If you’ve ever realized you were totally caught up in your phone or a show and completely disconnected from your meal, don’t feel bad. It’s incredibly common, especially when people are busy. When you’re busy, like dancers are most of the time, and then you’re eating a meal alone, it’s very normal to look for connection at meal times outside of the food you’re consuming. 

What is mindful eating?

“Mindfulness traces its origins back to various religious and secular traditions. These include Hinduism, Christianity, Muslim, Buddhism before the modern secular practices.” To be mindful, simply, is to be present in the moment. 

When you relate mindfulness to food, it still just means to be present with and aware of what you’re eating. There are a number of things you can put more attention on at meal time to find a greater connection to what you’re eating.

Key principles of mindful eating.

Here are some key principles of mindful eating that you can incorporate in your approach to food. As with all things related to food for dancers, if you start to obsess over eating mindfully “perfectly,” it’s not going to be helpful. Consider each of these key principles and choose one area of opportunity.

Incorporate pleasure.

Something I talk about with dancers all the time is how important it is that you enjoy your food. Yes, prioritize nutrient-dense eating, but those healthy choices should also be delicious and craveable. Food should be pleasurable. It should be indulgent and decadent at times, but there should be pleasure whether you’re eating a veggie and rice bowl or a piece of chocolate cake.

Creating healthy, delicious meals does require you to develop some skills. You need to incorporate healthy fat, spices, and diverse flavors to make your healthy meals enjoyable. Commit to developing that skill.

Pay attention.

When you eat a meal, pay attention to what your body and mind are telling you. There are so many valuable insights to be had when you truly tune into your body’s cues. What’s going on around you as you enjoy your meal? Are you in a pleasurable environment or a bustling, stressful environment? You can’t always control where you eat, but staying aware can allow you to intentionally bring focus back to yourself.

Notice how you’re feeling in your body as well. How is the food sitting with you? Are you experiencing any strong emotions that are impacting how you feel in your body as you eat your food? Pay attention to these physical or emotional sensations and take note of how it shows up in your food experience.

Be present.

Meal time can become so routine that you miss it. At times, dancers have to eat on the go or quickly in between classes or rehearsals. This is an additional reason to be as present as possible when you’re able to slow down and take your time with food.

It can help to take a few deep breaths before you start eating. Express some gratitude, whether it’s out loud or in your head. Be present as you eat. If you’re eating alone, you can watch a show on TV but avoid the distraction of your phone. 

Take your time.

Speed eating is all too normalized in our culture. Most people you know probably eat much more quickly than what their bodies would prefer. Slow down. Give yourself a moment to breathe between bites. Put down your fork, take a sip of water, and check back in with yourself.

It takes about 20 minutes for your body and brain to connect and for it to register that you’re actually full or satisfied. This doesn’t mean you have to take 20 minutes to eat every little thing you consume, but especially when you’re enjoying a full meal and have the time, wait until you hit the 20-minute mark to decide if you’re still hungry or need more sustenance.

Engage your senses.

Connect to your food and fully take in the sight, smell, and taste of what you’re eating. Beyond the actual food itself, you can find a deeper connection to your meal and increase enjoyment if you set a visually appealing table and plate your food beautifully.

It doesn’t have to be Instagram worthy, but a beautiful plating can allow you to more deeply engage your senses. Nicely presented food can add to your pleasure.

Be aware of triggers.

There are likely experiences or situations in life that lead you to lose your mindful connection to food. If you struggle with emotional eating, your emotions would be an example of a trigger.

You might also notice that certain events or people lead you to disconnect from your mindful connection to food. Awareness is essential. Then, you can make adjustments that allow you to reconnect to your food even when faced with triggering people or experiences.

How can mindful eating benefit dancers?

It benefits digestion.

Eating more slowly and chewing your food more eases the digestive burden. “Digestion starts in the mouth, so large bites that are inadequately chewed will be more difficult for your stomach to turn into chyme—the liquid mix of partially digested food, hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes, and water that passes through the pyloric valve on its way to elimination.”

When digestion improves, you will have regular bowel movements, and you’ll feel more comfortable from day to day. 

It’s empowering.

When you’re connected and intentional with food, it increases your confidence in your food choices. Confidence in your food choices allows you to feel assured that you’re fueling your body in the best way for your body and dancing.

It’s sustainable.

Mindful eating isn’t a fad, and it’s not a diet. The principles in their connection to mindfulness have been around for hundreds of years. My own mindful eating connection actually started when I began exploring yogic principles and buddhism. 

It’s anti-diet, and it can support a more uplifted and positive food experience, making it easy to maintain.

It can flow into all areas of your life.

Slowing down, paying attention, and being present can benefit your life as a whole. When you incorporate a mindful approach into all areas of your life, your food experience can be an extension of that.

How can you start to incorporate mindful eating principles into your life?

Make a commitment to yourself, and choose a small action step to get started. Take notice of how a more mindful approach to food works for you. Don’t strive for perfection because there will be times when you have to eat quickly or less mindfully in order to adequately fuel your dancing. 

Allow a mindful eating approach to be an exploration and a process. Incorporate the elements of this practice that work for you and release the rest. If you’re ready to find food harmony and explore your emotional relationship to food, check out this brand new course from The Whole Dancer.

The post Mindful Eating for Dancers appeared first on The Whole Dancer.

Stop Dieting. Do this instead.

One of the challenges you might face is the desire to reach a body goal by a deadline. Sometimes there’s an impending audition or performance that you’d like to be thinner (or more toned, or “have longer lines”) for. So you try a diet – maybe you calorie count or count macros, or try WW, Atkins, Whole30, Cabbage soup, the list honestly goes on and on and on and on.

