Balance and Stretches

Dancing Smart Newsletter
January 19, 2007

Announcements

Dance Teacher Magazine, March issue is going to be filled with wonderful health and teaching tips, including an article by me, on teaching anatomy in the dance class. Watch for it in your mailboxes and on the newsstands! (Okay – I always wanted to write out that last phrase - I miss the newsstands of NYC!)

Onto the questions of the week..

First Question

Balancing is one aspect of technique that always improves over time, Marc! By the end of the semester you will see improvement, I'm sure. Let me give you a few exercises to practice outside of class.

The first one is simple – whenever standing in one place for a minute or so, lift up one foot and balance. Standing at the bathroom sink brushing your teeth, waiting in line at the bank, traveling on the subway, are all good times to practice balancing.

Then take your shoes off and try standing on your bed or a sofa cushion placed on the floor and toss a small ball between your hands for up to 3 minutes. If you don't have a ball available do port de bras, including head movement. Even standing on one leg and turning your head right and left will be challenging for many people.

If you want to really improve your balance, practice balancing on one leg, doing small demi plies with your eyes closed! Taking away the visual cues for balance means you need to fine-tune your inner balance. Stay aware of maintaining correct alignment.

Next Question

Good question, Royce. You're right, there are many opinions about stretching techniques. Let me explain mine. The stretch I like most for the iliopsoas muscle is the hanging stretch – where you are on your back with one knee pulled to your chest, stabilizing your lower back, and the other leg is hanging off the table (top of the stairs, etc.) What I find is it often takes up to a minute to even release the weight of the leg. As you slowly relax into the stretch you may feel the leg drop out to the side, which is fine. If you are trying to hold the knee in line with the hip you will be holding with the very muscles you are trying to stretch.

After you have released the weight of the leg you can begin to use your imagery and imagine the leg growing longer and dropping down towards the floor. I often put one hand at the front of the pelvis where the iliopsoas crosses the pelvis as a kinesthetic reminder to release. I'm staying in touch with the rest of my body, making sure the lower back isn't taking any strain and my breathing is full and easy. (This may take another minute of focused attention)

I use the third minute to luxuriate in the 'good' feeling of the stretch maintaining my intention on 'seeing' and 'sensing' the release of the hip flexors, I might imagine including the stretch to the quadriceps by imaging a weight around my ankle that slowly bends the knee as the muscle releases.

Then gently, and slowly, I bring the leg back up towards my chest and do the other side. This takes me around three minutes.

I like the 3-minute guideline for passive stretching specifically for allowing the time to reduce the overall tension of the body. If you know and understand PNF stretching, which alternates between contracting the desired muscle group and then releasing it – that would cut down on your stretching time.

It is worth mentioning, (even though I know you all know this), that stretching is best done with warm muscles. That means your students should be stretching after class, rather than spending all their time before class sitting in second position on the floor. Also, it is useful to switch between stretching the hip flexors, then the hip extensors (hamstrings), then go back to the hip flexors. Notice if your results are improved the second time around.

Until next time,
Warmest regards,

Deborah

"Education is the key to injury prevention"

Copyright ©2003-2006 The Body Series. All Rights Reserved.

Deborah Vogel is a dancer, author, and master teacher who conducts workshops across the U.S. for both student and professional dancers. Her numerous articles on dance technique and injury prevention have appeared in Dance Spirit and Dance Teacher magazines. She is the Director of the Institute for Performance Studies and a faculty member at Oberlin College and the OC Conservatory of Music. During her years in NYC she co- founded the Center for Dance Medicine. Deborah makes her home in Oberlin, Ohio.