette exercises like that, starting with two and a quarter turns. It meant changing your spot to the next wall, and coming around to it. Really easy, not too much difference. You'd do a double, then 2 and a quarter, 2 and a half, 2 and three quarters, then three. Or start with a triple, and do three and a quarter, etc. In pointe shoes, it takes not much more than a thought to add a quarter turn.
Another teacher I had used to say "during your preparation, imagine you are spiralling your spine in the opposite direction to where you are going to turn. Like your inner muscles are twisting to the left, though your shoulders stay square to the front; the prep position doesn't change outwardly. Then when you go up onto releve and turn, you release that twist and it makes you spin. That's a mental trick, and it really works for some people.
Assuming your technique is good, and your postural plumb line is correct, just keep on adding quarter or half turns, and let each addition get easy and natural.
Labels:
ballet shoes and pointe shoes,
turns
Prevent Common Ballet Injuries In Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes
A physio therapist talks about how to prevent common ballet injuries:
"Often ballet teachers find the specifics of training the foot strength needed for pointe work difficult as it came naturally to them. However for many people, the isolated strength needed in the feet must be specifically trained, especially nowadays, as many children who grow up in cities spend little time bare foot on different surfaces, which naturally trains the tiny intrinsic muscles of the feet. Understanding how these muscles should work when dancing is imperative in a long, injury free, career in dance." - Lisa Howell
In addition to intrinsic muscle weakness, the foot and ankle can suffer other injuries. Floors built on concrete are a source of injury, even for dancers who are taught to "come down through the foot". This technique helps, but does not fully compensate for hard flooring.
Any repetitive motion can lead to injury.
Some ankles and achilles tendons will build up soft tissue mass or calcified masses from pointe shoe ribbons being tied tight.
Some ankles won't like the repetitive releves and jumps required by dancing and will build up some type of tissue resistance at the front of the ankles. This extra tissue will cause disruption to the movements, or pain, or both.
ANY incorrect technique such as rolling ankles, turning out the foot more than the leg (a requirement in ballet), too short pointe shoes, too narrow pointe shoes, insecure demi-plies,(heels not on the floor, leading to sliding heels too far forward, usually, resulting in tense ankles, tibial muscles [ shin splints]), - and you go up the body from there, straining knees, hips, low back, raising shoulders, straining neck, clenching jaw, locking cranial bones, headaches - need I say more?
However, the human body can repair its tissues, especially with the help of good nutrition. Whole food supplements for collagen, ligaments, and muscle can be added to the diet. After a fracture, raw veal bone meal and correct calcium supplements can speed healing greatly.
An excellent topical ointment called Traumeel can help soft tissues heal.
Icing and diet can decrease inflammation. No one is "stuck with" an injury. All athletes have the internet to refer to, to add to what their own doctors, chiropractors and physiotherapists tell them about healing injuries.
With the correct strength and development of the foot muscles, you can prevent common ballet injuries.
"Often ballet teachers find the specifics of training the foot strength needed for pointe work difficult as it came naturally to them. However for many people, the isolated strength needed in the feet must be specifically trained, especially nowadays, as many children who grow up in cities spend little time bare foot on different surfaces, which naturally trains the tiny intrinsic muscles of the feet. Understanding how these muscles should work when dancing is imperative in a long, injury free, career in dance." - Lisa Howell
In addition to intrinsic muscle weakness, the foot and ankle can suffer other injuries. Floors built on concrete are a source of injury, even for dancers who are taught to "come down through the foot". This technique helps, but does not fully compensate for hard flooring.
Any repetitive motion can lead to injury.
Some ankles and achilles tendons will build up soft tissue mass or calcified masses from pointe shoe ribbons being tied tight.
Some ankles won't like the repetitive releves and jumps required by dancing and will build up some type of tissue resistance at the front of the ankles. This extra tissue will cause disruption to the movements, or pain, or both.
ANY incorrect technique such as rolling ankles, turning out the foot more than the leg (a requirement in ballet), too short pointe shoes, too narrow pointe shoes, insecure demi-plies,(heels not on the floor, leading to sliding heels too far forward, usually, resulting in tense ankles, tibial muscles [ shin splints]), - and you go up the body from there, straining knees, hips, low back, raising shoulders, straining neck, clenching jaw, locking cranial bones, headaches - need I say more?
However, the human body can repair its tissues, especially with the help of good nutrition. Whole food supplements for collagen, ligaments, and muscle can be added to the diet. After a fracture, raw veal bone meal and correct calcium supplements can speed healing greatly.
