Stretching at the Ballet Barre to Improve Basic Positions

Stretching at the barre is necessary even when you are first learning ballet. Opportunities to stretch come in between exercises while your ballet teacher describes the next exercise.

Use this to get better ballet basic positions.

Often a teacher will give a stretching exercise at the end of the ballet barre workout, in order to take advantage of the warmed up muscles, and also to give the ballet students a brief rest from the most strenuous moves.

One set of muscles that need stretching and relaxing between each exercise is the rotator, or turnout muscles. After plies for example, turn your legs in and plie. Then lean into each hip, gently stretching all the muscles in the hip area. Do this after every barre exercise.

Stretching and relaxing muscles does not diminish your muscle tone, but does the opposite. Muscles that retain tension are weaker than muscles that are relaxed properly with correct stretching.

After battement tendu, relaxing the calves with a demi plie is advised. Relax the foot muscles briefly by pressing each foot up to demi pointe (while standing on the other) to stretch the sole of the foot muscles out.

Some ballet teachers give a stretch exercise at the barre before grand battement. This may be something like placing one leg on the barre, to your devant or front position, and stretching over it. A stretch should be held still for 15-30 seconds at least.

No bouncing or pulsing is needed - and movement does not help with the stretch. Turning out the supporting leg and pivoting the body turns you into a la seconde, leg to the side.

There are two common ways you can stretch in a la seconde. One, simply hold a well aligned position (spinal posture correct, working hip level with the supporting hip if possible), and stretch sideways over the leg, holding it 15-30 seconds, or musical equivalent.

For more flexible students, slide down the bar, staying close to it, and maintain the widened second position, holding turnout well, 15-30 seconds.

And this is how you can do your stretching at the ballet barre to improve your basic positions. Get yourself a copy of Strength And Stretch In Motion DVD`

Watch this preview video:

D. Buxton is a writing partner with Vone Deporter, of The Sedona Series, about a surfer girl in pointe shoes.

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Going Back to Ballet Classes - Join the Adult Ballet Dancers!

Recently I've talked to older dancers who want to get back to ballet classes after five, ten and even 27 years! Good for them! Ballet is excellent fitness, excellent exercise, and if approached with patience by a healthy adult with experience, or an adult beginner, artistic fulfillment can be achieved too.

The most fun part of reading all the blogs/sites that I can find on the internet is that - WOW - I find blogs for example, written by a young adult returning to ballet classes and ending up going to The National Ballet School of Canada for older dancer classes, and I know her teacher Bob McCollum! Too much.

I actually used to teach Bob! At long-time defunct Ballet Ys. Go Bob!

But, back to you. If you're reading this because you want to be going back to ballet classes, and you're thinking "I'm too old"..."It's been too long..." "can I really be an adult ballet student"....

Yes you can. An adult beginner, yes. Why not?

An adult re-beginner - absolutely! With a safe, patient approach - letting go of how it USED to feel - plie, tendu, degage, battment, now.

That really is true. If you are beginning again, begin again. Do not reflect on the past UNLESS you can remember the exact feeling of strength, of power, of control. That is good to remember because guess what - your muscles remember too! They really do. So if you trained to the point where you could execute ballet technique with certainty and elegance, please remember, over and over again. This is good for your brain, and will translate to your muscles.

If you are an adult beginner, you have made an excellent choice for fitness and exercise. You cannot get a more refined routine of movement to practice. You may have a longing for artistic fulfillment. For many, Pilates (wonderful) or yoga is chosen. But some are born to dance ballet, whichever way possible, whenever.

I"m thinking Bob may agree with me, he certainly was.

If you are an adult beginner or re-beginner and need the nit-picky details of ballet technique, get it fromTHE BALLET BIBLE.

The Many Exercise Benefits of Ballet As a Natural Remedy

If we review all the benefits of any exercise, ballet provides them all, with many bonuses. Since studies have shown that high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and many inflammatory conditions such as Ulcerative Colitis for one, are improved using exercise as a natural remedy, why not dance ballet? Gaining muscle and losing weight is another great side effect.

Why does exercise help almost any ill-health condition? And by ill-health, I mean inflammatory (diabetes, Ulcerative Colitis, IBS or irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, joint pain and many more) conditions.

Exercise increases your muscle exertion, including your heart muscle, therefore your oxygen intake, therefore your metabolism, and therefore your circulation. Increased circulation means more nutrients and body-manufactured hormones and enzymes going to body cells, and also, increase of waste products from metabolism getting OUT of your cells.

Perspiring washes many toxins we create naturally (or eat, accidentally) out through our skin. while the purpose of exercising is not to overheat the body, it happens. While cooling down, we detoxify.