You’ll possibly see a change if you stick to one of these plans for a couple weeks or a month. And that progress can be a great motivator, but what comes next? Usually, there’s some sort of backslide. This can come in the form of a single binge or weeks of eating off the handle. Even if you don’t go to an opposite extreme, if the “diet” you were following was somewhat restrictive, when you start eating normally again, you’ll likely regain the weight you lost (or more).

This is the whole idea of “yo-yo” dieting which sounds a lot cuter than it actually is. It’s not healthy for your weight to be constantly fluctuating up and down. It’s not great for you physically, and possibly even more importantly, it’s not great for you emotionally. Dealing with those body changes and inconsistencies is exhausting – trust me, I was stuck in the “yo-yo” (definitely not cute) for over a decade.

So instead of dieting, what’s the solution?

First, look at where you are as a dancer. Are you bringing your best energy and attitude to class? Do you show up ready to perform and receive notes and feedback openly at rehearsals? What’s your level of happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment in dance AND life?

If any of those things are out of whack – that’s your starting point. If you don’t address those things and instead put the focus on your body, food, and weight, you’re ignoring the areas that really need attention.

Food is a great distraction and so are diets. They’re something for us to sink our emotions into so that we don’t have to face what we’re actually feeling. Maybe your passion for dance has been waning, or you’re not feeling supported in your current dance environment. What can you do to address those things now?

Prioritize your happiness.

It needs to be the #1 focus. How’s your level of happiness? Think about how you feel in your day-to-day life. Are you enjoying your dancing? School? Meals? Time with friends?

If you’re feeling genuinely happy, and you’re approaching dance, life, and your body with a positive mindset, then yes, it might be an ok time to start working on some food shifts. If the life basics and level of happiness are lacking – start there. Trying to make body progress or achieve body goals becomes 1000x more challenging if you’re not attacking those things from a positive place.

Cultivate confidence in your body now.

The body you’re in might actually be your best body. Sometimes when I start working with a dancer, it becomes quite clear that the body they’re in is actually a wonderful vehicle for a dance career. Nothing needs to change physically. They’ve just convinced themselves for years that losing weight was the answer.

Maybe they’ve gotten those messages from teachers or artistic staff. It’s also possible they came to those conclusions based on what they observed in dance. However they arrived at that end, the mental piece is what needs support.

It takes some mental retraining to accept your body exactly where it is. Dance teaches you to see what’s wrong, what needs to change, or improve. Whenever the negative body thoughts come up, I want you to switch them to positives. In addition to that, each morning write down 3 things you’re grateful for, specifically concerning your body.

But still – no diets. Seriously, it’s time to stop dieting.

Here’s a better approach: work one-on-one with someone or go through a program that will guide you in figuring out the food that really works for your body. You’ll focus on adding more food that supports your dancing and finding balance with indulgences.

As boring as it sounds, making incremental changes to deeply ingrained habits is going to have a lot more benefit for the long term than anything else. It’s tough to tell yourself, “I’ve got to take this slow” when you look in the mirror and aren’t thrilled with what you see. Still, do your best to take it slow. Dieting is exhausting, draining, and dangerous. Stop dieting.

If you’re dancing professionally, and your job is being threatened because of where you are physically, I’d urge you to ask yourself how you feel about your body before jumping to extremes. If you feel good, maybe the answer is looking for other jobs. Easy solution? No. Healthy solution? Yes.

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You don’t have to be an expert in nutrition…

Nutrition for Dancers is an important topic but you don’t have to be an expert in nutrition to reach your personal best body. Hopefully you find that reassuring. You don’t have to study up on nutrition science or know exactly what each macronutrient (protein, carbs, fat) or micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) does for your body.

If you’ve got a desire to dive into nutrition for dancers, have at it. Make sure you’re learning from accurate sources like text books or scholarly articles. Diet books are skewed to whatever the authors beliefs are and while it’s possible they’ve conducted studies around their beliefs, many have not.

Remember, if you look to nutritional studies for information, some are funded by food lobbyists. “A 2007 review of 206 studies that looked at the health benefits of milk, soda, and fruit juices found that those sponsored entirely by a food or beverage company were four to eight times more likely to show positive health effects from consuming those products.”1

There are times you’ll find nutritional advice based upon the findings from such studies. The sugar industry has tons of money, whereas the producers of fruits and vegetables do not. Something to keep in mind when you do your research.

Instead of being an expert in nutrition, you have to become an expert on how food works for YOUR body.

Becoming an expert on YOU

When you consider nutrition for dancers and what you really need to know, the most important factor is you. Pay attention to how food makes you feel. It’s so common to ignore digestive disturbances or to just get used to them. So many people feel sick, bloated, or uncomfortable after consuming dairy, but it’s become so normal, they don’t think twice about it.

You might also have a different tolerance for some foods than your friends. Sugar sometimes gives me a headache, even in small quantities and when paired with trail mix. In response, I stay mindful of this and try to eat less of it.

Have high standards for your fuel

Food quality is important. Learn about where your food comes from. If you eat meat or eggs, look for grass-fed and pasture-raised options. If you have a sweet tooth, be discerning about the ingredients in your sweets. Avoiding processed sugar and high-fructose corn syrup can help you perform at a higher level.

A couple of dancer chats I always come back to when I think about the importance of high quality fuel for dancers are Shelby Elsbree, formerly Boston Ballet and Jenelle Manzi, New York City Ballet.

In the first workshop ever presented by The Whole Dancer, Shelby Elsbree said, “If you’re eating these whole foods and superfoods for your body, you will be full, you will be satisfied, and you won’t be craving processed foods as much.”