An excellent topical ointment called Traumeel can help soft tissues heal.
Icing and diet can decrease inflammation. No one is "stuck with" an injury. All athletes have the internet to refer to, to add to what their own doctors, chiropractors and physiotherapists tell them about healing injuries.
With the correct strength and development of the foot muscles, you can prevent common ballet injuries.
Ballet Shoes, Ballet Stretches, and Especially The Splits
Get the right information about gentle ballet stretches that lead to high leg extensions and split jetes, a featured attraction of ballet. If you were not born with long ligaments, muscles and tendons, what are the best ballet stretches for you?
While you spend strength on fighting your own tightness, striving for that effortlessness in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes, other very flexible dancers are trying to reign in their movements to maintain form and balance. But, ballet being the way it is, they look better during the struggle than the tighter dancers.
Stretches after exercising are the best. After class, do the following:
Sitting on the floor, stretch the legs out in front to stretch the hamstrings – one at a time, bending one knee, so as not to stretch the lower back, flex and point the foot. After slow stretching, I recommend completely relaxing the legs and letting the torso sink forward, with a few deep breaths, to release tension before going into a second position split.
The second position split should be opened fully but WITHOUT pain. Ideally have your pelvis upright, and your knees facing the ceiling, with the backs of your thighs pressing into the floor. You are mimicking the position your legs/spine would be in, in a standing position. Do not tuck your hip bones under or sway your back and roll forward off your pelvic bone onto your thighs.
In this position you will do a side bend toward one leg, hang there, breathing deeply, holding the legs straight but relaxing neck, shoulders, face and arms. Straighten upright, and bend forward, hold the abdominals, but allow the upper torso to bend forward toward the floor, keeping the legs with the backs of the thighs pressed into the floor. Straighten up again and bend over the other leg, hold for about 30 seconds, and pull up into a straight position. You want a stretch but not any sharp pains. You are applying stress to the soft tissues, but never painful or sudden movements.
The splits. A full 180 degree splits depends on overall extreme flexibility.
If you can't sit in this position but can only get, for example, down to a few inches from the floor (or halfway or three-quarter way down) stretch one leg at a time. Sit down and stretch one leg devant. Let the back leg bend. Keeping the front leg straight and turned out, pull forward slowly, and when you can't go any further, hold your lower abdominals and let your upper torso bend over. Your weight will effect the stretch, breathe deeply a few times, for about 30 seconds, and then come back up to a straight position. Do this four times, and change legs.
Next, bend the front leg into a 90 degree angle so you can lean forward over it, and extend the back leg to a straight position. It will probably slide sideways so that it will not be behind the hip as it would if you were standing up. Slowly move upright, stretching the front of the hip, do NOT go to a point of pain. Stretching is DISCOMFORT, not pain. Lean forward releasing the tension, and turn your leg in. Then straighten up again, and you will feel the stretch in a different area. Do this several times and change legs. Eventually your leg will stretch out more behind you.
Another great stretch is to do a side bend away from the derriere leg – you'll stretch from your thigh through your hip area up the side of your torso.
To finally relax, sit in a splits position with both legs bent. Bend forward right onto your front leg and let the weight of your torso press your hip, inner thigh and groin muscles into a relaxed stretch. Then bend back, but in a relaxed manner. Breathe deeply a few times and change legs.
If you have any muscles or joints stinging and aching after classes, ice. Get a soft gel ice pack, and you can use it 15 minutes per hour. Make sure the ice pack is wrapped in a thin towel and does not touch your skin.
Another therapy is a hot bath with a cup of apple cider vinegar. This draws the lactic acid out of the muscles and is extremely relaxing. Epsom Salts are good too, I think vinegar is better. You won't smell afterwards, honest.
If you are a retired dancer, or are on a hiatus from classes and miss that wonderful stretched out feeling, I highly recommend a ballet dancers's guide for getting more flexible.
While you spend strength on fighting your own tightness, striving for that effortlessness in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes, other very flexible dancers are trying to reign in their movements to maintain form and balance. But, ballet being the way it is, they look better during the struggle than the tighter dancers.
Stretches after exercising are the best. After class, do the following:
Sitting on the floor, stretch the legs out in front to stretch the hamstrings – one at a time, bending one knee, so as not to stretch the lower back, flex and point the foot. After slow stretching, I recommend completely relaxing the legs and letting the torso sink forward, with a few deep breaths, to release tension before going into a second position split.
