• Contributors
    • Catherine L. Tully, Owner/Editor
    • Dance Writers
      • Rachel Hellwig, Assistant Editor — Dance
      • Jessika Anspach McEliece, Contributor — Dance
      • Janice Barringer, Contributor – Dance
      • José Pablo Castro Cuevas, Contributor — Dance
      • Katie C. Sopoci Drake, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Ellis, Contributor — Dance
      • Samantha Hope Galler, Contributor – Dance
      • Cara Marie Gary, Contributor – Dance
      • Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, Contributor — Dance
      • Karen Musey, Contributor – Dance
      • Janet Rothwell (Neidhardt), Contributor — Dance
      • Matt de la Peña, Contributor – Dance
      • Lucy Vurusic Riner, Contributor – Dance
      • Alessa Rogers, Contributor — Dance
      • Emma Love Suddarth, Contributor — Dance
      • Andrea Thompson, Contributor – Dance
      • Sally Turkel, Contributor — Dance
      • Lauren Warnecke, Contributor – Dance
      • Sharon Wehner, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Werhun, Contributor — Dance
      • Dr. Frank Sinkoe, Contributor – Podiatry
      • Jessica Wilson, Assistant Editor – Dance
    • Dance Wellness Panel
      • Jan Dunn, MS, Editor
      • Gigi Berardi, PhD
      • James Garrick, MD
      • Robin Kish, MS, MFA
      • Moira McCormack, MS
      • Janice G. Plastino, PhD
      • Emma Redding, PhD
      • Erin Sanchez, MS
      • Selina Shah, MD, FACP
      • Nancy Wozny
      • Matthew Wyon, PhD
    • Music & Dance Writers
      • Scott Speck, Contributor – Music
    • Interns
      • Intern Wanted For 4dancers
    • Contact
  • About
    • About 4dancers
    • Advertise With 4dancers
    • Product Reviews on 4dancers
    • Disclosure
  • Contact

4dancers.org

A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance

Follow Us on Social!

Visit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On Instagram
  • 4dancers
    • Adult Ballet
    • Career
    • Auditions
    • Competition
    • Summer Intensives
    • Pointe Shoes & Footwear
      • Breaking In Shoes
      • Freed
      • Pointe Shoe Products
      • Vegan Ballet Slippers
      • Other Footwear
  • 4teachers
    • Teaching Tips
    • Dance History
    • Dance In The US
    • Studios
  • Choreography
  • Dance Wellness
    • Conditioning And Training
    • Foot Care
    • Injuries
    • Nutrition
      • Recipes/Snacks
  • Dance Resources
    • Dance Conferences
    • Dance Products
      • Books & Magazines
      • DVDs
      • Dance Clothing & Shoes
      • Dance Gifts
      • Flamenco & Spanish Dance
      • Product Reviews
    • Social Media
  • Editorial
    • Interviews
      • 10 Questions With…
      • Dance Blog Spotlight
      • Post Curtain Chat
      • Student Spotlight
    • Dance in the UK
    • Finding Balance
    • Musings
    • One Dancer’s Journey
    • Pas de Trois
    • SYTYCD
    • The Business Of Dance
    • Finis
  • Music & Dance
    • CD/Music Reviews

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!
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…]

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: alessa rogers, alexi ratmansky, atlanta ballet, breath control, dance training, Emily Cook Harrison, nutrition, RD, Stamina, twyla tharp

Nourishing Your Dancer Body: Understanding The Fundamentals of Making Good Food Choices

October 25, 2012 by 4dancers

by Diana Clanin, M.F.A., AT

Dancers have such a love-hate relationship with food!  Of course we need it: it gives us sustenance, repairs our over-worked bodies, and provides us with energy.  And of course we enjoy it: it not only tastes good, but is part of every cultural and social life-occasion from birth to death.  Yet, we are often afraid that it will make us – and I shudder to even write the word – fat.   So we teeter between trying to be super vigilant about nutrition, and the fear of gaining weight.  And the less food we eat, or the more we try to avoid eating, the more we focus on it.  It’s an ongoing internal conflict.

