Dance is a multi-faceted field - it includes educators, students, performers, dance scientists, dance medicine professionals, and dance therapists. As a result this blog also has many faces and its mission has many branches.
Since the new year has attracted many new subscribers and followers who might not have had a chance to read all of my past posts, I thought I would add snippets from a variety of them here so they will have a taste of what my blog is about.
When I first began the blog 15 months ago, I wrote a series of posts about flexibility in dancers and stretching. Stretching is an important part of dance but it's important for educators and dancers to know when to stretch and how to use stretching to improve dance technique and not hinder it.
When we consider everything that happens in every system of the body on a daily basis, we begin to realize that the human body is truly a miraculous creation. My students hear me repeat daily that we are only given one body, and it is our job to take care of it. If I had a dime for each time I have heard a dance teacher tell his/her students to go into the studio and start stretching to warm up, I would be rich. Yet, every time I hear it, I cringe. Read more...
As a dance educator, I firmly believe in the value of dance in everyone's life. Dance is a powerful tool for enriching learning and one that should be made available to every child.
The Case for Dance in Public Education
Each day students enter schools, sit at desks and get ready to learn. They read, they write, they use computers, and they take standardized tests that are used to determine the effectiveness of the educational system. They are told things like, “You can’t think while you’re moving,” or “You’ve got to be still to learn things.” In walks the dance educator, the radical thinker, who actually believes that movement aids learning and encourages higher order thinking. Read more...
February is National Eating Disorder Awareness month. Having seen and worked with several dancers with eating disorders, I believe that education is indeed the key to prevention and wrote several posts on healthy eating, eating disorders, and body image in dancers. Last year nutritionist Nancy Clark donated a copy of Nancy Clark's Sport Nutrition Guidebook that we gave away in a contest. This year the month of February will include another giveaway related to healthy eating.
Dancers and Body Image
Dancers are given the opportunity to observe themselves daily in full-length mirrors while wearing only tights and a leotard and must learn to live in harmony with their bodies. They, unlike other athletes, are constantly faced with the challenge of developing the muscles required to perform well while making certain that the lines they produce are clean and aesthetically pleasing to the audience. Additionally, dancers are in constant competition with their classmates for the teacher’s attention or for a coveted role in a performance. Therefore, it is not surprising that dancers judge themselves harshly and are extremely critical of their bodies: their legs are never long enough, their feet are never arched enough and their stomachs are never flat enough. In a 2010 interview about body image, Pilobolus’ Jeffrey Huang said, “Criticizing our bodies is second nature to dancers.” One need only mention the possibility of wearing white unitards to a group of dancers to hear groans and observe the, perhaps subconscious, movement of arms being placed across abdomens to hide stomachs. Read more...
Dance science is a fairly new field of study, and although it has presented many ideas that make sense and are backed by scientific evidence and research, these ideas often challenge dance traditions. Because of this, it is imperative that these ideas continue to be presented and dancers are encouraged to think about how to improve their technique in ways that keep them dancing longer, stronger and healthier.
Forcing Turnout: Is It Really That Bad For You
Turnout is an integral part of ballet technique. It involves externally rotating each leg 90° so that the inside of the leg is visible from the front.
Since few dancers are born with an ideal body structure for turnout, ballet dancers often feel the need to force their legs to rotate more than is anatomically feasible. Dancers bend their knees, outwardly rotate their feet and then force the body to hold that position while they straighten their legs. It is quite easy to spot the dancer who is forcing turnout. Teachers need to check to see if the dancers’ kneecaps, or patellas, are facing the same direction as their toes. If they are not, the rotation is being forced and the dancer is probably struggling to hold the position. Read more...
The Barre: Why It Might Be Time To Step Away...
There are few absolutes in the world, but every dancer who enters a ballet class knows that he or she should claim a space at the barre because barre work is the first part of class. It is at the barre that muscles warm-up, stretching begins, new movements are introduced, dancers acclimate to the space and neurological pathways, that will be called upon in the center, are established or reinforced. Therefore, barre work is an excellent way to prepare the dancer’s body for work that will be done in the center, isn’t it? Read more...
If you enjoy reading posts on this blog, please help The Healthy Dancer become one of the Top 10 Dance Blogs of 2013. Simply click on this link, (it will bring you to a post about the contest), scroll down and leave a comment on the bottom of that post letting me know why you enjoy this blog and that will count as your vote!