The second position split should be opened fully but WITHOUT pain. Ideally have your pelvis upright, and your knees facing the ceiling, with the backs of your thighs pressing into the floor. You are mimicking the position your legs/spine would be in, in a standing position. Do not tuck your hip bones under or sway your back and roll forward off your pelvic bone onto your thighs.
In this position you will do a side bend toward one leg, hang there, breathing deeply, holding the legs straight but relaxing neck, shoulders, face and arms. Straighten upright, and bend forward, hold the abdominals, but allow the upper torso to bend forward toward the floor, keeping the legs with the backs of the thighs pressed into the floor. Straighten up again and bend over the other leg, hold for about 30 seconds, and pull up into a straight position. You want a stretch but not any sharp pains. You are applying stress to the soft tissues, but never painful or sudden movements.
The splits. A full 180 degree splits depends on overall extreme flexibility.
If you can't sit in this position but can only get, for example, down to a few inches from the floor (or halfway or three-quarter way down) stretch one leg at a time. Sit down and stretch one leg devant. Let the back leg bend. Keeping the front leg straight and turned out, pull forward slowly, and when you can't go any further, hold your lower abdominals and let your upper torso bend over. Your weight will effect the stretch, breathe deeply a few times, for about 30 seconds, and then come back up to a straight position. Do this four times, and change legs.
Next, bend the front leg into a 90 degree angle so you can lean forward over it, and extend the back leg to a straight position. It will probably slide sideways so that it will not be behind the hip as it would if you were standing up. Slowly move upright, stretching the front of the hip, do NOT go to a point of pain. Stretching is DISCOMFORT, not pain. Lean forward releasing the tension, and turn your leg in. Then straighten up again, and you will feel the stretch in a different area. Do this several times and change legs. Eventually your leg will stretch out more behind you.
Another great stretch is to do a side bend away from the derriere leg – you'll stretch from your thigh through your hip area up the side of your torso.
To finally relax, sit in a splits position with both legs bent. Bend forward right onto your front leg and let the weight of your torso press your hip, inner thigh and groin muscles into a relaxed stretch. Then bend back, but in a relaxed manner. Breathe deeply a few times and change legs.
If you have any muscles or joints stinging and aching after classes, ice. Get a soft gel ice pack, and you can use it 15 minutes per hour. Make sure the ice pack is wrapped in a thin towel and does not touch your skin.
Another therapy is a hot bath with a cup of apple cider vinegar. This draws the lactic acid out of the muscles and is extremely relaxing. Epsom Salts are good too, I think vinegar is better. You won't smell afterwards, honest.
If you are a retired dancer, or are on a hiatus from classes and miss that wonderful stretched out feeling, I highly recommend a ballet dancers's guide for getting more flexible.
To Dance or Not to Dance In Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes
I get asked a lot, "do you think I should pursue ballet professionally?" And my immediate thought is, "If you can live without dance, do so, if you cannot, then dance."
I say that because ballet is a subculture. That is not a bad thing, but like opera, music, and other art forms, training is intense and competition is fierce. That may be the attraction for some. Ballet attracts perfectionists, obsessed and oddly dysfunctional people, but also attracts incredibly gifted performers and brilliant broad-spectrum artists who excel at dance and related arts such as choreography, music and stage design.
Professional ballet has a small job market. Ideally you would start training at the age of 9, and be ready to perform in a company by 18. You would have been in about 8-10 classes per week, with some modern dance training as well.
Starting later, along with physical limitations, is the challenge for the majority. And yet, when I taught at university, I saw students go on to become leaders in the dance world. Although, not in ballet, but in the modern dance arena, which emphasizes creativity somewhat more than the perfect technique and physique. I think the maturity of training at that age helps too, and I have seen a greater number of survivors from that venue.
Talented children with highly sensitive nervous systems have more problems with the competition. If they are studying away from home, they lack their family support. This can be very stressful for children. However, the demands of the training and the joy of learning what they love sometimes balances the stress beautifully.
To be extremely positive, let's just say all roads lead to our success. I have seen "failed" dancers develop into excellent musicians, brilliant actors, and choreographers with exceptional vision. I once had a student who backed out of a performance in his first semester of training, due to sheer stagefright. He became a well-known innovator in the Canadian dance scene. The first time I saw a short piece of choreography of his in a small workshop setting, I knew where he was headed.
