4dancers – Page 22

Dancers: Let’s Talk “Core Control”

August 5, 2015 by 4dancers

Henry Vandyke Carter [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

by Jan Dunn, MS

Aloha! — Happy August! The posting below is one I’ve wanted to bring you for a long time–discussing “core control” (alias “center” in dance). It’s something that’s very important, yet not that many people – dancers included – really understand what it’s all about. (And thanks to Denver Dance Medicine
Associate Sarah Graham, PT, provider for Colorado Ballet and many Broadway touring companies, for her help in clarifying the information from a medical perspective).

I hope that after reading it (along with Part Two, coming in a few weeks!), you’ll have a better idea of what all this “core” talk is, and how to best incorporate it into your dance life. My best to all –
Jan

For some time I’ve been wanting to bring you an article on “core control”. I put it in quotation marks because it’s a term that conveys different things to different people, and not everyone really understands what it means. In the dance world, we often refer to “center”, as in “find your center”–but many dancers do not really understand what that means, either.

The term “core control” is everywhere in the media / fitness world, and many people think it means “abs”. And abdominal muscles (one in particular) are very much involved in “core”– but there’s much more to it than that. From reading this post, I hope you come away with a better understanding of exactly what it means, and hopefully get some hints and cues on how better to incorporate it into your life–both in dance and in everyday movement, because it is important in everything our body does!

So much has been written / so much could be said–it could be the topic of several different posts. But over the years, teaching dance / Pilates / Franklin, I’ve evolved a specific way of teaching it to people, using a fairly short version that makes sense to everyone.

In the medical field, it is the same as back stabilization–in other words, when your back and torso are strong and able to provide support for your entire spine and limbs—because your arms and legs are going to be more fully able to move and be supported by your torso, to do all of those gorgeous extensions and powerful movements we love to do and see in dance, when your “core” musculature is strong.

So with that said, from here on out, I’m going to use the term “back stabilization”, which you now know means “core”.

This post is going to be in two-parts: In this first segment, I’ll do a lot of explaining. For the second one, I want to show to you some specific exercises and things you can do at home or in the studio to help increase the strength of all the muscles we’re talking about here–i.e, ways to help improve your back stabilization / “Core Control” / “center”.

The Four-Legged Stool

There are a good number of muscles / muscle groups involved in back stabilization, but we’re going to simplify it and talk about the 4 primary ones. When teaching, I like to use the analogy of a 4-legged stool.

Think of it this way:

You have a 4-legged stool made up of 4 main parts, all of which are necessary to keep the stool (your torso) upright and strong, and in balance.

1–One leg of the stool is the Transverse Abdominal muscle, or TA for short.

This is the deepest of the 4 abdominal muscles–on top of it is the Rectus Abdominus (RA), or the “6-pack” muscle (whose main function is to flex – bend forward – the torso, not to provide back stabilization). Under the RA are the obliques, running in two different directions. They help stabilize the torso, but they are often over-used, and then the really important one, the TA, is not working in the most beneficial way.

By modified by Uwe Gille (Gray397.png) [Public domain, Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The TA is right next to the abdominal cavity (and one of its jobs is to help keep the abdominal organs in place). Its fibers run horizontally, across the torso, all the way from the lower ribs down to the pubic area. It wraps around the body and integrates into a large fascia (connective tissue) in the back (see illustration above). So it’s literally almost like a corset around the torso. Researchers have identified the lower portions of the TA, the ones in the low belly / just above the pubic area, as the crucial ones active in back stabilization.

2 – the 2^nd leg of the stool is the Pelvic Floor.

[Read more…]

Remember To Breathe: Stepping Up Your Stamina

July 22, 2015 by 4dancers

You can practice breathing techniques anywhere! Doing this has helped me in other pursuits like hiking mountains!

by Alessa Rogers

Effortless grace.

That is what people think of when they think of ballet. And that is what we strive to be, with our tutus and tiaras and sweat and…wait what? Yes, dancers sweat, and we also curse sometimes too. Ballet is hard work after all!

But–back to effortless grace.

Yes, that is what we are. At least- that is–until halfway through Tharp’s In the Upper Room or maybe David Parson’s Caught or the Don Quixote third act pas de deux, when we are gasping for air like a fish out of water, with a variation and a coda left to go (and don’t forget those pesky bows that are next to impossible after a three hour long ballet).

No one wants to be that dancer that is visibly out of breath and increasingly out of control, making the audience worry if they need to call a doctor. But dancers for the most part tend to forget about stamina, focusing instead on technique and shape and choreography and musicality–and even injury prevention. These are all very important to consider, of course, but if a dancer is too exhausted to get through a piece then technique just isn’t going to be useful. Actually, as a dancer gets more tired, technique gets sloppy, choreography becomes harder to learn, and it’s definitely the time when injuries happen.

So a few years ago I set out to consciously improve my stamina. It was mostly out of necessity; a high-profile world premiere was looming where I would be onstage for all but four minutes of the entire full-length, no intermissions, ballet (and those off-stage minutes were for stressful costume changes!). A lot of the work was running and jumping. The first time I ran through the full ballet in the studio I went home and passed out at about 7 o’clock. I knew I had to get myself in shape.

Wouldn’t it be nice if dancers had trainers the way professional sports stars and Olympics athletes do–with scientists, analysts, nutritionists and trainers at our disposal? But we don’t. We only have ourselves, and our acute sensitivity to our bodies, to decide what works for us individually and what doesn’t. We have only ourselves to maintain accountability, to customize a plan that works for us and turn our bodies into fine-tuned machines.

Fast forward a few years and I’d say my stamina is now one of my strengths as a dancer. Other dancers often note how when they are bent over and panting I am still standing up and smiling. None of what I do now is scientifically proven–but they are the practices I’ve discovered that work for me.

