dance medicine

Keeping Dancers Dancing: Outside Conditioning — The Franklin Method Part I

June 14, 2012 by 4dancers

by Jan Dunn MS

Happy Summer! Our last few posts have been about conditioning, and we’re still on that topic…

Today is all about the Franklin Method (FM). The FM is not really an “outside conditioning” method, although it can be used for only that – but it is really much more. It is something which can be integrated into dance training and your daily life — a movement education system that can be very beneficial not only for learning new movement, but also for “re-patterning”. That term refers to when we have a poor movement habit or postural pattern, and want to change it to one that is more efficient and healthy for our body.

The FM is science-based, founded on principles from physics, biomechanics, evolutionary anatomy (how the human body has evolved over time in its movement capabilities), concepts from both Western and Eastern science —and is especially based on the new science of Neuroplasticity – i.e, the plasticity of the brain.

This has been one of the most important scientific discoveries of the late 20^th / early 21^st centuries. Science is only beginning to understand how amazingly flexible our brains are, not just when we are infants / young children, but though out our lifespan. How we live, what we do and think on a daily basis, profoundly affects and shapes our brain –constantly. We DO have the capacity to change our brain, and thus our bodies as well (“The Brain That Changes Itself”, by Norman Doidge, MD, is a terrific book about this field – available on Amazon and in bookstore). The FM gives us the tools to accomplish those changes ourselves.

The founder of the FM is Swiss-born Eric Franklin, a multi-talented man who is a:

-dancer

-choreographer

-educator

-author (10 English-language books currently on the market, 3 of them completely dance-oriented)

-movement scientist, who began developing his work nearly 30 years ago.

The FM is now taught and used world-wide, in dance as well in many other environments, such as:

-Music (The Music Conservatory of Vienna, for example)

-Pilates (many FM instructors are also Pilates teachers, and it has been presented at Pilates conferences in the US)

-Yoga (again, a number of FM trainers also are Yoga instructors, and it is taught at Yoga centers and conferences in the US and UK)

-Sports (Franklin has worked with world-class athletes, including those at Olympic level)

-Medicine (US PT’s are increasingly becoming certified and using it in their clinical work, and in Europe it has been used for many years in healthcare systems, including physical therapy and midwifery)

Tune in tomorrow for a closer look at the FM in the dance world!

Editor Jan Dunn is a dance medicine specialist currently based on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, where she is affiliated with Pilates Kauai. She is also a Pilates rehabilitation specialist and Franklin Educator.

Originally a dancer / choreographer, she became university dance faculty, most recently as Adjunct Faculty, University of Colorado Dept. of Theatre and Dance. Her 28 year background in dance medicine includes 23 years with the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) – as Board member / President / Executive Director – founding Denver Dance Medicine Associates, and establishing two university Dance Wellness Programs.

Jan served as organizer and Co-Chair, International Dance Medicine Conference, Taiwan 2004, and was founding chair of the National Dance Association’s (USA) Committee on Dance Science and Medicine, 1989-1993. She originated The Dance Medicine/Science Resource Guide; and was co-founder of the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science. She has taught dance medicine, Pilates, and Franklin workshops for medical / dance and academic institutions in the USA / Europe / Middle East / and Asia, authored numerous articles in the field, and presented at many national and international conferences.

Ms. Dunn will be writing a new column, “Dance Wellness” for 4dancers in 2012 and will also be bringing in voices from the dance wellness/dance medicine field to share their expertise with readers.

Keeping Dancers Dancing: Outside Conditioning – GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS®

May 30, 2012 by 4dancers

by Jan Dunn, MS

Summer is almost here, and if you’re still a student, you’ll be out soon for summer break — and if you’re a professional dancer, you might have at least some time off over the coming months (hopefully!). In recent articles, we’ve been talking about the value of outside-of-class conditioning for dancers of all ages, to help your body stay in great shape for a long, healthy career. Summer is a good time to investigate different forms of outside conditioning that are beneficial for dancers (if you aren’t already doing some!).

The last article I posted on this topic was about Pilates –this time we’ll talk about GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® (G & G, we will call them, when talked about together), exercise forms which are not as well known / widespread as Pilates, but one which many dancers enjoy.

Juliu Horvath, the creator / founder of the system, is a Hungarian “man for all seasons” – a former professional ballet dancer, yogi, and wood sculptor, now in his 60’s. Like many people who went on to develop unique methods to address concerns about the body, Horvath suffered career-ending injuries while performing as a principal dancer with the Houston Ballet. He moved to the Virgin Islands to recover, and began an extensive study and practice of yoga. His experience and research led to developing the G & G system, He states:

“I discovered Kundalini energy through my pain and agony, and somehow that awakened me. Being awakened energetically means that you can read the movement when it is not a movement yet. You are like a little child who is totally unconscious and not prepared to make movement happen. Children move because something moves them from within.”

The G & G movement system gently works the joints and muscles of the body, using key principles which are found in many forms of movement, such as yoga, tai-chi, gymnastics, swimming – and dance. It is an undulating, rhythmic, circular movement form, which is one of the appeals to dancers.

Horvath’s aim is to take the body “beyond its current limitations”. The exercises strengthen, lengthen, and stretch muscles, stimulating the connective tissue around the joints – improving balance, flexibility, coordination, and strength.

The system has two components, mentioned earlier: [Read more…]

Keeping Dancers Dancing – Conditioning

April 3, 2012 by 4dancers

by Jan Dunn, MS

You’re a dancer. You spend hours every day taking class / rehearsing / performing – so you must be in great physical shape, perfectly conditioned to withstand the demands of your chosen profession – right ??? Don’t be too sure – that may not be the case! Dancers are not always as “fit” as they think they are, in regard to this important aspect of their training.

