The 3 Most Important Exercises in a Dancer’s Life
Did you know that Pilates has long been a part of the additional training for professional dancers? Joseph Pilates’ studio, the creator of the method, was located in the same building as the New York City Ballet – the ballet company founded by George Balanchine. Balanchine and Pilates were leading figures in their fields who knew and respected each other. Balanchine referred to Pilates as a “body genius” – not without reason, as it was through exercises on the Reformer that his dancers achieved such incredible results.
Pilates supports many qualities essential for dancers. Whether it’s about rehabilitation after an injury, preventing them, or improving strength, Pilates increases stability, flexibility, strength, body awareness, and coordination.
Many large ballet companies collaborate with Pilates studios. Why? Dance classes teach technique well, but merely reproducing choreography does not protect against injuries and coordination problems. This is where the opinion comes from that professional dance is too taxing and ultimately always leads to injuries.
Pilates comes to the rescue, strengthening the body and teaching the use of active recovery strategies.
HOW DOES PILATES SUPPORT DANCE?
Do you want to achieve greater stability, elasticity, body control, and simply dance better? Take advantage of these benefits of Pilates:
Moving with or without resistance
Professional Pilates equipment, such as the Reformer, uses spring tension. This allows you to increase or decrease the load during exercises.
Performing exercises with reduced resistance is an excellent choice if you have an injury. This way, you can take positions that you normally wouldn’t be able to achieve. By using springs, you can move until you return to full fitness, without the risk of worsening your condition during this time.
Setting a higher resistance is a great challenge for the muscles and joints and an ideal way to build strength. It helps strengthen the body and make it more resilient to injuries. Use greater resistance for safe muscle stretching without putting your joints at risk. Lengthening muscles under load is a good alternative to traditional passive stretching.
Improving balance and stability
There are positions that appear in dance choreography but are rare in classes. These include positions with legs turned inward, parallel, and outward – you can practice them freely on the Reformer during Pilates classes.
Pilates also allows you to train all the muscles around the hips and pelvis, which ensures balance. This makes it easier for you to actively take positions during choreography.
Increasing core strength
There is no better technique for improving deep stability and core awareness than Pilates. Pilates teaches how to use your core muscles and breathe while using them.
When performing more challenging moves (e.g., lifting a partner), dancers often hold their breath, which is noticeable in dance. To perform such elements effectively, you need to be able to breathe during them – otherwise, tension will arise throughout the body, resulting in stiffer movements and harder landings.
Pilates is the perfect way to combine full-body engagement with breath – after all, breath is the first principle of movement.
3 BEST PILATES EXERCISES FOR DANCERS
Footwork
Most injuries that dancers experience involve the lower limbs. That’s why it is so important to strengthen the legs during exercises.
Start by lying on your back on the reformer. Place your feet on the bar (with the footbar raised), and rest your head on the headrest. The leg work involves pushing off the bar and fully extending the legs. The next step is bending the legs and moving into a squat. This causes a return to the starting position. Therefore, leg work in Pilates resembles a squat movement.
Scooter
This fantastic exercise improves hip stability, glutes, leg strength, and balance.
Standing next to the reformer, facing the footbar, rest the inner foot against the shoulder rest and the other foot on the floor. Slightly bend the knee of the standing leg, lean a bit forward, and maintain a neutral spine. Rest your hands behind you at hip height. Exhale to push the moving platform with the inner leg, straightening that leg, and inhale, controlling the platform back.
Short box series – internal and external rotation
These exercises are so important for dancers as they lead to significantly better control of the tendons and posture.
Hook both ankles under the strap on the footbar and sit on the box. Place your hands on your hips. The short box series is a series of several short exercises. Here are two of them.
Roundback – lean back while maintaining a c-curve in your back. Keep this curve as you roll back one vertebra at a time to return to the starting position.
Flatback – hold a wooden stick above your head, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back flat, lean back, and then return to the starting position.
The demands placed on dancers are high. Take advantage of Pilates and break through your limits!
I am a graduate in Managerial Economics as well as Finance and Accounting, with a specialization in Marketing. Since 2018, I have been working as a Copywriter at Balanced Body, where I create marketing content for the fitness and Pilates industries. One of my particular strengths is translating complex topics into accessible language and accurately analyzing the needs of target audiences. Outside of work, I am passionate about fire shows and volleyball, which helps me better understand the needs of physically active people.