As The Stomach Growls

So why is this so hard?  Seems like balancing food intake, good nutrition, and weight would be as straight forward as a tendu devant.  But dancers have a unique challenge: how to get the optimal nutrition we need in the fewest possible calories.

To complicate matters further, between the print and broadcast medias, and our hyper-immersion in “smart” electronic communication gadgetry, we are on information overload.  Sadly, very little of what passes for nutrition “news” is fact or evidence based.  If you are increasingly confused about what to believe, you are not dancing solo.  Much published nutritional advice or claims are dubious attempts to sell you some product, which may or may not perform as described. Influencing you to purchase a supplement or special “food” often means convincing you that you have some critical deficiency, or are needlessly suffering from a chronic lack of energy.  It is fear-based marketing psychology and you are the target.

Keeping It Simple

So let’s start by laying down a few basic guidelines for making sane and healthy – and economical – choices:

1. Eat food as close to how Mother Nature packaged it as possible.

  • Avoid pre-packaged food mixes (Bisquick, Hamburger Helper, etc.).
  • Stick with whole grains:  100% whole grain cereals, breads, and pastas.  If it is white, Don’t Bite!  (In the grain department, that is.)
  • And…if it came through the car window, is it really food?

2. Eat several small meals a day and include components from each of the macro-nutrient food groupings each time.

  • This means be sure you have protein, fats, and carbohydrates in your selections each time you eat.  Examples: yogurt and fruit with granola, or cheese and whole grain crackers with vegetable sticks.
  • Try eating five or six small meals instead of three larger ones.  This will give you more even, sustained energy and allow you to metabolize the food more efficiently.
  • And yes, this DOES mean that you may have to do a little food research!! – to learn which foods fall into which the various macro-nutrient categories (i.e., is it a protein? A fat?  A carbohydrate?).  In general, for dancers trying to eat healthy / maintain weight,  and get good nutrition for energy, these guidelines are recommended for daily intake:

+ Protein                      12-15%
+ Fat                             20-30%
+ Carbohydrates        55-60%

Speaking of carbs, it’s good to learn what are healthy carbs (called “complex carbs”, like fruits / veggies / bagels, breads and pastas made with whole grains) and what are not-so-healthy-carbs (called “simple carbs”, like sugars and white grain products).

IADMS – the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science – has an excellent fact sheet on Nutrition for Dancers under the “Resources” tab on the left side of the home page – if you aren’t that familiar yet with different foods and nutritional information, this can be a great start.

3.  Eat a wide variety of foods. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Dance Wellness, Nutrition Tagged With: dance wellness, dancers, diana clanin, iadms, international association for dance medicine and science, nutrition, nutrition for dancers

Featured Studio: Nunnbetter Dance Theatre

October 18, 2009 by 4dancers

nbdt_mahboeb

Name: Nunnbetter Dance Theatre

Location: 25 South Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ

About: Nunnbetter Dance Theatre was created by Leath Nunn in 1999. There is a both a school and a company here, and for those who are serious about pursuing a career in dance, they have a pre-professional program as well.

The pre-professional program is fairly new and it looks very well thought out, with instruction in specialty pointe work, nutrition, yoga and Pilates in addition to the ballet, jazz and modern classes… [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, 4teachers, Studios Tagged With: Ballet, dance, jazz, leath nunn, modern, new jersey, nunnbetter dance theatre, nutrition, pilates, pointe work, summer camp, yoga

Dance Artwork

Get Your Dance Career Info Here!

Dance ebook cover

Podcast

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

This site sometimes features advertising, affiliate marketing, or affiliate links, such as Amazon Associate links and others. When you click on these links, we get a small sum that helps to support the website operations. Thank you! There’s more detailed information on ads and our disclosure policy under the About tab in our navigation at the top of the site. We clearly mark any and all posts that contain these features.

Copyright Notice

Please note that all of the content on 4dancers.org is copyrighted. Do not copy, utilize, or distribute without express permission. We take cases of infringement seriously. All rights reserved ©2022.

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in