A world-famous prima ballerina was let go from a major dance school because of an eating disorder. She was immediately picked up and hand-held by a competing school. She just needed more personal support.
A well-known Canadian musician/conductor was once a struggling ballet student. He played piano at the school in order to pay for his classes. He wasn't a bad dancer, but started his professional training late. The school's top pianist spotted his talent and supported his development as an accompanist. We were roommates for a while. Our third roommate was a flautist. Ahhh... well, anyway... good musical memories. I remember my heart soaring as Steve played the fourth act from Swan Lake from the Russian leather-bound score his mentor Babs MacDonald had given him, on a piano in our tiny apartment. He was born to dance in his soul, and became an excellent musician and conductor.
So if you are led to dance, dance! You never know where it will take you.
To dance is never a mistake.
You can find many inspirational ballet stories at The Ballet Store. I'm so glad ballerinas and men in ballet like to write!
I say that because ballet is a subculture. That is not a bad thing, but like opera, music, and other art forms, training is intense and competition is fierce. That may be the attraction for some. Ballet attracts perfectionists, obsessed and oddly dysfunctional people, but also attracts incredibly gifted performers and brilliant broad-spectrum artists who excel at dance and related arts such as choreography, music and stage design.
Professional ballet has a small job market. Ideally you would start training at the age of 9, and be ready to perform in a company by 18. You would have been in about 8-10 classes per week, with some modern dance training as well.
Starting later, along with physical limitations, is the challenge for the majority. And yet, when I taught at university, I saw students go on to become leaders in the dance world. Although, not in ballet, but in the modern dance arena, which emphasizes creativity somewhat more than the perfect technique and physique. I think the maturity of training at that age helps too, and I have seen a greater number of survivors from that venue.
Talented children with highly sensitive nervous systems have more problems with the competition. If they are studying away from home, they lack their family support. This can be very stressful for children. However, the demands of the training and the joy of learning what they love sometimes balances the stress beautifully.
To be extremely positive, let's just say all roads lead to our success. I have seen "failed" dancers develop into excellent musicians, brilliant actors, and choreographers with exceptional vision. I once had a student who backed out of a performance in his first semester of training, due to sheer stagefright. He became a well-known innovator in the Canadian dance scene. The first time I saw a short piece of choreography of his in a small workshop setting, I knew where he was headed.
A world-famous prima ballerina was let go from a major dance school because of an eating disorder. She was immediately picked up and hand-held by a competing school. She just needed more personal support.
A well-known Canadian musician/conductor was once a struggling ballet student. He played piano at the school in order to pay for his classes. He wasn't a bad dancer, but started his professional training late. The school's top pianist spotted his talent and supported his development as an accompanist. We were roommates for a while. Our third roommate was a flautist. Ahhh... well, anyway... good musical memories. I remember my heart soaring as Steve played the fourth act from Swan Lake from the Russian leather-bound score his mentor Babs MacDonald had given him, on a piano in our tiny apartment. He was born to dance in his soul, and became an excellent musician and conductor.
So if you are led to dance, dance! You never know where it will take you.
To dance is never a mistake.
You can find many inspirational ballet stories at The Ballet Store. I'm so glad ballerinas and men in ballet like to write!
Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes - Increase Ballet Turnout
To increase your ballet turnout, first try a truer test for turnout than the butterfly or frog position, where your hips are flexed and turnout will look like more than it really is.
Lie on your stomach with your legs straight. Here your hips are in an extended position. Bend one leg to a 90 degree angle. (If your hip comes of the floor, then you need to stretch out your quadriceps and iliopsoas muscles, as in doing a runner's lunge.) You could have someone gently hold your hip down on the floor if you like. Then allow your bent leg to angle down toward the straight knee. Where the leg stops, this is the correct degree of your turnout.
Doing the frog position on your back or stomach is not good for your knees even if you are flexible.
Now more importantly, how to hold the turnout that you do have....if you watch dance movies carefully you will see that the most brilliantly artistic dancers in the world are not necessarily born with a lot of turnout - and it doesn't matter! They are still brilliant.
Your lateral rotator muscles are your prime turnout muscles, specifically: Piriformis;Obturator Internus;Obturator Externus;Quadratus Femoris; Gemellus Superior; Gemellus Inferior. These muscles lie underneath your gluts. When they contract your thigh rotates. If your leg is behind you, the gluts and hamstring muscles also help to hold the rotation.
The balance and tone of any muscle comes from its ability to work, and its ability to relax when not working. So having lateral rotators that clench to rotate, and don't relax in between exercises, do not have the strength they could have. Turning in during class, in between exercises, is a good habit to have.
