Always a Dancer

December 2, 2009September 20, 2014

Once a Dancer, Always a Dancer

It’s interesting how dance can consume a person. I wrote a post about how some people just have a passion for dancing that cannot be ignored, and how this passion drives us to push ourselves through trial and error and pain and suffering (sometimes, from injuries). But at some point, our bodies age and we have to move on…if we’re lucky enough to continue working in the field we love, we become teachers or choreographers. However, for some of us, we move into a completely different arena. We become mothers and fathers, we work jobs with regular people…that is, people who don’t have flashbacks of Nutcracker performances when they hear Tchaikovsky’s score on the radio or in the mall. We find dance career alternatives.

When I first stopped dancing it was because of Achilles tendinitis. I also had a husband and a new baby that naturally changed my priorities in life. We lived in Lexington, Kentucky where I had performed a little with the ballet company, so when we went to performances I was watching all my old dance friends on stage. I cried every single time we sat in the audience to watch a performance. Deep inside I was grieving the loss of dance in my life. Sure, I was teaching. We started a dancewear store so I was in contact with dancers all the time. But I knew that I would never again put on my pointe shoes and dance on stage. It was like a part of me—a huge part—had died and would never come back. Continue reading “Once a Dancer, Always a Dancer”

November 23, 2009April 12, 2013

How to Make Your Pointe Shoes Slip Free

Is the stage floor too slippery for your pointe shoes? Is the stage crew opposed to using rosin on the stage and you are without the benefit of marley? There are ways to make your pointe shoes slip proof! If you know you are going to be dancing on a stage that matches this description, take your pointe shoes to a local shoe repair ahead of time. They usually need a few days to do this, so don’t wait until the last minute. All you need to do is ask them to put rubber on the platform and sole of your shoes. Be sure to specify tan, because they may use black if you don’t!

Tell them to extend the rubber to the place on the sole where your shank needs to bend, so it will cover the platform and about 2/3 or 3/4 of the sole. They can use the leather sole on your shoes as a guide, and have them bevel the edges so you don’t notice where the rubber ends and your shoe begins along the sides. Then, have them put about a circle of beveled rubber on the very end of the sole where your heel is. I used to tell them to make it the size of a quarter.

This works wonders when you must dance on treacherous, slippery surfaces. Back when I was dancing, the shoe repairman would charge about $10 for a pair of shoes. I have no idea if such establishments are even easy to find nowadays, or what kind of fee they would charge. But it’s definitely worth looking into. You’d be surprised at how normal the shoes feel, even with the rubber on them.

If the stage crew isn’t opposed to using rosin, in addition to having a rosin box backstage for dancers to step into, you can take small chunks of rock rosin and spread them around the stage. Have several dancers or stage crew members help you step on them and spread the rosin around the stage to get the best coverage possible. Then, take a broom and sweep away the excess. This works pretty well if you aren’t able to put the rubber on your pointe shoes. Good luck!

November 12, 2009April 12, 2013

How to Make Pointe Shoes Last Longer

Dancers are always trying to extend the life of their pointe shoes. It’s especially important for students who are buying their own shoes to get the most out of them, because we all know they aren’t cheap! There are several things you can do to extend the life of your pointe shoes. I would say the ideal way to go if you can afford it, would be to always have at least two pair on hand that you can switch between. The longer your shoes can rest between wearings the better they are able to air out and harden back up.

Another important thing to do is to keep them in a net bag or something where air can get to the shoes, rather than dumping them into your dance bag with sweaty ballet slippers and leotards. These bags are available at dancewear stores and online. The Ballet Boutique sells them online here. If you can wear tights I think that helps, too, although I remember liking to sometimes dance in my pointe shoes with bare feet—but if you’re trying to make them last longer that probably isn’t the smartest thing to do.

We always cut the satin off the tips of our shoes before wearing them as well. The satin tends to rip up anyway. I’m not sure it’s a good practice, but we also used shellac or floor cleaner like Mop & Glo floor cleaner and put a capful into the box of the shoe. Set them up on the toes to dry overnight, first getting any excess out of the tip of the shoe with a paper towel.

Some of my friends used to put their shoes in the oven, but I never did this and am not sure how it made them last any longer. Any other dancers have tips on extending the life of pointe shoes to share? Please leave a comment!

November 6, 2009February 13, 2017

Dancers and Conditioning

I’ve often wondered how common it is for a dancer to suffer from chronic back pain during and after their dancing career. I personally had a lot of issues with low back pain while I was dancing, and I attributed much of it to the repetition of particular moves in choreography and to the fact that I have a long torso (which in my mind was not conducive to dancing ballet). Now that I’m suffering the long term effects of chronic back pain and getting older, I’m realizing that there were things I should have been doing to supplement my core strength in order to counterbalance the excessive flexion that dancing demands. It never occurred to me that dancing ballet six or more hours a day was not enough.

I knew that if I did crunches and stretched out before class that I would perform extensions and hold balances better, but I didn’t focus enough on really strengthening my abdominals, my back, and stretching out my hamstrings the way I should have. Not only that, I have since learned that aerobic or cardio training could have helped my dancing as well. An article from the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries web site states, “Aerobic fitness can increase blood flow and oxygenation to all tissues, including the muscles, bones, and ligaments of the spine. Dancers should be encouraged to cross-train year round to maintain aerobic fitness.”

