So a Ballerina Walks into a Barre......

Does anyone else feel like ballerinas are TERRIBLY clumsy outside the studio? Like when you walk into a door when all of your friends are watching and then unknowingly yell out "DOOR!". Yeah. Happens to the best of us.

BUT that is not what this article is about.

I am writing on the importance of barre class. If you feel tired or weighed down in the middle of class, it may be because you underestimate the importance of barre. Barre isn't just a portion of class to warm you up....it's like a class itself! Treat it like a peice you are learning; try to do your best. Make your plies deep, your frappes sharp, and your turnout steady and strong. This will improve your jumps, petite allegro, adagio, pointe, and stamina. Some of this also may be able to help with drowsiness.

Barre is also a good thing to do at home in between ballet classes. It improves your memory, muscles, and stamina. You come to ballet class with a clean slate and your muscles have automatic memory to barre, which allows you to concentrate more on correcting mistakes. This saves time in class instead of scrambling to remember barre.

30 minutes to an hour per day is all your body asks. Take this time to barre, stretch, anything else your body needs. It improves the sleek shape of the dancer and makes you over-all more healthy. Once I was asked, "So how long does it take to be good at ballet?" At first I thought they meant how long it takes to get to a professional level, but instead I answered, "Well, you never do. Dance is always about striving to be longer, healthier, more precise, better." And it's true.

The Pointe Is...

Since I am very new on pointe (September 29, 2011 oh yes i still remember the date), I am still figuring out this freak of nature. I am convinced that humans were not meant to fly or stand on their toes, but it looks pretty so what the heck.

I use Russian Pointe Grandes, and this was my first pair. I recently purchased my second pair to wear for the concert next week. These are considerable harder than I remember, but they are supposedly EXACTLY the same. I have experimented with different padding, switching shoes, different warm-up techniques, everything! I didn't remember Pair 1 hurting this much; the only reason I got new ones were because Pair 1 was all torn-up and falling apart. They weren't dead, just ratty. I made a mistake. I put the old pair on today with fresh padding, and the felt like a second skin! Sooooo comfortable compared to my new shoes. I have spent all day today trying to soften my shoes up, with no success. Maybe I need to buy a softer shoe next time? I will not be getting Grandes again because 1) I am not happy with them and 2) they are discontinued. 

Pointe shoes should look like a part of your feet when you are wearing them. The picture shouldn't be a definite difference between the shoe and your feet. Here are some examples:

Michaela DePrince from First Position is one example I can give you. Watch her feet at 0:17.

Amazing, huh?

This is an example of a foot separate from the shoe.

See what I mean? During pointe class, think of your pointe shoes as part of your foot, not a shoe. They are extensions of your legs, not ballet apparel. You can get this look and feel through well-broken in shoes.

Sleek Performance

WE ARE NOT CLOUDS.

For dancers, muscle building is key for professional development. I'm not talking about RRRRGGGGHHHH LOOK AT MY ARMS THEY'RE 5 TIMES AS BIG AS MY HEADDDDD. Dancers develop different muscles than many other sports and performing arts, ones that are more sculpted and sleek, less big and bulgy. Many of the muscles developed by dancers are inner muscles, such as the inner thigh, deep in the leg, or the core.  Muscle development varies directly to how many days (not hours) per week you are in the studio.

Misty Copeland

I only take classes on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, a total of 6 hours per week. Not a professional schedule, I know, but I appreciate not being locked up every day all day with no contact with sunlight. This upcoming year, because my schedule will stay the same, I am planning on taking a higher level class on Tuesday, and any other classes I can the rest of the week, even if they are levels below me. Dance development has nothing to do with how many hours per week you train, but everything to do with how many days per week you dance. Even if you cannot dance every day, there is nothing stopping you from giving yourself your own dance workout at home.

When selecting a dance workout, be careful as to what muscles they are building. Watch or read the instructions carefully and think about what muscles they may be building. It is best to warm up with a barre. I suggest Pure Barre videos, or Finis Jhung videos found on DVD and YouTube. Or you could use your own barre from class. Maybe create your own.

I also suggest teaching yourself a variation from a famous ballet. This improves your teaching, choreography, and dancing skills. You will learn how to adapt a dance from a video, which will come in very handy in the future. Well-known variations include The Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker, The Lilac Fairy from Sleeping Beauty, and Swanhilda's variation in Coppelia

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Core strength is extremely important for a dancer. Without core muscles, extensions would drop, leaps would be barely off the ground, balance would be nearly impossible, and pirouettes absurd. This expressed, you can NEVER have too much core strength. Crunches, 100s, sit-ups, planks, and the like must be on your workout schedule. 

Yoga and Pilates are considered very healthy for a ballerina, increasing balance, strength, and stamina. Try joining a club such as Groupon to get updates on special deals for yoga and Pilates classes. Special offers on Kindles are also very common. The other day I received coupon that included ten 90-minute yoga classes with a choice of a 15-minute massage or a 30-minute personal training session for only $30! Yoga is a very inexpensive and stress-relieving way to build muscle.