For example, when you tendu devant, if your hips remain in placement and your thigh is moving freely on its own, you should be able to rotate to your full natural turnout, even if you cannot always hold it. You may have to practice this with your gluts released, to isolate the rotator muscles. Gluts don't increase your turnout.
If you sit on the floor, legs straight out in front of you, relax your gluts on the floor. Then just engage your rotator muscles and turn your thighs out without your gluts working. This will help you isolate the rotators. If you can raise the legs, one by one, an inch or two off the floor, and hold this turnout, you'll feel the rotators holding against the flexion action. If your hip comes up too, then you are not isolating the leg from the hip completely.
Standing in first position, you want to open the legs by contracting the rotator muscles, but not clenching the gluts at this point. It's good to be able to tighten and hold the gluts when you need to, but not at this moment. Whatever position you end up in, that is your turnout. Same for fifth, with the extra challenge of having one leg slightly behind your pelvis and the other in front. This requires more strength.
While many teachers would not allow this, I would encourage them to have many students working in third position for much longer than they usually feel is "normal". It's not that far to fifth position once the muscles are strengthened. Advanced students and professionals do different things to compensate for not having that perfect fifth position. If they have good teachers, they learn to do this minimally and without injury. But they are doing it very deliberately.
Some people's thighs are in a different position in their hip sockets, that allows more turnout. This is the way they are born. So don't look at anyone else and compare. Also some people have tibial torsion, which means their leg from the knee down is rotated outward. It can lead to other problems, but will give their feet a turned out look, while their knees and thighs may not be able to achieve the same turnout.
Another exercise to strengthen the turnout is as follows: lie down on the floor on your back, feet in first position, flexed as though you were standing. Pressing the back of the legs into the floor can help you feel the rotators. Move the legs, feet still flexed, about half an inch outward toward second position. Keep pressing the back of the legs into the floor, and don't let your back arch. You may only be able to go an inch , - but you'll feel those turnout muscles! Do that ten times every day and you will be much stronger standing up and doing the regular class movements. You won't regret investing time in this exercise. Be sure to relax the rotators afterwards.
Recently I enjoyed a movie of William Forsythe's company. He says in the initial interview "Well, ballet is not anatomically correct".
What an understatement! Yet still, you can increase ballet turnout.
Lie on your stomach with your legs straight. Here your hips are in an extended position. Bend one leg to a 90 degree angle. (If your hip comes of the floor, then you need to stretch out your quadriceps and iliopsoas muscles, as in doing a runner's lunge.) You could have someone gently hold your hip down on the floor if you like. Then allow your bent leg to angle down toward the straight knee. Where the leg stops, this is the correct degree of your turnout.
Doing the frog position on your back or stomach is not good for your knees even if you are flexible.
Now more importantly, how to hold the turnout that you do have....if you watch dance movies carefully you will see that the most brilliantly artistic dancers in the world are not necessarily born with a lot of turnout - and it doesn't matter! They are still brilliant.
Your lateral rotator muscles are your prime turnout muscles, specifically: Piriformis;Obturator Internus;Obturator Externus;Quadratus Femoris; Gemellus Superior; Gemellus Inferior. These muscles lie underneath your gluts. When they contract your thigh rotates. If your leg is behind you, the gluts and hamstring muscles also help to hold the rotation.
The balance and tone of any muscle comes from its ability to work, and its ability to relax when not working. So having lateral rotators that clench to rotate, and don't relax in between exercises, do not have the strength they could have. Turning in during class, in between exercises, is a good habit to have.
For example, when you tendu devant, if your hips remain in placement and your thigh is moving freely on its own, you should be able to rotate to your full natural turnout, even if you cannot always hold it. You may have to practice this with your gluts released, to isolate the rotator muscles. Gluts don't increase your turnout.
If you sit on the floor, legs straight out in front of you, relax your gluts on the floor. Then just engage your rotator muscles and turn your thighs out without your gluts working. This will help you isolate the rotators. If you can raise the legs, one by one, an inch or two off the floor, and hold this turnout, you'll feel the rotators holding against the flexion action. If your hip comes up too, then you are not isolating the leg from the hip completely.
Standing in first position, you want to open the legs by contracting the rotator muscles, but not clenching the gluts at this point. It's good to be able to tighten and hold the gluts when you need to, but not at this moment. Whatever position you end up in, that is your turnout. Same for fifth, with the extra challenge of having one leg slightly behind your pelvis and the other in front. This requires more strength.