New York City Ballet dancer Jenelle Manzi dealt with injury and inflammation. Then, she saw the impact of her food choices. Regular sweets and indulgences don’t work for Jenelle. That’s why she combined indulgent and functional foods. As she shared, “functional foods provide your body with nutrients and help you to feel your best, look your best, and perform your best.”

Increase your knowledge of macros

Protein, carbs, and fat are the macronutrients that make up food. There’s often a debate about which you should eat the most often. There are diets out there that highlight each one. Some say eating more carbs will help you perform your best while others promote more protein or fat.

“..A wide variety of diets have been proposed accentuating or minimizing each macronutrient to achieve a desired effect on appetite and/or energy intake. Common experience over the past six decades reveals none has been widely successful.”2

For most, a balance of macronutrients is going to help you feel satisfied and energized, and you’ll maintain your health; therefore, it’s helpful to have an idea of what macros are found in the foods you’re eating most often.

This knowledge will help you to create balanced meals and adjust your food as necessary. You might find that more dietary fat helps you feel more satiated. For others, increased protein leads to greater feelings of satisfaction. When you start to have those insights, you can adjust your meals accordingly.

Nutrition info means nothing if you’re not relating to food and your body in a positive way…

The most common thing I see dancers doing is not eating enough. When you undereat, you do your body a disservice.

If you hate what you see in the mirror, you’re not going to reach body goals. When you’re stressed out, your relationship with food can get crazy. The pressures of pursuing dance pre-professionally and professionally can be overwhelming.

Instead of placing too much focus on the food, put the focus on cultivating a positive mindset. Then, make your healthy choices taste amazing, and you’ll start to find balance.

Nutrition for dancers, what you really need to know.

1. Moodie, Alison). “Before You Read Another Health Study, Check Who’s Funding the Research.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 12 Dec. 2016, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/12/studies-health-nutrition-sugar-coca-cola-marion-nestle.
2. Carreiro, Alicia L, et al. “The Macronutrients, Appetite, and Energy Intake.” Annual Review of Nutrition, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 17 July 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4960974/.

Photo by Cayla1 on Unsplash

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Lauren Fadeley

Where do you dance?

Principal Soloist with Miami City Ballet

Share a bit about your journey in dance…

MCB is the third company I’ve danced with. Originally from Orlando, FL, I moved to NYC at age 15 to train at SAB. A year later I was asked to join New York City Ballet, where I danced for 2 years. That was a little too much for me too soon, so at 18 I choose to go to college at Indiana University. I graduated with a BS in Ballet Performance with an outside field in Kinesiology. From there I joined Pennsylvania Ballet, where I danced for 9 seasons and became a principal dancer.

What’s a challenge you’ve faced in pursuing dance professionally?

My body and being “in shape”. I am naturally very broad and muscular and when I’m not dancing a lot, I don’t always fit the ballerina body aesthetic. I got my first “fat talk” when I was 15 and my most recent when I was 32, so has always been a struggle.

How did you overcome it?

I never fully overcame it, but have tried to find balance and peace with my body. When I was younger, I resorted to unhealthy means to try to achieve the “perfect” body, but after breaking my foot I realized how unsustainable that was.

Studying nutrition, anatomy and physiology in college helped me gain a better understanding and as I get older in this career, I never take my body for granted. During long lay offs, I just have to be more aware of how I’m fueling myself and stay active even if not dancing everyday.

What does it mean to you to be a “whole” dancer?

To be strong and confident. Though I will never look as thin as most of the other dancers onstage, I take pride in my strength and power that come across in my performances.

Do you have any special self-care rituals that help you feel balanced?

Yoga and gyrotonics are both good for my mind, body and soul and I try to fit them in once a week. I also love unwinding with a face mask and essential oil diffuser.

What role does cross-training play in your life?

Cross-training as become even more important to me at this stage of my career than ever. Pilates and weight training have helped with injury prevention and cardio to keep my stamina up for shows. When on lay offs, I try to change up what I do everyday to not get in a rut and stay motivated.

How do you keep a positive relationship with food and your body in the face of aesthetic pressure in dance?

It is very difficult and some days are harder than others. Staring at a mirror 6 hours a day can do numbers on how you perceive yourself, but I try to remember how fortunate I am that I have a strong body that enables me to dance and do what I love. With food, I try to think of it as the fuel needed to perform and how it makes my body feel.

Photo Credits:

Dances at a Gathering by Daniel Azouley

The Four Temperaments by Alexander Iziliaev

Diamonds by April Singleton

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Leanna Rinaldi

Where do you dance?

I started my career at Miami City Ballet and danced there for six years and I am excited to start dancing with Ballet Austin for the 19/20 season!

Share a bit about your journey in dance…

I began dance classes at the age of 2 and a half. I started getting serious about dance when I was about 13 while training at Chamberlain Performing Arts in Plano, TX. As a teenager, I attended summer courses at The School of American Ballet and Miami City Ballet School.

My path was pretty much chosen for me because I didn’t get into the college I wanted but I received a scholarship to train at the Miami City Ballet School year round. And I’m so glad I went. In the school I began dancing with the company and after two years of that I was hired as a company apprentice. The next year I was hired into the corps de ballet and got to perform many wonderful ballets in many amazing places!

What’s a challenge you’ve faced in pursuing dance professionally? How did you overcome it?

The dance world has never been easy for me. I don’t have a typical “ballerina body” which I hate saying because there shouldn’t be one body that defines a ballet dancer. But I don’t have super hyperextended legs or whacked out feet and I was always self conscious about my thighs.

To offset this, I use my strengths like jumping, turning and performance in my face and port de bras. I have been body shamed in my career and emotionally abused but I overcame it by staying true to my values and telling myself that I am worth more.

