DOs and DON'Ts

DON'T land from a jump on flatfoot! Go down through releve and then plie on flatfoot. If you land without a plie, you could seriously injure your hips or back.

DO Keep your feet pointed hard while in the air. This will help you not to land on flatfoot.

DON'T skip out on splits. You have to do them! Don't say, "Well, I'm close enough to a full split, so I don't have to do them."

DO spend time on it every day by doing wall splits. 15 minutes a day is good.

DON'T lift your shoulders. This will make your line look frumpy and unprofessional.

DO look in the mirror and lift your arms to fifth position. Is there a big space between your cheekbones and your shoulders? If not, try lowering your shoulders a bit.

DON'T do dangerous sports like, rock climbing, river rafting, hiking or any other sports that aren't really planned and organized by coaches. You could injure your ankles.

DO have a good attitude! Be grateful to be working hard and learning new things! If not, the bad attitude will spread throughout the class.