While many teachers would not allow this, I would encourage them to have many students working in third position for much longer than they usually feel is "normal". It's not that far to fifth position once the muscles are strengthened. Advanced students and professionals do different things to compensate for not having that perfect fifth position. If they have good teachers, they learn to do this minimally and without injury. But they are doing it very deliberately.
Some people's thighs are in a different position in their hip sockets, that allows more turnout. This is the way they are born. So don't look at anyone else and compare. Also some people have tibial torsion, which means their leg from the knee down is rotated outward. It can lead to other problems, but will give their feet a turned out look, while their knees and thighs may not be able to achieve the same turnout.
Another exercise to strengthen the turnout is as follows: lie down on the floor on your back, feet in first position, flexed as though you were standing. Pressing the back of the legs into the floor can help you feel the rotators. Move the legs, feet still flexed, about half an inch outward toward second position. Keep pressing the back of the legs into the floor, and don't let your back arch. You may only be able to go an inch , - but you'll feel those turnout muscles! Do that ten times every day and you will be much stronger standing up and doing the regular class movements. You won't regret investing time in this exercise. Be sure to relax the rotators afterwards.
Recently I enjoyed a movie of William Forsythe's company. He says in the initial interview "Well, ballet is not anatomically correct".
What an understatement! Yet still, you can increase ballet turnout.
Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes and Summer Intensives
Go to a pointe shoe guide for pointe shoe sizing tips, strengthening exercises, and more.
Summer Intensives offer a chance for increased flexibility. After your first morning class, you are partially warmed up for the rest of the day. That is, unless you are resting in between classes in highly air conditioned environments. I recommend not to do that. A cool but not cold place, perhaps shady outdoors somewhere, is better.
Also, allow your ballet shoes and pointe shoes to dry as much as possible in between classes, they will last longer, and will not lose that 'exactly right fit' so soon. Having two pairs of each helps, if you can do that.
Intensive training in ballet means intensive use of the flexor muscles. Battment tendu, grande battment and developpe en avant mean heavy use of the iliopsoas (hip flexor) muscles. Without constant stretching, this tension will compromise your turnout, as the tension at the side of the hips will counter the thigh's ability to rotate outwards. It will also lessen the flexibility of the low back and front of the hip, in doing an arabesque.
A standing lunge done in between exercises will relieve the tension building up in the hip flexors and postural muscles. Finding exactly the right balance between strength and stretch is what creates power in your work.
One of the best ways to stretch for a good arabesque is at the corner of the studio where you can hold on to one barre, while placing yourself in your ideal arabesque position with your working leg on the barre of the other wall behind you. If there is a lower barre, use it so as to get a more upright (but still adjusted forward)
back position. Do a demi plie repeatedly, holding the position well-placed.
If there is no corner with barres, get a fellow student to hold your hands to keep you upright, and place your leg on the barre behind you to do your demi plies.
A wonderful stretch regimen for dancers is yoga. My favorite is "Ali McGraw - Yoga Mind & Body". It is a few years old but still available. It is not for beginners, but dancers will love it. The positions are easy for most dancers, and give fantastic relief to muscle tension. Done in the evening it will leave you stretched and ready to sleep.
A more active stretching routine is the "Classical Stretch" series.(now also called Essentrics") On a lighter class schedule day, or on a no-class day, the "Athletes' Intense Stretch" will get rid of the muscle tension while still allowing muscle recovery.
If you are recovering from injury, both of the above may be helpful, but please consult with your doctor, teacher or trainer as to whether you are ready to do these routines.
Losing electrolytes and dehydration can cause muscle tension and cramps. Real sea salt on your foods, calcium/magnesium supplements and "All 12" cell salts are a great help. Celery is one of the saltiest foods you can eat, get organic. It contains multiple mineral salts, and is a hydrating food too - a perfect snack in between classes.
The apparency of weight loss through dehydration is a seductive trap. Recognize it and don't worry about weight. If you feel puffy from drinking water, then your mineral balance is off and your cells are floating in water but are not able to use it. So you're still dehydrated. Forget the junk food sports waters. Better to mix a pinch of sea salt into your water and drink it. Neon colors and a couple of minerals won't help.
So please take care of yourselves in the heat, treat spare time as recovery time, and you will reap the most benefits from your summer intensive!
