Dancers are trained to think often about the range of motion, stability and power of their extended lines: the point of the foot, the reach of the penché, the explosion of the sauté in the air. But finding that same mix of flexibility and strength in the flexed foot is just as integral to technique […]
Q: I have a very flexible spine and torso. My teachers tell me to use this flexibility during cambrés and port de bras, but when I do, I feel pain—mostly in my lower back. What should I change so I don’t end up with back problems? A: It can be challenging to support flexibility in […]
Q: I’m sinking into my pointe shoes. I’ve tried different shoes and nothing is working. I used to have high arches, but they seem to be less flexible these days. Is this why I’m sinking? A: I actually believe pronation could be the cause of your sinking. Pronation happens when dancers turn out their feet […]
Working as the physical therapist for the Atlanta Ballet, Amanda Blackmon often sees dancers who report hip pain, high hamstring strain or sacroiliac sensitivity and soreness. And while there are a host of reasons for such pains, including the often discussed gripped glute and hip flexor muscles, there is one overlooked culprit: dysfunction in the […]
Q: A student of mine recently got a bad sprained ankle, and it’s been weak ever since she returned to class. Are there any exercises you suggest to strengthen it? A: Your student needs to begin her recovery process by retraining her nervous system to find center at the ankle joint. The human body immediately […]
Q: Why can’t some of my dancers keep their heels down while in demi-plié? A: There are two primary reasons why heels pop up during demi-plié. The first is tight soleus muscles. This muscle runs from just below the knee to connect with the gastrocnemius muscle to form the Achilles tendon that connects at the […]
Naomi Glass, teacher at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, knows firsthand the advantages and challenges of hypermobility. As a young dancer, she was told to keep her hyperextended knees in a straight position far from her full range of motion. “It felt too bent to me,” she says. “But once I was able to access my […]
Certain diet myths have persisted for decades. And Instagram and Facebook tend to magnify whatever wellness trends are hot. “Eating healthy is easy, but social media is making it so hard,” says Rachel Fine, founder of To The Pointe Nutrition. With so much misinformation out there and compelling photography that markets crazes like #cleaneating as […]
You’ve seen them: dancers, still recovering from a holiday food coma, shuffling into class in a woozy, post-vacation stupor. (You may even know the feeling yourself.) It’s all they can do to make it through their classes, and by day two, they’re stiff, sore and moaning about it. “Winter break is the worst,” says Rubén […]
A few months ago, both my knees started hurting after I would exercise. Now, the pain occurs at the bottom of my kneecap and is the worst when I lock my knees. I’ve been doing a little research, and I was wondering if this could be Osgood-Schlatter disease. If it is, do you have any […]