I was 19 when I started Ballet decades ago. Coming from other dance genres, I had to cope with how the Ballet discipline took stretching seriously. I remember doing an improper stretch at led to a slight injury to my inner thigh that made it difficult to give my best during an intensive class.
Ballet requires body preparation appropriate for it's movement vocabulary. It is very demanding in terms of technical precision and physical abilities. As such, a young dancer needs to go through a routine to properly mobilize his/her joints and stretch muscles to be engaged. Proper stretching needs to gradual according to the level of blood circulation occuring in your muscles. Serious stretching is done on warm muscles.
In my Ballet classes for kids ages 4-8, I start with a gentle stretch to open the hip socket and stretch the Sartorius muscles. The children cross their legs like a pretzel and then try to touch the floor with their heads. They do this for about 2 mins and repeat with switched legs.
After doing exercises to ensure proper blood circulation throughout the leg, I let my students do a series of straddle stretches on the floor, to enable the most efficient rotation of the legs towards the body. The series starts with one leg extended to the side and the body pressing sideways over it. Care should be done so that the legs are straight, the little toes are on the floor and the pelvic bone presses over the leg. This is repeated with the other leg and eventually with both legs extended. Proper carriage of the arms and alignment of the spine are also key to the correct execution of this step.
The next stretch focuses on stretching the Hip Flexors and the Quadriceps which are more often than not the antagonist muscles in Ballet exercises. By having the dancer reach back to touch her toes with the head, she not only works her Erector Spinae muscles, she also presses down and stretches here Hip Flexors and Quads.
The final stretch done in my beginners class is a stretch to the side with the leg extended off the floor. This starts with one leg stretched at a time and ends with both legs stretched together. Gravity gives additional tension during the stretch of the leg enabling good tension behind the dancer's knees. A balance with both legs extended develops abdominal control necessary for standing balances.
Ballet requires body preparation appropriate for it's movement vocabulary. It is very demanding in terms of technical precision and physical abilities. As such, a young dancer needs to go through a routine to properly mobilize his/her joints and stretch muscles to be engaged. Proper stretching needs to gradual according to the level of blood circulation occuring in your muscles. Serious stretching is done on warm muscles.
In my Ballet classes for kids ages 4-8, I start with a gentle stretch to open the hip socket and stretch the Sartorius muscles. The children cross their legs like a pretzel and then try to touch the floor with their heads. They do this for about 2 mins and repeat with switched legs.
After doing exercises to ensure proper blood circulation throughout the leg, I let my students do a series of straddle stretches on the floor, to enable the most efficient rotation of the legs towards the body. The series starts with one leg extended to the side and the body pressing sideways over it. Care should be done so that the legs are straight, the little toes are on the floor and the pelvic bone presses over the leg. This is repeated with the other leg and eventually with both legs extended. Proper carriage of the arms and alignment of the spine are also key to the correct execution of this step.
The next stretch focuses on stretching the Hip Flexors and the Quadriceps which are more often than not the antagonist muscles in Ballet exercises. By having the dancer reach back to touch her toes with the head, she not only works her Erector Spinae muscles, she also presses down and stretches here Hip Flexors and Quads.
The final stretch done in my beginners class is a stretch to the side with the leg extended off the floor. This starts with one leg stretched at a time and ends with both legs stretched together. Gravity gives additional tension during the stretch of the leg enabling good tension behind the dancer's knees. A balance with both legs extended develops abdominal control necessary for standing balances.
As the dancer continuously does these stretches, she will be able to do harder stretches like standing stretches and splits. Once we get stretches out of the way, the dancers are now ready to do Barre and Center exercises which require a higher degree of control and precision than floor exercises.
If you wish to observe my classes, you may do so at the following locations:
1. Acts Manila @ Breathe, Solenad 1 Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines
Wed 3-4pm and Sat 11am-12nn ( ages 4-8 )
Mon/Wed/Fri 4:30 - 5:50pm ( ages 9 and up )
2. Acts Manila @ Life 'N Arts, San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines
Tues/Sat 3:30 - 4:30pm ( ages 4-8)
Tues 6-7pm and Sat 4:30 - 5:30pm ( ages 9 and up )
Check out www.actsmanila.com
#ActsManila #BalletBreatheNuvali #BalletLifeNArtsStaRosa
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