One person’s opinion does not define you as a dancer. And through this challenging time in my life I was questioning my love for dance. I had to remind myself that I became a professional dancer for a reason and I reached outside of my messed up mentality to find my love for dance again.

My love for dance never left, I just had to switch my perspective and have an attitude of gratitude for what I get to do everyday!

What does it mean to you to be a “whole” dancer?

Being a whole dancer for me is having a balanced life. You can’t be ALL ballet ALL the time or you will burn out. By that I mean you have to get out of the studio and find things in life that fulfill you and bring you joy, while also working hard in the studio. Go outside. Go on adventures. Visit family. Go on a walk. Anything that you enjoy that is not dance related, do it.

Do you have any special self-care rituals that help you feel balanced?

I always try to have a nourishing breakfast every morning. I also try to journal and write down things I’m grateful for. By starting my day on a good note I find more often than not that I have a better day. I also meditate to calm my mind, reflect, and re-center. After a really hard day I light some candles and take an epsom salt bath.

What role does cross-training play in your life?

I do a lot of different kinds of cross training. I love to do yoga when I want to have a good sweat and stretch out my body. I also love to do different physical therapy exercises in the morning before class to get my blood flowing and prepare for the day.

I usually incorporate some Gyrotonics into my exercises. Whenever I have a long break I spend some time on the elliptical to keep my stamina up. On Mondays, which is usually our day off, I take an intense pilates class with an instructor that used to dance with MCB!

How do you keep a positive relationship with food and your body in the face of aesthetic pressure in dance?

It’s really hard. I’m not going to sugar coat it. Having a positive relationship with food and your body is hard especially when you have to stare at your body in the mirror everyday and pick at what is wrong.

I try to keep it positive by telling myself that I am wonderfully made, a beautiful creation, and my worth is not dependent on how I look. Food is fuel and nourishment but also meant to be enjoyed. It is possible to have a balanced life as a dancer.

Do you have a favorite healthy recipe?

Lentil Coconut Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Kale

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 can Coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup lentils (any kind but I use red lentils)
1 sweet potato diced
1 bunch kale chopped
1 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can chick peas (optional)
2 tbl fresh cilantro chopped
2 tbl curry
1 tsp tumeric
Dash of cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat on medium-high 1 tbsp. of coconut oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the sweet potato and garlic and coat with the curry, turmeric, and cinnamon. Sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in lentils for 1 minute. Pour the coconut milk and vegetable broth in the saucepan, bring to a boil and stir. Add chickpeas if desired and the kale, salt and pepper and let simmer on low until the sweet potatoes are soft and the lentils are cooked. This will be about 12-15 minutes. Add cilantro at the end and enjoy as a soup or over quinoa or rice. Enjoy!

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We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Apolla Performance products on The Whole Dancer blog before – you can check out our last review here! Well, since then Apolla has come out with some incredible new products that we got to test out here at The Whole Dancer.

The K-Warmer

Last year, Apolla Performance released the K-Warmer (Kinesio Warmer)  their fresh take on leg warmers. These leg warmers are different than any other leg warmers on the market, not only do they warm your legs, but they also offer compression. They took the compression technology that goes into their shocks and applied it to the K-Warmer.

The K-Warmer measures at 29 inches total with 21 inches of leg compression, 4 inches of fabric around the ankle, and 4 inches of stretchy fabric for the top of the thigh (that isn’t compression). As someone who is 5’6”, the K-Warmer came up to almost the top of my thigh, but I did not have the ankle part over my heel. When I did have it over my heel it came to mid thigh.

Because of the compression technology, the K-Warmers fit and feel more like a compression sleeve than a legwarmer. That being said, when I wore them for class and then took them off during barre, my regular tights almost came off with the legwarmers. For this reason, I do not think they would be best for wearing backstage in between pieces when you need to quickly add or remove layers.

They do keep your legs very warm. I wore my K-Warmers over capris length leggings in 30-degree (Fahrenheit) weather, and the cold never seeped through them. While wearing them during class, my legs were very warm by the second tendu combination.

The K-Warmer is the perfect leg wear for muscle recovery. I wore my K-Warmers for the first time two days after I ran my first 5K. At that point my muscles were VERY sore. Wearing my K-Warmers definitely gave my muscles relief and helped me get through my cross training at the gym that day.

The K-Warmer is the ideal leg wear that optimizes muscle health and recovery during your warm-up, cool down, cross training, and everything in between.

The Joule

The Joule is another newer product from Apolla and it looks a lot like a standard ankle brace. Unlike a standard ankle brace – it’s supportive but not restrictive. As someone who experienced “chronic” ankle sprains throughout my dance training and career, I wore a lot of ankle braces.

Most of the time they limited my mobility so much that I couldn’t fully point my feet and I didn’t feel like I was able to keep wearing it as I moved towards recovery. The Joule however would have been great support as my ankles recovered and regained strength. They provide similar support to taping but without the hassle.

By wearing the Joule you are able to actually combat inflammation while you’re dancing. So if you’re prone to flare ups – it works wonders. In addition to the actual compression it provides, the Joule offers arch support as well.

According to Apolla, “When you don’t have support in your arch, the force of dancing yanks on the plantar fascia at the insertion points and causes inflammation. To keep strong arches, it is good to give them support in class and after during recovery.”

Did I mention you can wear them under ballet shoes and they offer a multitude of colors – various skin tones and even ballet pink so they can be worn more discretely than a brace as well.