See for yourself if some of these work for you: [Read more…]

For Dancers: An Easy Guide To Portion Sizes

June 25, 2015 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

What you eat matters, but so does how much you eat. Unfortunately, portion sizes can be hard to estimate. Let’s face it, nobody wants to carry around a stack of measuring cups!

Luckily, there’s a fairly simple way you can ballpark portions without too much trouble, and it involves something you always have with you—your hand! Use the following to keep an eye on how much you are eating—it works quite well. (Sizes are approximate.)

1 serving of meat = the palm of your hand
1 tablespoon = your thumb, from the second knuckle to the tip
1 teaspoon = the tip of your index finger, second knuckle to the tip
1 cup = the size of your fist
1 ounce = your thumb, from the first knuckle to the tip
1⁄2 cup = loosely cupped hand

These simple measurements can help you estimate how much you are eating and keep you from overdoing it. Keep them in mind when you head out to a restaurant, or when you are preparing meals or snacks.

Dance Advantage and 4dancers have written a guide for healthy eating, studying smart, navigating dance coursework, roommate relations and more–designed specifically for college freshmen going off to a dance program. This post is an excerpt from that e-book.

Learn more about this resource and get it for yourself or someone you know here:

Expect The Unexpected: Hubbard Street’s Evening Of Cerrudo

June 12, 2015 by 4dancers

Alejandro Cerrudo's Still in Motion — Hubbard Street Dancers Jacqueline Burnett, foreground, Jonathan Fredrickson and Ana Lopez in Still in Motion by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

by Catherine L. Tully

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Season 37 Summer Series takes place at the Harris Theater, featuring three works from resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. This is only the second time the company has presented a program that focuses on a single artist, and taking in an entire evening of this gifted choreographer’s work is truly a luxury to experience.

White feathers cascade slowly to the stage floor in preparation for the beginning program piece, Extremely Close. One of Cerrudo’s earliest works for the company, it’s perfectly bookended with his more recent Little mortal jump, showing the evolution of his choreography from one piece to the other. Both make ample use of large sliding panels, which add intrigue and energy throughout. The cinematic quality that is so often a hallmark of Cerrudo’s work is present here, along with the poignant moments he creates using unusual imagery. Hubbard Street dancers were meant for this choreography and they execute it confidently with both vigor and ease.

Hubbard Street Dancers Andrew Murdock and Jessica Tong in Extremely Close by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg. Hubbard Street Dance Technical Rehearsal of Extremely Close by Alejandro Cerrudo © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015

The second item on the program is Cerrudo’s world premiere, Still in Motion, which offers a marked departure from his previous style. Even so, the highly edited and pared-down choreography still displays signature traits: a spectacular circular fluidity, moving from silence to sound, quick vignettes.

The set consists of a light-colored tarp that stretches long across the floor and up onto the back wall–with a strip of neon blue marking the top. Visually it resembles a strange sort of wave, something almost confirmed by two women stretching out on the ground undulating gently–as if floating under water. The set and lighting design by Michael Korsch offer a quiet, subtle compliment to the choreographer’s work.

Hubbard Street Dancers Alice Klock, foreground, and Garrett Patrick Anderson in Still in Motion by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg. — Hubbard Street Dancers Alice Klock, foreground, and Garrett Patrick Anderson in Still in Motion
by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

While many of Cerrudo’s previous pieces display an urgency that tends to hold or build throughout, Still in Motion feels more relaxed, more refined. Movements here are simple, even at times, almost pedestrian. Three male dancers breathing deeply in unison. An exaggerated walk. Postures that are held. Slight gestures.

Rather than a watered-down version of his own work, however, Still in Motion instead has a clarity and streamlined sophistication previously unseen in Cerrudo’s choreography. It moves in a new direction without totally reinventing his style or abandoning the beauty of it. And the Hubbard Street dancers, chameleons to the core, adapt effortlessly to whatever they are asked to do.

Closing the program is Little mortal jump. This was Cerrudo’s tenth creation for the company, and it highlights the athletic skills of the dancers as well as the choreographer’s ability to amuse, entertain and evoke emotion. A lighthearted, fun approach at the beginning of the piece gives way to a swirling, thrilling duet–a riveting end to a triumphant program.

Hubbard Street’s Summer Series runs through June 14th at the Harris Theater. Tickets are still available.

Saving Grace: A Perspective on the Legacy of Maggie Black

May 25, 2015 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

Maggie Black, one of the foremost ballet teachers of a generation of dancers, died on May 11, 2015. Her death initiated a flood of Facebook posts and even a Remembering Maggie Black Facebook page, where former students can write their memories about Maggie and her infamous quotes. I was happy to relive those years, as even now, three decades after having danced in Maggie’s class, it is often that I dream of dancing in her studio–or have nightmares of not being able to find it.

I first went to Maggie’s classes in 1981 at age 20 during what became the first of many summer lay-off periods. I was just starting to get principal roles at Dayton Ballet, and Christine O’Neal, formerly of American Ballet Theatre, Broadway’s A Chorus Line, and Dayton Ballet’s reigning principal dancer at the time, had recommended that I spend the summer taking Maggie’s classes. They were held in a loft in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, which was at that time a rather decrepit part of the city filled with warehouses and, from my vantage point at the barre peering into the neighboring building, sweatshops. I found a sublet nearby in the Chelsea Hotel and took Maggie’s 2.5-hour class every day for close to a month before she must have realized that I was committed to her and so finally descended on me with my first personal correction. [Read more…]

The Four-Legged Stool

1–One leg of the stool is the Transverse Abdominal muscle, or TA for short.

2 – the 2nd leg of the stool is the Pelvic Floor.

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2 – the 2^nd leg of the stool is the Pelvic Floor.