December Fitness Routine

Ok, recently I've decided that I need to step up my workouts. A few crunches and releves aren't cutting it. I've moved past that stage. It's about time. I've been doing them for 2 1/2 years.

After doing a bit of research (and by research I mean Pinterest) i concocted a recipe for my daily workout.

FIRST OF ALL. I am taking this pledge:

1. Drink one glass of water every hour. It will make you feel full. 2. Drink ice cold water. Your body will burn calories just getting the water to a normal temperature to digest. Also it is great for your complexion. 3. Drink 3 cups of green tea daily. It will help boost your metabolism, plus its anti-oxidants make your skin look great. 4. Take vitamins daily. Do not take vitamins on an empty stomache, otherwise they have nothing to catalyze with. 5. Eat ice or gum when hungry. This will make your body think it had food without the calories. 6. Eat spicy foods. They raise your metabolism. 7. Take cold showers because your body will burn calories to heat you back up. 8. Brush your teeth so you won’t be tempted to eat afterwards. 9. Wear a rubberband around your wrist. Snap it when you want to eat. 10. Use smaller plates and utensils so it seems like you ate more. 11. Chew each bite of food thoroughly and then take a sip of water between bites. You will feel full quicker and will not eat as much. 12. Sleep at least six hours a day. If you get less than six this can lower your metabolism by 15%. 13. If you start to feel hungry do sit ups. 14. Pamper yourself! Give yourself a facial, paint your nails, anything to make you feel pretty. 15. Keep track of everything you eat to manage your weight better. 16. Keep good posture, burns 10% more calories when you sit up straight. 17. Make a list of all the “bad” foods that you crave and tend to binge on. Each day, pick one to take out of your diet that you cannot eat again. Take one off the list each day until there are no more bad foods you can have. 17. Avoid alcohol! A shot of liquor has 100-120 calories, a glass of wine has 80 calories, a lite beer has 110-120 calories, and a regular beer has 140-170 calories. 18. Avoid eating anything bigger than about a cup, your stomach will expand and then you’ll get hungry more. 19. The smell of coffee is thought to supress appetite. 20. Wear applied lip gloss. It makes you more aware of what’s going in your mouth. Also, flavored ones may help with cravings. 21. Have 6 small meals a day. 22. Low calorie hot chocolate curbs chocolate cravings, and makes you feel full. 23. Take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit or something equally important to you, look at it before you want to eat. 24. It takes 20 minutes for the brain to realize the stomach is full. 25. Eat lots of fiber. It makes you feel full and takes fat with it out of your body. The natural cleansing helps improve both your energy level and overall feeling of wellness. 26. Before you dig into that cake, bag of chips, candy, or whatever, take a deep breath and count to 100. Usually by the time you get to 100 you will have convinced yourself that you don’t really want it. 27. Celery actually burns calories. Every hour eat a stalk of it. Not only will it fill you up, but it will also get your metabolism kicking. 28. Read the nutritional information. Remember, fat-free does not mean calorie-free. 29. Keep an eye on fiber content. Get as much fiber into your diet as you can, while cutting fat and calories. 30. Don’t eat a lot at once. Spread your food throughout the day. This will help to avoid binging and keep your metabolism going. 31. Avoid alchohol. 32. Do not eat in front of the computer or TV. This distracts you from recognizing you’re full. 33. Stay away from Slim-fast and other so-called “healthy” candy bars and shakes… one look at the nutition facts will tell you why. Save yourself the money, and the calories. Buy yourself some flowers instead -- they make you happy. 34. When having cravings try drinking a tall, icy glass of water with slices of lemons or oranges - sometimes what you think is hunger is really thirst. 35. Remember, an occasional binge doesn’t hurt, in fact it’s quite beneficial if you have reached a plateau (stopped losing weight). Just don’t binge too regularly! 36. Love and respect yourself and your body.

It's quite the read, but read it through and you will want to take it with me.

SECONDLY, I am going with this plan:

"Set your alarm for 6am. Don’t groan when it goes off and pull the covers over your head, get up and start your day. Put on a baggy top and running shorts. Go downstairs and pour yourself a nice big glass of ice water. Cut up some fruit and mix it in with yogurt. Add some granola. Now go outside. Stretch for 10 minutes. Skip for 5 minutes. Jog for 10 minutes. Run for 10 minutes. Walk back. Lay out a towel on the ground and lie down on it. Do 50 crunches. Yes, they hurt, but they are 100% worth it. When you’re done, get in the shower. Use a nice smelling shampoo and matching conditioner. Shave your legs and wash your body. Exfoliate your face. Get out of the shower and let your hair air dry. Look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? If you do, good for you. Do this every day and you will continue to love yourself. If you don’t like what you see, do this every day and pretty soon you will. Being lazy might feel good at the time, but being active feels better in the long run. How badly do you want it?"