I’ve worn my Joule’s to take class and to teach as well. You can even wear them when you’re traveling to provide some compression to once again reduce unwanted inflammation. They’re machine washable and totally versatile. I consider the Joule to be a dancer necessity. Even if you don’t have ankle issues per-se you would benefit from wearing these during or just after class to help your feet and ankle’s recover!

Head over to Apolla Performance and check out the Joule and K-Warmer. Have you tried either of these products? We’d love to hear your take! Share in the comments below.

K-Warmer Review by The Whole Dancer Content Assistant – Jessie and Joule Review by The Whole Dancer Founder, Jess.

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“Send you knees over your toes in plie.”

“Hips stacked on top of your knees, stacked on top of your toes.”

“Don’t let your knees roll in.”

How often have you heard teachers say these phrases (or something similar) during class regarding lower leg alignment? All the time. Teachers spend so much time teaching their students the importance of proper alignment, not just for proper classical ballet technique, but to prevent injury.

For classical ballet, or any dance for that matter, knees must track over the toes while in plie. Your feet cannot be more rotated that your knees.

“Weakness in the hip and lower abs show in the lower leg,” says Sarah Edery-Altas, DPT at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital in New York City. This weakness is found in dancers who force their turnout from their ankles instead of the initiating turnout from the rotator muscles (Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Maximus) in the hip.

Since this is common issue in the ballet world, I talked to Edery-Altas to ask her how she helps dancers rehab from lower leg injuries and how to improve leg alignment.

Of the patients that Edery-Altas sees at the Harkness Center, a majority of the injuries she sees are the lower extremities. Of the majority, half of them are knee and ankle issues. Many of the chronic injuries she sees are from improper alignment.

“Many dancers have difficulty with 20-25 repetitions of releve on a single leg, which is an objective measure that is expected in order for a dancer to return in full to dance,” says Edery-Altas. “In addition to those weaker stability and rotational muscles (gluteus maximus and medius, deep external rotators, posterior tibialis, and foot intrinsics) many times the planarflexors tend to lack the strength required for the load many dancers are asking of themselves.”

When Edery-Altas starts working with new patients, often she starts with hip exercises. “The hip controls the foot and the foot informs the hip what is happening.”

She likes to start with a Sarhmann Progression exercise that she calls: hip drop and recover with ball on wall.

1. Start perpendicular to the wall with the exercise ball pressing into the hip closest to the wall. The leg closest to the wall is extended in front, just off the floor.
2. Drop the hip closest to the wall down as far as you can go.
3. Pressing into the floor with the standing foot and lengthening the trunk of your body, relevel pelvis back to the original position.
4. Do three sets of 10.
5. As you advance, you may add releve to the exercise.

This exercise reteaches dancers how to use the tripod of the foot: putting equal pressure on the medial(towards the midline) and lateral (away from the midline or on the outer side of the body) sides of the ball of the foot and the heel. Putting equal pressure on the tripod of the foot prevents from rolling in.

“You can see through bunions that the foot takes so much force and shows the weakness of the foot. [You can see] Where the load is going with [while wearing] pointe shoes or LaDucas,” say Edery-Altas.

Sarah also has patients work on foot doming to make sure foot alignment is correct. “When you cheat your turnout from the feet, you pronate or roll in to maintain an arch. Foot doming teaches dancers to use the short toe flexors tendons instead of overusing the long toe flexors such as the FHL [Flexor Halitus Longus, the tendon that controls the flexion of the big toe.].”

To strengthen your legs for better knee and ankle alignment, Edery-Altas gives deep external rotator exercises using turnout disks.

1. Stand on the disks (one foot on each disk) in parallel
2. Initiating from the hips, rotate your legs to first position
3. Return to parallel

Repeat with variations of plie:

1. staying in the plie the entire time
2. plie in parallel, turnout, straighten legs, plie, return to parallel
3. Once you’ve become strong enough, you can do all these exercises with one leg.

If you do not have access to turnout disks, you can do the exercises lying on your back with your feet in the air.

Clamshells are another exercise given to strengthen the rotator muscles. Edery-Altas has patients focus on keeping the heels together during the exercise. The exercises can be done with the legs at different lengths- one set with a longer knee bend and one set with a shorter knee bend. This allows you to work different muscles in the glutes.

Sarah includes squats in the progression of improving lower leg alignment and increasing strength as the patient advances. She likes to give squats because they directly correlate to jumping class or rehearsal. Single leg squats translate into single leg jumps in petite and grand allegro. “You want to relax the foot in plie to absorb force and then dome the foot to push off [in a jump or squat].”

The big thing Edery-Altas stresses when either recovering from an injury or building strength: “Focus on progressing slowly and smartly.” Later adding, “Focus on working on your deep limitations instead of practicing something you’re already good at.”

About Sarah Edery-Altas

Dr. Edery-Altas received a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a doctorate in physical therapy from Columbia University. She is a former professional ballet dancer, who danced as a member of both the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Boston Ballet.

The post Knee and Ankle Alignment in Ballet appeared first on The Whole Dancer.

As a pre-professional student or professional dancer, you often crave the challenging classes with advanced steps, hard combinations, and fast tempos that have you leave the class dripping with sweat.

Yes, these classes are fantastic. They feel good and challenge your stamina and advanced technique. But there is something to be said for taking it down a notch and slowing things down.

Your technique is like a house: your fundamental technique is the foundation of the house; your advanced technique (mastery of challenging steps and fast tempos) is the roof. If the foundation crumbles, the roof will cave in. Why work on a roof when there is no place to put it?

That being said, how does a busy pre-professional student of professional dancer maintain that foundation? Take a lower level class.

To some dancers, taking a lower level class seems like taking a step back. On the contrary! Taking a lower level class has so many benefits when balanced with your current training.

