For dancers, the correct nutrition for the body is of utmost importance for their performance in dance. Dancers are athletes combined with artistry, so they must think of themselves as athletes, and how athletes manage their food intakes or their nutrient and energy needs.
The energy dancers need varies enormously but generally increases with the level, time and intensity of training. Males need more energy because they have more muscle mass than females but every day can be different for both sexes. If dancers find that they are tired most of the time, not recovering sufficiently from an injury or just not performing well, they are not meeting their energy needs.
Compared to the general population, dancers need to eat foods that are going to help them in their dance performance. Specifically, these foods are energy-giving grains, high quality proteins as well as some good fats and oils. Dancers must eat good quality food to serve their bodies, filled with nutrients and vitamins which are useful for performance. Many dancers also get caught up with the energy content of food rather than the quality; often what is required is higher energy content food in order to meet needs rather than opting for low-energy or fat alternatives.
Another vital need for dancers and their performance is hydration – this is critical to dancers’ well being and energy levels, supplementing the body during its hard work. Dehydration most commonly causes low energy, headaches and difficulty concentrating or focusing, so is the number one requirement for dancers or any athlete. On an average day, dancers should be aiming for 35-45ml per kg per day, and more if it’s hot or classes are long or intense.
Are you blessed with long Achilles tendons, loose calf muscles and a deep plié? Count yourself lucky. Many dancers are desperate to increase the depth of their plié however, short of surgery, there is only so much change that can be made.
Dance United – an award-winning dance development organisation with an international reputation for combining artistic excellence with social concern. It’s collaborations across sectors open up opportunities for participants and develop new ways of thinking in uniting for advocacy. The passion, talent and commitment of its work is quite clearly transforming lives.
After three years as Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Ethan Stiefel has decided to leave the company in order to return to his native USA at the beginning of September to pursue new opportunities. Throughout the three years, Stiefel has made an outstanding contribution to the company and has brought it the success it so deserves. It’s increased international profile has benefited the company greatly as it looks back on the positive influence of Stiefel.
Auditions are a huge part of any dancers life: some dancers revel in auditions with the chance to perform in a more informal environment, others speak of auditions with dread and worry. Whatever your view of auditions, there are a few key points to help you along the way, especially when preparing your dance piece for the big day.
For another year running the UK’s largest dance event, MOVE IT, played to full capacity at London’s Olympia. A wonderful haven for dance enthusiasts everywhere, MOVE IT is the central event for dance shopping, performances, classes, seminars, networking, and all under one roof!
Great news for musical theatre fans everywhere – superstar Ruthie Henshall will be joining the cast of Billy Elliot – The Musical in May to play Billy’s dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson, taking over from current Mrs Wilkinson, Anna-Jane Casey. Ruthie has recently been focusing on her solo performances on tour, and will now return to the West End stage for the first time since 2011. The first performance for Ruthie as Mrs Wilkinson will be on 12 May 2014, nine years to the day since the show officially opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi Ballet artistic director who was wounded in an acid attack that shocked the dance world last year, will appear in New York in April as one of the judges of the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition. As an influential figure for classical ballet in Russia particularly, the coup for the Youth America Grand Prix may be a controversial one for the prestigious competition.
One of UK’s foremost B-girls and founder of ‘FLOWZAIC’, the UK’s first all-female breaking crew, Sunanda has performed, judged and hosted at some of the biggest Hip Hop and B-Boy events from UK B-Boy Championship, Nike Dance Clash to BOTY and B-Supreme women in the Hip Hop festival at the South Bank Centre.
It has been rumoured within Theatreland that acclaimed lyricist, Sir Tim Rice, is set to retire from the musical theatre industry. This has come after claims that the public seem to prefer shows featuring well-known pop songs to original material in stage musicals.