“Conditioning” means to be physically fit, in certain defined ways (read on!), so that your body can safely perform the physical demands you ask of it, with the least risk of possible injury. Dance is one of the most physically demanding activities a person can do. A famous study at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York (1975) compared all forms of sports, including dance, in terms of the athletes’ physical fitness capacities. Ballet, boxing, and hockey were ranked at the top, in terms of requiring high levels of strength, endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, and other measures of fitness. Understanding what this means for you personally is crucial to your well being and LONGEVITY as a dancer !

There have been a number of books written especially for dancers (listed at the end of the article) specifically about fitness for dance, so clearly there is a lot of researched information out there. Today we’ll just touch on the basics, and if you’re interested, I encourage you to find out more on your own.

What ARE the aspects of conditioning that we need to understand? The list below tells us, and it’s important to know that ALL are equally important for a well-trained body (these are not listed in any order of importance): [Read more…]

Keeping Dancers Dancing: “Help I Have An Injury – What Do I Do?”

March 8, 2012 by 4dancers

by Jan Dunn, MS

So you have a dance injury? What do you do….????

Last month we covered the various causes of dance injuries, and I’m hoping that information is helping you to stay injury-free. But hey, it can still happen, despite our best preventative efforts. So, the next piece is knowing what do if / when an injury occurs.

First off, you have to be sure you recognize that it IS an injury….i.e, knowing the difference between “good” and “bad” pain. This may sound like first-grade language (it is), but it’s the easiest way to understanding the signals your body may be giving you:

-“good” pain is the discomfort we feel when we are doing a new activity our body is not used to, like taking a jazz dance class for the very first time, when all your training has been ballet. It’s the normal response of our muscles / joints to the new movements, and is characterized by:

-a dull aching discomfort (not what we usually call ‘pain”) which is wide-spread through the body area you were using in a new way. For example, in a jazz class you use the ribs / pelvis in very specific non-balletic movements, and the next day you may feel over-all sore in those areas.

-“bad” pain is when your body is saying very clearly “STOP! I am HURT!”, and is characterized by:

-pain in a very specific place, much more localized than the discomfort described above. It may be in that one spot constantly, or only when you use the body part / joint in a specific way. It is usually a sharper type of pain than the “good”kind, but the key point is that it’s NOT wide-spread, but much more in one place.

2. Ok, so you’ve recognized that you have a “bad” pain, an injury —what do you do? The very first step is often abbreviated as PRICED (we used to say “RICE”, but you’ll see below where the “P” is now added in: [Read more…]

Dance Wellness: Causes of Dance Injuries (Risk Factors) Part I

February 1, 2012 by 4dancers

KEEPING DANCERS DANCING

by Jan Dunn, MS

This month’s topic in our ongoing Dance Wellness series is “Causes of Dance Injuries” (also called “risk factors” in the dance medicine world). We all know that dance is a risky business – injuries do happen. But learning what causes them can go a long way in helping to reduce that risk, and keep you “Dancing Longer / Dancing Stronger” (actually the title of an excellent dance medicine books for dancers!). All of the information in this article is supported by dance medicine research over the last thirty years.

The risk factors discussed below are NOT listed in any order of importance! In many dance injury situations, more often it is a combination of “causes” that may result in injury (I will explain what I mean by at the end !). We’ll cover five today, and five tomorrow:

1) Poor alignment and faulty technique:

While it is true that many injuries result from a combination of factors, this one is usually agreed to be one of the most important. Dr. Justin Howse, longtime physician to The Royal Ballet in England (now retired) and one of the early pioneers in Dance Medicine, went so far as to say that all injuries were the result of faulty technique. Most current experts would agree that while faulty technique is a major component of injuries, they would not necessarily concur that it is the only factor.

By “Alignment problems” we mean such postural patterns as:

-forward head (the head not in good alignment with the spine and torso)

-forward shoulders (rounded shoulders)

-lumbar lordosis (“swayback”)

-thoracic hyperextension (protruding ribcage)

-hyperextended knees (knees straightened beyond 180)

– foot pronation or supination (rolling in or out)

A dancer who has good alignment is more likely to have “efficient movement” (using only the muscles and amount of energy necessary to accomplish the movement), and is less likely to be putting strain and tension on soft tissue (ligaments / tendons / muscles) around the joint, thus resulting in less possibility of injury.

An example:

A young dancer complains of knee pain. The dance medicine physical therapist or physician gives a diagnosis of patellofemoral syndrome, which frequently involves the patella (kneecap) not tracking properly in the patellar femoral groove (the groove in the femur through which the patella glides, on knee flexion and extension). Looking at the dancer’s plie in first, the medical specialist and the dance trainer note that the dancer’s feet are turned out to 65 degrees, and the knees are not aligning over the toes, but falling instead in front of the great toe. Foot pronation (rolling in) and lumbar lordosis (“swayback”) is also noted. The dancer’s external rotation (turn-out) in the hip joint is then tested lying prone (on the stomach), and is found to be 48 degrees – so she is “forcing her turn-out”, which can cause knee pain (and possibly other problems). Recommendations are given for medical treatment for the knee pain, and she is also given cueing for proper plie technique, using her natural turn-out of 48 degrees, and not forcing at the knee and ankle.

The crucial point here is that ALL injuries in dance need to be evaluated for technique concerns, to see if this may have played a causative part. If the dancer rehabs the injury without knowing if faulty technique is involved, the injury is more likely to re-occur when returning to full dance activity.

2). Anatomical limitations: [Read more…]

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