Sean Fyfe is a physiotherapist working with Metis Physio Centres in London, a multi-disciplinary clinic and he works with elite dancers and theatre performers. From an article at sportsinjurybulletin.com, he says, “Dancing alone doesn’t ensure abdominal strength, good activation through glut max or activation of segmental stabilisers. In that respect, dance is no different from any other sport: its performers have to put aside the time to do specific body maintenance, in conjunction with regular screening, to give themselves the best chance of remaining injury free.”

I have begun taking yoga classes and wish I’d known the value of yoga and Pilates back when I was dancing. The mindfulness (or meditation) that comes out of practicing yoga is giving me tools that allow me to be a calmer, happier person—more capable of administering to the needs of my my family or coworkers and simply being able to breathe and be in the moment. Meditation doesn’t have to be something you hole up alone in a quiet room to do; it can be done just by being mindful and living in the present. Visualizing breath as it enters and leaves the body, noticing the state of your body at any moment in time, using your senses fully to take in the world around you—any of these can be a form of meditation.

Dancers are focused so much on their bodies, and I personally think it would do a world of good for them to also nurture their minds and spirits in a holistic way. We used to make fun of the modern dancers and called them “granola” people for the way they utilized breath and didn’t attempt to hide the effort in their movements. Now I see that they were really onto something that ballet dancers would do well to heed, too. Not that ballet dancers will ever want to enunciate their breathing on stage, but I think it would be great if teachers taught their students to breathe in and out with the counts during class, much like they do in yoga. With age cometh wisdom, and hindsight is always 20/20, right?

Here is a great book for dancers about anatomy and kinesiology.

October 29, 2009December 3, 2012

Stage Parents

Dad_TamNutcracker I remember well the dreaded parent observation week at the studios where I used to teach. Depending on the age of the students, having parents observing class could either be a help or a hindrance. Usually the youngest children find it a distraction and the oldest ones tend to pull their acts together. I never changed my method of teaching for the sake of the parents who were sitting along the sidelines, but it’s interesting to note the various types of parents with kids who dance.

The best parents are those that have done their homework prior to enrolling their children: they know the teachers are qualified and believe their manner of teaching is credible. They don’t question the rules, the dress code, or the reason their child mostly stands in the back line during the performance at the end of the year. They are concerned with progress and do their utmost to ensure their child comes to class prepared to work hard and focus on improving. These are the best parents.

Then there are the “stage” parents. These parents wonder aloud why their child is not yet dancing en pointe, why he or she doesn’t have a solo, and why his or her class is not working on more complicated steps yet. Somehow these parents are more visible, and definitely more annoying, to the teacher of dance. My advice if you have a child who is taking ballet is to make sure the teachers have some kind of background in dance. You’d be surprised—just about anyone can open a dance studio. Many people have a degree in dance from a university, and many have professional credits to their name which is just as important. A dance school brochure should really be up front about their teachers’ credentials (unless they don’t have any worth mentioning, and then beware!).

When a cast list goes up and your child didn’t get the lead, don’t assume that means he or she doesn’t have talent. And if you’re a dancer, understand that being cast in a corps de ballet or solo role can be just as wonderful a learning experience as being cast as the principal dancer. One of my favorite roles to ever dance was the White Cat in Sleeping Beauty. I loved that role and got to dance it while I was a student at Indiana University. The steps were not so difficult, but it gave me a chance to work on characterization and not being me on stage. It really was a liberating experience. Learning to leave yourself behind and become your character can take a lot of stress out of dancing.

Sometimes the “lead” role is not even the leading role, so don’t be misled! In an art form like dance where there is such a hierarchy going on (corps de ballet, soloists, principal dancers), it’s easy to forget that there are no small parts, only small actors (not sure where that quote originates, but I tend to agree with it). And sometimes just because a role isn’t the “lead” doesn’t mean it isn’t the hardest role to dance.

October 26, 2009August 7, 2015

Teaching Creative Movement

Ballet class with children ages 3-5 is often called “creative movement” rather than ballet class. Then at age 6 it is sometimes referred to as “pre-ballet”, which is when they are usually ready to stand at the barre and learn the mechanics of alignment and ballet positions. Creative movement can be taught many different ways—none better or more effective than another—so I will just share some of the things I did with this age group (and felt were effective) when I was teaching them dance.

First of all, kids this age don’t have a very long attention span! Two minutes is about as long as you can stretch one activity before moving on to something else. I always felt that a 45 minute class was the absolute longest these kids could handle, unless you are combining it with some tap, too. I’d also say that if you have more than eight children in the class then you should probably have an assistant there to help you out.

Begin sitting in a circle — stretching and singing

I structured my creative movement classes more or less the same way each week. Kids do like repetition and it helps them feel more comfortable if they have a good idea what to expect. We would begin sitting on the floor in a circle, wide enough that when they put their arms out to the sides they wouldn’t touch their neighbor. At the beginning you can have them sit cross legged or with the soles of their feet together or their legs stretched out straight in front of them. Sitting cross legged is easiest for them, and when you want them to focus attention on sitting up straight and using good posture through their backs, necks long, and shoulders down, this is helpful. Continue reading “Teaching Creative Movement”