Improving your arch - actively!

100% True story: when I was in college, a fellow dancer who wanted a better arch used to place weights on the tops of her feet at night while she was studying and let them pull her toes forward and down to the floor, stretching the muscles and ligaments in the hopes of creating a more pronounced lateral arch (i.e. the side view of the foot in which the top rises like a mountain, what people in the ballet world call "a good foot").

We scoffed at her. How on earth could that passive stretch do anything to her arch, which was primarily due to bone structure? If anything, allowing weight to pull your foot would simply result in overstretched ligaments which - PAY ATTENTION HERE - do not snap back once they are overstretched.

Let me say that again: Overstretched ligaments do not return from whence they came. Unlike muscles, they do not have the same amount of give. DO NOT passively stretch your foot like this - e.g. using an arch stretcher. DO NOT. Bad dancer, bad, bad dancer.

It worked. I can't recall how long it took her but one day we noticed, "Hey, she's got good feet." She never had them before. At the time we all attributed the change to her nightly regimen. Fortunately we were all smart enough not to attempt to replicate her success. Today she probably has really weak ankles and wobbles in her releve.

HOWEVER - thinking back on it now, and with my years of experience as a teacher, I doubt the veracity of this. Instead I think she probably just learned how to get up on her releve and to use the floor and point her feet properly.

Some people have naturally beautiful arches and that's great. Some don't and that's great too. How feet work is far more important (as an adult or recreational dancer) than how they look. As a teacher, I show people how to get the most from their feet, how to work the floor and pull up, how to keep the bones in line and use the right muscles to lift, and so on.

But there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve your arch. And in doing so, increase your strength and range of motion.

In this post on her blog, The Healthy Dancer, Diana Harris writes about the best exercises for dancers to increase their arch. I think they are all terrific suggestions and I highly recommend students who want to improve their arches take a look for themselves and try to incorporate one or two on a regular basis. Thank you, Diana, for letting me include your post! (You can also click the caption below the photo to get to the article)

From The Healthy Dancer, "Exercises to Improve the Arch of Your Foot"

Happy dancing~

First year pointe student asks...

A Pointe in the Right Direction Designed by Meshea Cook

  
...how can I strengthen my ankles for pointe work? Are there any exercises I can do at home?

Answer: There sure are! And you don't even have to do them in your pointe shoes.

(And by the way, I caution all new pointe students when they are wearing their shoes at home. Be very, very careful! Until you know the proper way to rise up and come back down from pointe, don't! Get a few lessons under your belt first and then do a few eleves and releves at home, but nothing more or you run the risk of injury.

Okay, rant over.)

1. In bare feet or socks, stand in parallel at a barre, chair or counter and rise up and down (eleve) on both feet 16 times. Be sure to keep your toes flat on the floor and don't knuckle them.

2. Repeat the above on one leg, keeping the other leg in parallel coupe and not allowing the knee to swing in and turn in. 16x, repeat both sides.

3. Do both 1&2 in parallel with releve (demi-plie and press straight up, then lower back down to bent knees.) Again, 16x.

4. Do 1, 2, & 3 all turned out in 1st position.

5. Add a Theraband to your ankles, tying it loosely above the ankle bone, rise up on both legs in parallel and then while en releve, stretch one leg out against the band and back in (sort of like a parallel degage). Do this 16 times on each side. Repeat it in a turned out first position. If your calves hurt, you can do these flat.

6. Sitting on the floor, stretch your legs in parallel in front of you, wrap a towel or Theraband around the sole of your foot and lift it slightly off the ground. Point and flex your foot against the towel/band, increasing the resistance as you feel necessary. Try to keep your back straight so you also work your core. Repeat 16x with both feet.

These are some basic exercises you can do without your shoes. Once you feel more confident, you can repeat 1-4 with your pointe shoes on.

Happy dancing~

Stretch class returns to schedule

To my Pasadena and LA area dancers~

My Stretch and Strengthen class is back on the schedule, Fridays from 5:30-6:30 at Le Studio in Pasadena.  Bring a mat or borrow one of the studio's. As I have mentioned before, we spend much of the time on the floor, doing floor barre and yoga-ish and Pilates-type exercises. Cool music, nothing classical. You don't need to be a dancer but it can feel like dancing. It's a great way to wind down your Friday.

What: Stretch and Strengthen
When: Fridays, 5:30-6:30
Where: Le Studio, Pasadena

Happy dancing~

Stretch class addendum for my Pasadena students

Due to one student's determination, the Stretch class is back on the Le Studio (and my) schedule, Fridays, 5:30-6:30PM. This class combines floor barre exercises, traditional running stretches, modified yoga positions, and Pilates-ish core strengthening (very gently!), all while listening to some awesome music like Dionne Warwick, Greg Greenway, The Carpenters, the Mamas and the Papas, etc.

Soothing tunes, low lights, soft mats. Sometimes we giggle about random cultural tidbits or why an exercise reminds us of Jane Fonda videos from the 80s and oh-my-gosh do you remember the leotards from back then and the hair and the twisty headbands and---...you get the idea. It's fun and it feels like dancing even though we're on the floor for the majority of the hour.

But it's also been quite small, which is why there is now a 5 person minimum requirement for the class to take place. So if you want to take the class, simply contact me via email (LeighBalletLA at gmail dot com) by Thursday afternoon and if you think you *might* take it, let me know that too. Things come up and all our intentions get tossed but if I have an idea you could be there, I'll take that into account.

Thank you all and happy dancing/stretching~