Taking lower level classes will give you more time to practice in the studio and focus on your technique. If you dance at a smaller studio that does not offer as many classes as you would like to take, ask your teacher or director if you can take lower level classes to supplement your schedule.

First, lower level classes will force you to take everything at a slower tempo. Use the slower tempo as an opportunity to work on elements of your technique that may slip away or get sloppy at a faster speed or during rehearsals.

Think about how you’re holding your turnout, are you gripping where you don’t need to, can you deepen your plié, or articulate through your feet more?  

Dancing at a lower level, performing combinations at a slower tempo forces you to work on and maintain your control. This can be especially beneficial for adagio, or any weakness for that matter.

Anytime is a good time to take a lower level class. However, it can be especially beneficial when coming back from an injury or a long summer break. A gradual re-immersion of ballet technique is so important when recovering from an injury.

You are rebuilding your foundation, making it stronger to prevent previous cracks (injuries and/or technical weaknesses) from reappearing. Therefore, this process should not be rushed. A lower level class will give you the time and space you need on your road to recovery or getting back in shape for the season.

Depending on your studio, school, or company, you may work get to work with teachers you don’t interact with on a daily basis by taking a lower level class. For some people, taking class with a different teacher is a breath of fresh air (Check out this video on The Whole Dancer YouTube on taking class somewhere new!) that can lead to an “aha” moment. They might be saying what your current teachers or staff are saying, but a rewording or new visualization might click with you. Also, analyzing a step at a slower, simpler level might help the concept click.

As a novice ballet teacher, I enjoy taking beginner or intermediate level classes so I can better understand how to teach these students. I look for new ways to break down technique for the younger students.

I share anecdotes, ideas, explanations, or visualizations that I wish I had heard as a student or that I know my students will connect with. Also, it gives me a good point of reference to what I should expect of my students in both technique and how they conduct themselves in class (depending on their age and level).

While taking a lower level class, you will definitely have to put your ego in check. Standing at barre next to a much younger dancer can sometimes feel demeaning. Yes there will be classes where a 12 year-old has better technique than you.

But always remember these three things in ballet:

1. You are always better than someone else and there is always someone else better than you.
2. Everyone is always a student in ballet no matter how advanced they are
3. Everyone has to stand at barre everyday and do their plies and tendus.

Taking a lower level class can be a mutual learning experience for you and the younger students. They become inspired by watching a more advanced dancer work on their technique.

In turn, the younger students remind you of the initial joy and curiosity of ballet technique that is so present in the upcoming generation of dancers.

What makes the ballet community so great is the ability of everyone to learn from one another not matter what level or stage in your career you are at.  

On that note, take time as you prep for auditions or performances to work on the foundation of your house: spend some extra time in the studio alone or just into a lower level class.

Do you ever take lower level classes? What do you get out of them? Share in the comments below!!

• Photo credit: gabrielsaldana on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA
• Photo credit: Yellow Sky Photography on Visual hunt / CC BY-SA

The post Benefits of taking lower level classes! appeared first on The Whole Dancer.

The Whole Dancer founder, Jess and Intern, Jessie (not at all confusing that we have the same name) each tested out a pair of Apolla Shocks to share thoughts on this company innovating the way we think about footwear in dance.

Apolla Performance Wear created a compression sock available in various styles and colors in order to promote and support foot and ankle health for dancers.

Here’s Jessie’s take :

“For this review I chose the performance Apolla Shocks with traction. I picked the performance because I wanted extra compression on my ankles, since I’ve had tendonitis and ankle sprains in the past.

I have very small and narrow feet, so I was worried about how the shocks would fit. I was very happy and surprised when they fit my feet perfectly. I didn’t have any extra baggy junk I’ve had to deal with in the past when I would buy socks from Uniqulo (I’d have to put them in the dryer a few cycles before they would fit my feet).

I purposely wore these socks in different dance situations to get the feel of them.

Teaching:

The first time I wore the Apolla Shocks was for teaching. I teach intermediate and advanced level ballet for 3 hours on Wednesday evenings. I demonstrate all of the barre exercises full out, as well as some of center.

For a the past two years, I was wearing jazz shoes for teaching. But this season they have been bothering my feet so I was rotating between jazz shoes, ballet slippers, and socks.

My feet have never been so comfortable while teaching! I don’t usually love teaching in socks, but I would definitely teach in these socks again.

I was a little skeptical how this traction thing was going to work. When you first take the shocks out of the bag, the traction part is stiff. It took a few barre combinations for the traction part on the ball of my foot to start to mold to my foot. But once it did, it felt like any other sock.

Taking Class:

I really liked taking barre in these socks. Part of me wishes that there were some traction on the heel so it would feel exactly like a ballet shoe. But I know that’s not possible with the design of the sock.

Because of the compression, I felt that my feet were warm and ready to go a lot faster than they were while wearing normal socks or ballet slippers. I will definitely be wearing my shocks for warm-up and at least the first few combinations at barre in class from now on.

My one concern is during barre as my feet got sweaty, the toe part of the shock got a little baggy. When I would turn I could feel the fabric twist under my feet a little so I didn’t wear them for center. I found the baggy-ness goes away after I washed them. But if you wear them multiple times before washing them again, the toe will get a tiny bit baggy.

Also I wonder if it’s possible for the traction to rub off or make marks on certain Marley floors. I had a panic moment towards the end of barre when I realized there were small black circles that looked like the ball of my foot at my barre spot. I did check the Apolla Performance website, and it says that the traction may rub off in the initial wear, but comes off with regular cleaning.

The traction goes down a bit after you wash them the first time. But putting rosin on them makes them good as new. However, I wonder how you add more traction when a studio does not allow rosin in their studio for example STEPS in New York. How would putting water on your socks affect the traction?

