A New Series on Stretching (Couch Potato to Ballerina – Part 7)
In Part 2 of the Couch Potato to Ballerina series (where I talk about what I am doing to get back into ballet shape after 10 years), I gave you my stretching routine, which consisted of about 30min of static (non-moving) stretches per day. I am no longer doing anything like this, so I want to tell you why.
The big reasons I am no longer doing daily, static stretches on my living room floor:
- Static stretches are not the most efficient use of your time. Let me re-phrase that: I am not saying that static stretches don’t make you flexible–they do–however, the best way for a ballet dancer to get into shape is by developing flexibility and STRENGTH at the SAME TIME. A different kind of stretch, called “dynamic” stretches, kills both of these birds with one stone.
- Dynamic stretches are also safer than static stretches. Although static stretches make you flexible, it may not be the exact kind of flexibility you want as a ballet dancer. In ballet, we need certain structures in our body to be flexible, while other structures need to be strong. For example, the tendons must be protected against over-stretching in order to retain our ability to jump (once stretched out, these structures lose their elasticity forever, and there goes your buoyant jumps). Besides potentially losing the quality of your jumps, static stretching may also put you at greater risk for injury by numbing your brain’s natural stretch inhibitory response (that is, you no longer feel the pain.) Another danger is that doing static stretches in certain ways, such as bouncing in and out of the stretch, causes micro tears in your muscle tissue which will make you stiffer until they heal.
Each of these and other reasons will be explained in detail in future posts, under the series titled, The Truth About Stretching.
Am I against stretching now? No. I am just stretching in certain ways and at certain times now. I feel the need to talk about this, not only because I have had a huge change in my own understanding, but because I know that dancers are very concerned with being competitive in today’s world. I know that they are worried about having high extensions, gorgeous feet, etc. I understand that need, but I also feel that too many dancers are worrying themselves so much with how to get high extensions that they are completely missing the point of what it means to be a dancer:
Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn
The purpose of dancing ballet is to give to your audience that emotion that no other dance form can give.
Yes, you do need a high extension to get a good job; that is what choreographers want today. However, a flexible dancer with no strength and no skill cannot have artistry. That is what is really important; more important, I feel, than showing off your gorgeous lines. As one dance critic said, the reason you go to the ballet is not to oogle over the dancers legs and feet (at least, I HOPE not!)
When you decide to become a ballet dancer, I believe it is your responsibility to help to continue, and to further, the art by joining the ranks of those true artists before you (again, what do you need to become an artist? High extensions and gorgeous feet? No, you need SKILL!). Because if you do not, and if no one will, the art will die.
