iadms – Page 5

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: “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…]

Keeping Dancers Dancing: An Introduction to Dance Wellness in 2012

January 2, 2012 by 4dancers

Join me in welcoming Jan Dunn who is going to be with us this year writing about Dance Wellness. Ms. Dunn has an extremely impressive background in the field and I’m really excited that she will be sharing her insights with us here at 4dancers…

by Jan Dunn, MS

Welcome to the world of Dance Wellness! (also sometimes called “Dance Medicine and Science”). Dance Wellness is a fairly recent branch on the dance family tree; thirty-five years ago, the field did not exist at all. But the last three decades have witnessed tremendous growth in our knowledge of how to keep dancers dancing, longer and stronger than ever before. This is the first in a series of on-going articles about dance wellness, integrating recently learned information to help teachers, dancers, choreographers, and directors.

What IS “dance wellness”, or “dance medicine and science”? The “dance medicine” part is comparable to sports medicine – the care and prevention of dance injuries – just as sports medicine serves the same function for its participants. “Dance science” draws on research in the last thirty years (most of it in dance itself, as opposed to sports or other fields) from such areas as:

kinesiology and anatomy
biomechanics
exercise physiology
motor learning
nutrition
psychology

Both areas are concerned primarily with how dance injuries can be prevented / minimized, and how to integrate these findings into dance training. “Dance wellness” incorporates all of these concepts — i.e., keeping dancers healthy, to be able to have long, viable careers with decreased risk of injury. [Read more…]

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