In Sneakers at the Gym:

My feet and ankles felt great while wearing my Apolla Socks while at the gym. I felt like I could run longer than my usual 20 minute run. The only tiny negative was the socks get really hot while wearing them in sneakers. Though in this rough winter weather, at least in the North-East, hot feet are much better than ice cube feet.

Overall, I would say Apolla Performance Infinite Shocks are a great sock. I highly recommend it for any dancer that needs to give their feet and ankles some extra love and support while dancing or teaching.

Here’s Jess’s Take : 

“As someone who has suffered from chronic ankle sprains throughout my career, I was super intrigued and excited when I heard about Apolla Performance Wear. This is a woman run company with a goal of helping dancers prevent injury in order to dance stronger and longer.

That’s something I can get behind.

I wore my Infinate Shocks with Traction to a ballet class. After that initial experience, I now wear them every time I take class! I’ll definitely need to add a few more pairs to my collection.

The traction actually felt more grippy to me than a ballet shoe even though there’s no traction on the heel. I felt SO supported through my feet and ankles. Within a few combinations my feet were so warm they were actually sweating.

I actually really like the indication that my feet were warm. I see it as a plus.

After barre I switched to regular ballet shoes and found that I felt a little disconnected from the floor. So now I’ll either keep my socks on for center or switch to ballet shoes towards the end of barre in order to feel the floor before going to the center.

In addition to ballet class, I’ve also worm my shocks while traveling. It’s really important when you’re traveling, especially for dance related reasons ie auditions or tours that you wear a compression sock. The inactivity of travel, whether you’re in an airplane, car or bus, causes blood to pool and feet and ankles to swell. Compression socks will keep the blood flowing.

Have you tried Apolla Performance Wear? Share your experience in the comments!!

The post Apolla Performance Wear Review appeared first on The Whole Dancer.

Jess Spinner: Why don’t you start with how you got your start in dance?

Robyn Justum: When I was little my parents decided to put me into some very basic ballet fundamentals [class]. They knew, they would joke that I would kick in my crib when I was really little. They figured try it out, and see if I like it at all.

Once I got old enough that I could vocalize and express this is something I would like to do. Then they looked into, ok we want her to have good training whether this is a short lived hobby or something more, they wanted to make sure I was getting good training.

So they started to enroll me in classes in the local ballet school and kept going with it, and as I got older I realized it was something I was really passionate about. And so I followed the ranks of the studio, working my way up through the levels. I made that my focus outside of school.

Jess: Good of your parents to pursue more serious training.

Robyn: Yeah, I really appreciated it. They both have backgrounds in music, so they kind of understood that arts perspective which came in handy for their decision to enroll me.

Jess: You ended up at Butler [University]. How was your Butler experience?

Robyn: I loved it. It was so so grateful I ended up going there. The dance department is phenomenal. I was so fortunate to work with the faculty there. And it was really great because I knew I wanted to go to school. In high school I knew I was not mentally or physically ready to join a company, whether that be through a trainee program.

I definitely knew I wanted to go to school. I love academics. I love learning. So that was really important to me. The thing with Butler that really caught my attention was that I felt like it was designed like a trainee program, and it definitely is.

You certainly get your full academic perspective on things when you’re there. But you’re in the studio pretty much all day. You’re in academic classes, but you’re performing a lot, rehearsing a lot. You get exposed to a variety of teachers’ perspective in regards to ballet technique and developing your artistry.

And so for me I really appreciated that because I felt I came out of the program stronger and more confident with what I was looking for in my career. And for that I will be forever grateful. I made amazing friends, and came out of my shell a lot. Overall, I loved it.

Jess: What’s your approach to fueling yourself for dance?

Robyn: I always make sure I eat breakfast. I’m definitely a grazer. I tend to snack throughout the day. It’s partially out of habit with rehearsals and dance, but I’ve also never been a huge eat a big lunch person or anything. But at the end of the day I make sure I eat a big dinner.

Jess: Do you do any cross training?

Robyn: Yeah. I don’t do as much as I would like, just giving living in the city on a budget being a stereotypical struggling artist, it is hard financially to make that work. I definitely try when I can to take yoga, or strength and conditioning.

Anything like that will stabilize my core, continue to maintain my extension. When I can I try to get into some cross fit classes. I love dance cardio, anything in that realm. It’s definitely big for me. Now that I’ve moved apartments, there’s actually a really great gym close to where I’m living. So I just joined that so I can kinda get back into my gym routine as well.

Jess: Where are you taking classes as you’re preparing for this upcoming audition season?

Robyn: So I do the work-study program at Steps on Broadway, so that’s where I typically take classes at just because I’m there all the time and the work-study program helps out a lot with that.

On occasion, I go down to Broadway Dance Center. Those are kinda my two main ones. I haven’t stepped out too much and checked out other studios, but I know that Peridance and Gibney are wonderful alternatives to Steps and BDC.

Jess: Who are your favorite teachers at Steps?

Robyn: I love Heather Hawk. I take her whenever I can. Her barre always sets me up well for center. I always feel relaxed and never embarrassed. Even when I’m frustrated in her class, I never leave the class in a really negative headspace, which is really really important. So her class is definitely up there for me.

I also love Karin Averty’s classes. She was gone for most of the summer, but she’s back for the fall, which I’m really excited about. Her classes I always feel are setting you up for variations. It’s a more stamina-based class. Her barre is really excellent. It’s long, a little more exhaustive than some of the other teachers at Steps, but in a really great way. Those are definitely my two favorites.

Jess: How do you maintain balance now with all of the craziness of the city?