Now, to that plan I am making a tiny adjustment. Along with the 50 crunches, I am adding:

3 sets of wall holds, for as long as I can

15 to 20 bent-knee push-ups

20 chair dips

40 second plank into tummy tucks (as many as possible)

30 donkeys

20 front lunges on each leg

Jumping on the trampoline for (at least) 10 minutes

SO. here is the total workout:

"Set your alarm for 6am. Don’t groan when it goes off and pull the covers over your head, get up and start your day. Put on a baggy top and running shorts. Go downstairs and pour yourself a nice big glass of ice water. Cut up some fruit and mix it in with yogurt. Add some granola. Now go outside. Stretch for 10 minutes. Skip for 5 minutes. Jog for 10 minutes. Run for 10 minutes. Walk back. Lay out a towel on the ground and lie down on it. Do 50 crunches. Yes, they hurt, but they are 100% worth it. Then, 3 sets of wall holds, for as long as I can. 15 to 20 bent-knee push-ups. 20 chair dips. 40 second plank into tummy tucks (as many as possible). 30 donkeys. 20 front lunges on each leg. Jumping on the trampoline for (at least) 10 minutes. When you’re done, get in the shower. Use a nice smelling shampoo and matching conditioner. Shave your legs and wash your body. Exfoliate your face. Get out of the shower and let your hair air dry. Look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? If you do, good for you. Do this every day and you will continue to love yourself. If you don’t like what you see, do this every day and pretty soon you will. Being lazy might feel good at the time, but being active feels better in the long run. How badly do you want it?"

THAT is my December pledge.

Ankle Stretch Round-up

Ankle Stretches for Gymnastics Warm Ups



Physical Therapy for Achilles Tendon and Ankles


How to Stretch the Ankles

Tuesday's Tips: Winging Your Ankle

If you look closely at this dancer's foot, you will see that her ankle (in the air) is angled like this: _/

Do you see?

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Let me go into a little more detail on the feet.

Here is a diagram of my feet that tells you what your foot is pointing like. Note: I pointed with my feet turned in, so you could see the positions better.

Sickle Foot:
The worst you can possibly do on pointing. Sickling can create a messy line in arabesque and tendu.

Regular Point:
This is the ideal point of the foot. This position is used in pretty much all battements, the foot isn't winged in these.

Winged Foot:
This position is tricky, and you probably won't be able to do it within your first year of ballet. Winged feet are generally used in arabesque, attitude, and other large steps. The feet appear to be like this:

/
|

or

_/

If you have any questions, comment or email me at abitofbecca at gmail dot com!

Come back tomorrow for Wednesday's Ballet!

Ask Rebecca

Recently, ChaCha from Ballet & More asked me about getting onto pointe, and strengthening yourself for it. Here is the comment:


Hi! :) I loved the bag post I am so going to use it! Speaking of pointe shoes... could you maybe do an article about pointe for Wednesday's Ballet? Like, on how to get onto pointe and how to strengthen your feet for it? Because my teacher said she wasn't sure whether or not I'd go on pointe in the near future, and I really want to go on! How can I strengthen myself so I can?


First of all, I myself am not on pointe yet. I don't think that I have told you that yet, but I am not. I am going into my second year of ballet. Please don't think that I was deceiving you with writing all of these articles with pointe in them, because I have a lot of friends who are on pointe, and I do A LOT of research. Second of all, I can't tell you how to get on pointe, and neither can any student who is on pointe. It is a matter of strength, and how ready your muscles are. I can tell you that I am very sure that I am going on pointe next year, so there's hope! And, I do have an article coming your way! I got someone who is on pointe to write one, just for you! And just because pointe isn't near, doesn't mean it's never gonna happen. If you went on pointe this coming up year, you would probably break your ankle and never be able to dance again. We don't want that to happen, do we? I felt the same exact way you felt, and still kind of feel that way. I really want to go on pointe. But I am also aware of the dangers of getting them too early. I spend my time in canvas shoes studying the care of pointe shoes, and pointe injuries, remedies, things like that. You can strengthen your ankles and calves by doing your daily routine, and Pointe Strengthening Exercises, the little things make HUGE changes. Keep up the good work!



If you have any questions, go ahead and ask, and I guarantee that they will be answered.

Let's Get to the Pointe

Here are some really good pointe strengthening exercises.

1. Push the Box. Sit on the floor with your legs strait in front of you. Place a box at your feet. Push the box away from you with your toes as far as you can. Then, reach over your legs and grab the box and bring it closer. This will help strengthen your ankles and has a bonus of a leg stretch.

2. Alphabet Toes. When sitting down at the table, or watching TV, write the alphabet with your toes. You can do Manuscript or Cursive, whichever is easier for you. This will strengthen your ankles.

3. Step, Plie, Step, Plie. This is a pre-pointe exercise straight from the studio. Stand in "6th" position on releve. Take a step forward. While still in releve, bend your knees in plie. Straighten. Take another step forward and plie. Do this down the hallway or even on your way to the refrigerator. You are on releve the entire time.

4. Releves are excellent for gaining strength in calves and ankles. Stand on a stair step with most of your foot hanging off of the edge. Stand up on releve and come down slowly. When you come down, you will go past flatfoot and will stretch out your calves. Releve 20 times or so, and work your way up to more as you feel comfortable.