Tag: Pilates

Body Conditioning: A Lifetime Of Habit

Body Conditioning for DancersMany dance students who are getting ready to commence their vocational training at performing arts institutes will also be introduced to the term ‘body conditioning’. It is something that all dancers are aware of as a means to improve their technique and overall presence in the performance space, and many continue working on their body conditioning for years on end.

In general terms body conditioning will see dancers work to tone and sculpt their muscles aside from their technique classes, in areas such as Pilates, yoga and classes which purely focus on stretching. Other ways of carrying out body conditioning may include muscle toning or building exercises with weights or in a gym, such as for their abdominals, glutes or hamstrings.

Lots of preparation of body conditioning is done throughout rehearsals too, making sure the body is ready for what the choreography and performances require from the dancer. Body conditioning ensures dancers have enough strength and stamina to complete the task ahead to best of their technical and performance ability, such as staying ‘on your leg’ in turns and balances, making sure the performance is as successful as the rehearsal period.

In this sense, body and core conditioning is a hugely important part of the rehearsals and off-stage preparations. If the body’s strong and able, executing the choreography is wholly easier. Many dancers undertake conditioning exercises in order to define their muscles further however the most important part of body conditioning is ensuring the body is healthy, strong and ready for the demands made on it. This then gives way to the creation and sustaining of an illusion on stage in which the body performs something so far removed – in terms of ability and physicality – from the audience. The body and muscles are used efficiently as a strong base to perform the movement from.

Image courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons.

Body Conditioning

Body Conditioning for Dancers

For dancers, being fit to dance is natural, inevitable, and above all stating the obvious. Hours taking class, rehearsing and performing are all perfect ways to hone your dancing body and become the greatest athlete you can. In terms of dance, that is: many dancers are only fit to dance rather than being fit in a number of different disciplines. Forget pointe shoes, leotards and ballet barres, dancers also need to cross-train in order to excel. Being physically fit means that injury is less likely, but if it does occur, it also means you have various other methods to aid the healing process.

A famous study at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York (1975) compared forms of sport in a study, including dance, in terms of the athletes’ fitness capabilities. Ballet was ranked as one of the top disciplines, requiring high levels of strength, endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular ability. However, in order to maintain this wellbeing and fitness as a dancer, other forms of exercise must be carried out in order to complement your dance life.

For example, swimming is a fantastic form of cardiovascular exercise that will set dancers on their way to becoming fitter in a more general sense, enabling their bodies to withstand more than the (sometimes gruelling) demands of dance. In fact, any other cardiovascular activity has great results affecting dancers’ longevity for strength and power, co-ordination, flexibility and aerobic endurance (as dance is a predominantly anaerobic activity in which the dancer performs short bursts of high-energy activity rather than aerobic where the energy demands are more even)… you will not find ballet tights or Therabands in the pool or on the running track!

Other complementary activities include Pilates, the Franklin Method, Alexander technique and the Feldenkrais Method, enabling the body to adapt, as well as improving the alignment of the skeleton, for example. As soon as dancers stop working or conditioning their bodies, they start to ‘de-condition’’ and reverse, which can happens quickly, so it is important to keep using your physical capabilities outside the studio.

Image courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons.