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.

Tutu Tuesday

okay. close your eyes. think about your favorite tutu that you have worn. for me, it was this costume (me in the pink): 

i was a pretty snazzy stepsister, if i do say so myself.

pretty decked out, huh?

ANYWAY. Tutus are a very important part of ballet. Ballet is telling a story without using words, and costumes help us tell that story through theatricality. Many ballets requires specific costume for variations, the Sleeping Beauty ballet being one of them. The Bluebird variation requires a blue tutu with feather accents to insinuate bird-likeness, and Carabosse must wear dark clothing to signify evil. In Don Quixote, Kitri wears a Spanish tutu, usually red and black, to culturally match with the story.

There are many different kinds of tutus, such as Balanchine, Romantic, and classic Pancake.

Romantic Tutu

Long and flowy, this ankle-length ballet skirt reflect it's time period. The tulle tutu is bell-shaped and free falling to emphasize lightness, and are in dark ballets such as Giselle and La Sylphide.

Pancake Tutu

This short, flat skirt is very full at the top, yet stiff with wires and hand tacking near the bottom layers. This kind of ballet tutu is used in countless variations, including the Lilac Fairy, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and many other principal parts.

Bell Tutu

Bell tutus are one of the less common tutus, but are very popular at some old-fashioned dance companies. Slightly longer that a pancake, it is of the same construction but without wiring, kind of a cross between pancake and romantic. These tutus are often seen in paintings by Edgar Degas, as the one above.

Balanchine/Karinska Tutu

(Middle) Originally designed for the ballet of George Bizet's Symphony in C by Barbara Karinska, the "powder-puff" was often used by George Balanchine to extenuate the long legs of his dancers. With a similar anatomy of the pancake tutu, the Balanchine tutu has less layers of tulle than the pancake tutu, and no wiring, giving a flowy, soft look that expresses the length of the dancer's legs.

Platter tutu

Platters are almost exactly like pancake tutus, except they are completely flat and less full at the top. These tutus are often used for ballet class.

Just by researching this topic I learned so much! I hope that you expanded you knowledge on ballet apparel :)

If you liked this, see my post on Ballet Leotards.