The Muscular/Skeletal System
It is rather obvious that dancers need muscular strength and flexibility in order to master their craft. However, in my personal experience, it was finding the balance between these two ideas that proved most difficult and in the end, detrimental to me. In order to build and maintain muscle strength and mass, there are two main types of exercise, strength training and aerobic exercise. Strength training builds muscle mass which then acts as a protector for your bones and joints. Aerobic exercise (also known as "cardio") maintains muscles function, leanness, and helps keep your most important muscle (the heart) in shape! The other side of the muscular coin is that of flexibility. Part of a dancers task is to hold their body in almost impossible shapes and angles. This takes both strength and flexibility. Stretching is such an important part to every exercise regime, and most athletes do not spend enough time doing it. Once your heart rate has reached at higher level, and your entire body is warm, spending at least two minutes in a stretch is the only way you will reap any benefits. Your body must be warm, however, or else, like any elastic-like substance, your muscles will stretch to the breaking point!
Click here to learn more about the muscular/skeletal system as it relates to dance.
Click here to learn more about the muscular/skeletal system as it relates to dance.
I have posted this video for a number of reasons. First, to illustrate the passion and dedication that it takes to become a ballet dancer in the crazy, beautiful, scary world of dance, but also to comment on how important and how difficult it is to find a balance within that passion. In this video, Joy, at age 15, leaves her entire family to move to Russia to train with the Bolshoi Ballet company. She dances with a broken foot and is told that there is no choice, that is what she must do. I have felt this tug of needing perform and yet knowing that it could be detrimental to your body. I unfortunately, chose to perform, and as a result, had to stop dancing at the level I was at. I have never been nearly as talent as this young woman, but I have felt that torn between doing what I know is best, and needing to fulfill a dream. I hope that any young dancers out there will continue reading this website and really understand that finding a healthy perspective in this world can be very difficult, but truly needs to be fought for.