Exerting your muscles on your bones stimulates bone growth and density. Healthy bones are part of our overall health. Many body processes occur in our bone tissue, including our immune system functions.

In fact our body is, under normal conditions, a factory of excellent health results, if we treat it properly.

Another way that exercise helps us is to DECREASE STRESS. This happens on a physical, emotional and mental level. The physical level entails all the I mentioned above, and more. The emotional level is involved because we are doing something good for ourselves, maybe just for the enjoyment and benefits, and maybe because it is an ambition being fulfilled. Mentally exercise is a challenge requiring concentration, and increases our ability to concentrate.

Exercise of a certain type will increase muscle mass, though not necessarily bulk, which helps us to maintain or lose weight.

So why dance ballet? In a ballet class, almost every exercise is a full body workout. At the same time, each exercise exerts more on a specific muscle group than it does on the supporting muscle groups.

Ballet increases reflexes and demands incredible coordination. Because of the demands, taking ballet classes and perhaps dancing in pointe shoes, requires learning about functional anatomy and how to avoid dance injuries as well as nutrition, for the more curious students.

It is wonderfully satisfying to work on a difficult combination, maybe all year. Then one day, what was a disjointed conglomeration of efforts and concentration, suddenly becomes a smoothly executed grand jete en tournant, a fouette battu saute or an effortless series of chainee turns. Your friends wonder "how do you DO that?"

If they only knew, the blood, the sweat and the tears. I'm just kidding. Well, maybe not.

Regular ballet training or other exercise training will also PREVENT high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and many other degenerative physical conditions. Another huge bonus.

So ballet is a natural remedy for less than optimum health conditions that benefit from exercise. If you're ill, ask your doctor if there is any reason that you should not exercise. Unless you are an exceptional case, you will likely be encouraged to do so.

Adult Ballet Brings the Ethereal and the Grounded Together With Ballet Exercises

A common response to why adults seek ballet as an exercise to reduce stress, anxiety, or feeling spaced out, is "to get a sense of my body". Ballet is ethereal, yet taking adult ballet classes is a great way to get grounded.

If you take the big step and find a dance studio that provides adult ballet classes, how do you prepare yourself?

First, go and visit the ballet school, and observe the dance instruction in the adult ballet section. Before you buy any ballet wear, you can find out the dress code, and the the type of ballet leotards and tights most frequently worn. Check out the ballet shoes that are either required, or free for you to choose. Black or pink, black or white for men in ballet, and so on.

Whether you have a huge performing arts school, or a small neighborhood ballet studio, visit, watch a couple of classes and get a feel for the place. Ballet wear includes your hairstyle, clothes you might want to wear over your leotards and tights, if allowed. Even if you want to hide a less than wraith-like figure under a sweater, filmy skirt, or dance pants, always wear a leotard and pink tights, for women.

This classic ballet wear allows the ballet teacher to see what your muscles are doing, if she/he wants. This is only to your benefit, since especially in the beginner adult ballet classes, you want to know that you are learning correct ballet technique and getting into correct ballet positions.

Some adult ballet classes use Pilates to help warm up. This is excellent for developing the core muscles. Feeling your core muscles gives a good sense of the body. It is grounding. Feeling the core muscles and having correct posture in the low back/pelvic area will help you develop your turnout muscles without needless tension.

Feeling the soles of the feet flat on the floor, not slanting in (pronation) or out (supination) is essential. That in itself is a grounding effort. If you have been advised to exercise for stress or anxiety control, I think ballet is excellent. Ballet gives you control over something which you can indeed control. Your own body.

You cannot be spacey in ballet class. The music, the sound of the teacher's voice, and the sense of your body working, enhances your presence. You cannot be somewhere else. While getting grounded, you are learning an elegant and ethereal style of dancing. The best of both ideas.

By the way, presence is IT. If you ever wonder why professional ballet dancers work so hard for little money and lots of aches and pains, for so long, maybe because it creates more of their own presence so often. Because presence is Presence. You know what I mean.

So if you have always wanted to take adult ballet classes, go. Get the best teacher you can, and benefit from all the wonderful ballet manuals available now that will tell you all the finer details of ballet technique. That extra understanding will get you even more grounded in adult ballet technique.

The Ballet Store site provides a free ballet glossary so you can learn the French words for ballet quickly.

The Perfect Pointe Book gives practice routines you can do safely at home, after a few months of beginner adult ballet classes. Even if you never dance ballet in pointe shoes, the exact details of this manual will answer many questions you may have and never get to ask in ballet class.