Summer Intensives offer a chance for increased flexibility. After your first morning class, you are partially warmed up for the rest of the day. That is, unless you are resting in between classes in highly air conditioned environments. I recommend not to do that. A cool but not cold place, perhaps shady outdoors somewhere, is better.
Also, allow your ballet shoes and pointe shoes to dry as much as possible in between classes, they will last longer, and will not lose that 'exactly right fit' so soon. Having two pairs of each helps, if you can do that.
Intensive training in ballet means intensive use of the flexor muscles. Battment tendu, grande battment and developpe en avant mean heavy use of the iliopsoas (hip flexor) muscles. Without constant stretching, this tension will compromise your turnout, as the tension at the side of the hips will counter the thigh's ability to rotate outwards. It will also lessen the flexibility of the low back and front of the hip, in doing an arabesque.
A standing lunge done in between exercises will relieve the tension building up in the hip flexors and postural muscles. Finding exactly the right balance between strength and stretch is what creates power in your work.
One of the best ways to stretch for a good arabesque is at the corner of the studio where you can hold on to one barre, while placing yourself in your ideal arabesque position with your working leg on the barre of the other wall behind you. If there is a lower barre, use it so as to get a more upright (but still adjusted forward)
back position. Do a demi plie repeatedly, holding the position well-placed.
If there is no corner with barres, get a fellow student to hold your hands to keep you upright, and place your leg on the barre behind you to do your demi plies.
A wonderful stretch regimen for dancers is yoga. My favorite is "Ali McGraw - Yoga Mind & Body". It is a few years old but still available. It is not for beginners, but dancers will love it. The positions are easy for most dancers, and give fantastic relief to muscle tension. Done in the evening it will leave you stretched and ready to sleep.
A more active stretching routine is the "Classical Stretch" series.(now also called Essentrics") On a lighter class schedule day, or on a no-class day, the "Athletes' Intense Stretch" will get rid of the muscle tension while still allowing muscle recovery.
If you are recovering from injury, both of the above may be helpful, but please consult with your doctor, teacher or trainer as to whether you are ready to do these routines.
Losing electrolytes and dehydration can cause muscle tension and cramps. Real sea salt on your foods, calcium/magnesium supplements and "All 12" cell salts are a great help. Celery is one of the saltiest foods you can eat, get organic. It contains multiple mineral salts, and is a hydrating food too - a perfect snack in between classes.
The apparency of weight loss through dehydration is a seductive trap. Recognize it and don't worry about weight. If you feel puffy from drinking water, then your mineral balance is off and your cells are floating in water but are not able to use it. So you're still dehydrated. Forget the junk food sports waters. Better to mix a pinch of sea salt into your water and drink it. Neon colors and a couple of minerals won't help.
So please take care of yourselves in the heat, treat spare time as recovery time, and you will reap the most benefits from your summer intensive!
Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes - and Between Class Shoes
You can click on this link to find out how to care for your feet in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
What should a ballet dancer wear for daily foot support? Today there are attractive athletic shoes in all shapes widths, and colors. The expensive built-up sole types are not necessarily the best. The kind with the springs in the heel look like they would feel great if you are walking on cement all day, or on the hard stone halls of a high school. But they may not be the best for developing feet and legs. I have seen that even very young dancers think like career builders and will pay attention to professional issues like daily footwear.
Joyce Morgenroth says in her article from Arts & Sciences Newsletter Fall 1997 Vol. 18 No. 2
"In pointe shoes the vulgar, useful foot is gone. In its place is the illusion of an elongated leg and only a most tenuous connection to the ground."
The entire article has a lot of historical detail, is a great read, and is found here.
So how do we take care of our "vulgar, useful foot"? When I was a ballet student at The National Ballet School of Canada, we wore "vulgar and useful" shoes, by uniform mandate - oxfords! Ugh! Although I have to admit, when I tied mine on after a ballet class, my feet, ankles and calves really were supported and relaxed. Special foot muscle exercises for your best work in ballet shoes and pointe shoes support the health and development of the dancer's foot.
So back to modern athletic shoes, I read some passages from "Slow Burn" by Stu Mittleman. (I had ordered "Slow Burn" intending to get the book by Frederick Hahn and Eades & Eades. I received the Stu Mittleman book "by mistake" and then ordered the other one too.) They are both fantastic books. No mistakes.