Robyn: So definitely trying to find ways to take time for myself, that’s productive time not – You know it’s just so easy to get into the habit of you come home at the end of the day and just sit and watch Netflix and that’s all you do. So I try when I can to go and do something whether it’s in the evening or if I had a day off from work.

Even if it’s just wandering around Central Park or going out to movie or meeting friends for happy hour, something that is totally separate from the studio and that reminds me that I do live in New York and that there is so much to explore when you’re here.

When you live in the city it’s so easy to beeline it for what you absolutely have to do and kinda forget there are all these things you can check out when you live here. So definitely trying to take advantage of more of those. And just surrounding myself with more things I love to do outside of dance

For example, I do love to cook and bake. For me that’s very cathartic. Even though it’s kinda in my routine, at the end of the day it’s nice being able to go home and cook dinner. It’s nice, it helps me unwind, it’s kinetic energy I’m using that’s not my full body.

Things like that for sure. And of course keeping in touch with my friends from back home and Butler just trying to maintain those connections is so important, especially in New York is a lonely city at times. Just reaching out to the people that know me best, that I know best, and that are there as a support system.

Jess: What are some of the goals you have in dance right now?

Robyn: Right now, this has been an ongoing goal, pretty much since my last semester at Butler; trying to reestablish my sense of confidence in my dancing. It’s been something I’ve been struggling with for quite a while now. It’s jarring for me to deal with because I’m always been so for the most part, I’ve never let myself get too much into my head.

I’m a thinker, so I overthink things and it’s something I’ve had to work on. Especially of late, I’ve been trying to really trust myself more and embrace what I have to offer, what I can bring to the table because a lot of times it’s really easy to so focused in on all of the flaws in my dancing and my artistry instead of identifying those things and working on them without being so self critical.

It definitely does get in my way a lot of the time, being able to make strides in my dancing. And smaller things, I’m really still working on my turning. Right now I’m waves going up and down with my turning. Some days I’m turning really spot on and feel like I’ve gotten a break through and everything feels great. And then all of a sudden I feel like a top that’s just been toppled over. So I’m just really trying to work on that. Long term, hopefully get a company contract, that’s the big picture goal. Yeah, so really trying to get out of my head and turning.

Jess: What accomplishment in dance are you most proud of up until now?

Robyn: See it’s hard when you are constantly criticizing everything, trying to analyze to think of something more positive. Let’s see, I think this is big picture, probably a little surface level, I think just continuing to pursue a career in dance.

Growing up I was very lucky to have great fantastic training and a really big support system, not only from my family but also my teachers, and that has continued. But at the same time, making the conscious decision to go to college, rather than to jump straight into a company without losing sight of my professional aspirations.

After college it would have been very easy not to have a contract after graduation and just be like ok that’s it. So although its hard at times to remind myself of this, but I’m proud of the fact that I’ve kept going with it and I haven’t lost sight of what I really want to do and keep working towards it.

Jess: That’s awesome. I think it can be one of the hardest things when you finish college and you don’t get that contract right away, you have all of those thoughts: gosh I’m old now and I’ve just spent all of this time working on myself and my dancing and why didn’t it materialize right away. What I am I doing? Should I keep doing this?

I think that you should be really proud to continue doing it and remember that the timing of our lives and careers is just different for everyone. I think more and more there are stories of dancers who are in similar positions and it might take a year or two where the opportunity opens up to you…that’s awesome, good for you.

Robyn: Thank you. It’s definitely a game of exercising patience for sure. That’s definitely something that can be hard at times, but I still think it is worth it to do. And as you said, it’s a very individual process too.

Jess: And sometimes too it’s just also the like I said with opportunity, you never know what companies are looking for when. Sometimes it’s a height thing; sometimes it’s just a matter of open positions and whatnot. You have to wait for all of the stars to align.

What does being a whole dancer mean to you?

Robyn: I think being a whole dancer really means, as we were talking before, finding balance. I think finding the balance between pushing yourself and embracing your dedication and your creative process and your focus without looking back and having that perspective on everything.

It really comes down to finding that balance between loving what you do and not letting that almost obsessive passion take over from the real reason why you are a dancer- it’s the fact that you love it. You really want to make sure you are never losing sight of yourself, never losing sight of what your goals are or getting wrapped up in everything else that’s happening because it’s so easy to see where other people’s professional tracks are going or what is the latest diet fad, anything like that. So really finding ways to stay true to yourself, and doing what is healthy from a mental and emotional standpoint, as well as a physical standpoint.

Jess: Any advice you would give to younger dancers or any other aspiring dancers?

Robyn: I don’t know how qualified I would be to give too much advice. I guess I would say: with younger dancers especially, first and foremost, never give up. If you really want it, continue to go for it. Really take advantage of the resources at your disposal, whether that’s your teachers at your studio, your friends

If you get the chance to work with a guest teacher, take a series of master classes, especially with today’s professional dancers, if they are teaching a master class they might not have the time to sit down with each individual student that is taking the master class series, but if you get the opportunity to talk with them or make a connection with them take advantage of it.

I think it’s very important to network especially today with everything social media oriented. Especially for younger dancers today it’s crucial that they remember it’s about their dancing and what they want out of their careers and to not listen to what everyone else is doing with their own personal track, because again it is very individual

So just because someone else is doing this workout regiment or maintaining this diet or what-have-you doesn’t mean that’s what’s best for you. I think especially when you are so caught up in what you want to do professional and especially as you’re growing up it’s really hard not to get caught up in that because you get such intense peer pressure in and out of the studio. I think just anyway you can to maintain perspective on everything and don’t give up, keep working for it.

Jess: That’s great! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

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