Page 77, the chapter "Always Buy a Shoe Fit, Not a Shoe Size", is a long chapter with interesting stories and great information. Stu is a runner and the frame of his info is for runners. However, a dance student or professional dancer can glean some good advice from him. On page 84 he says :
"The most important considerations to make when it comes to the structure and function of your foot have to do with the following:
arch type
tilt pattern
foot strike"
Stu's details in shoe selection that follow that passage resemble the minutiae that dancers attend to in fitting ballet shoes and pointe shoes ("professional ballet shoes"). I suggest that dance students get the book from their local library and review this section, in consideration of the selection of the shoes they wear daily. Party shoes aside, I think you want to support the feet that are supporting you. All day.
Muscles relaxation is very important. In ballet classes, it is crucial to relax between exercises. In life, it is crucial to relax between classes. You can most likely find the best shoe for your arch type, tilt pattern, and foot strike .
Stu discusses the available athletic shoes for the tilt pattern. In ballet we say 'rolling ankles' 'dropped arches' or 'flat foot'. Simply meaning the inner ankles roll toward the floor, pronation, and the opposite, the outer ankles roll toward the floor, supination. Differently shaped sneakers will give needed support.
(The foot strike is less important for dancers, but very important for runners. )
Stu also discusses muscle testing. Chiropractors, kiniesiologists, naturopaths, acupuncturists, some nutritionists, many can muscle test. This includes for proper shoe support. If you have a practitioner that might do this for you, buy your shoes, and take them to your health care person, get the shoes muscle tested. If they are not supportive you can return them.
Be a pro right now and find out how to care for your feet in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
What should a ballet dancer wear for daily foot support? Today there are attractive athletic shoes in all shapes widths, and colors. The expensive built-up sole types are not necessarily the best. The kind with the springs in the heel look like they would feel great if you are walking on cement all day, or on the hard stone halls of a high school. But they may not be the best for developing feet and legs. I have seen that even very young dancers think like career builders and will pay attention to professional issues like daily footwear.
Joyce Morgenroth says in her article from Arts & Sciences Newsletter Fall 1997 Vol. 18 No. 2
"In pointe shoes the vulgar, useful foot is gone. In its place is the illusion of an elongated leg and only a most tenuous connection to the ground."
The entire article has a lot of historical detail, is a great read, and is found here.
So how do we take care of our "vulgar, useful foot"? When I was a ballet student at The National Ballet School of Canada, we wore "vulgar and useful" shoes, by uniform mandate - oxfords! Ugh! Although I have to admit, when I tied mine on after a ballet class, my feet, ankles and calves really were supported and relaxed. Special foot muscle exercises for your best work in ballet shoes and pointe shoes support the health and development of the dancer's foot.
So back to modern athletic shoes, I read some passages from "Slow Burn" by Stu Mittleman. (I had ordered "Slow Burn" intending to get the book by Frederick Hahn and Eades & Eades. I received the Stu Mittleman book "by mistake" and then ordered the other one too.) They are both fantastic books. No mistakes.
Page 77, the chapter "Always Buy a Shoe Fit, Not a Shoe Size", is a long chapter with interesting stories and great information. Stu is a runner and the frame of his info is for runners. However, a dance student or professional dancer can glean some good advice from him. On page 84 he says :
"The most important considerations to make when it comes to the structure and function of your foot have to do with the following:
arch type
tilt pattern
foot strike"
Stu's details in shoe selection that follow that passage resemble the minutiae that dancers attend to in fitting ballet shoes and pointe shoes ("professional ballet shoes"). I suggest that dance students get the book from their local library and review this section, in consideration of the selection of the shoes they wear daily. Party shoes aside, I think you want to support the feet that are supporting you. All day.
Muscles relaxation is very important. In ballet classes, it is crucial to relax between exercises. In life, it is crucial to relax between classes. You can most likely find the best shoe for your arch type, tilt pattern, and foot strike .
Stu discusses the available athletic shoes for the tilt pattern. In ballet we say 'rolling ankles' 'dropped arches' or 'flat foot'. Simply meaning the inner ankles roll toward the floor, pronation, and the opposite, the outer ankles roll toward the floor, supination. Differently shaped sneakers will give needed support.
(The foot strike is less important for dancers, but very important for runners. )
Stu also discusses muscle testing. Chiropractors, kiniesiologists, naturopaths, acupuncturists, some nutritionists, many can muscle test. This includes for proper shoe support. If you have a practitioner that might do this for you, buy your shoes, and take them to your health care person, get the shoes muscle tested. If they are not supportive you can return them.
Be a pro right now and find out how to care for your feet in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
