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Pilates Aids Professional Dancer

Pilates does a dancer good; look at those gorgeous, open shoulders!

Dance and Pilates have had a strong relationship since Joseph Pilates began teaching his technique in New York City in the 1920s. Pilates training can help dancers avoid injuries and improve their technique with its focus on strong but flexible muscles, breath, and core strength.  Although dance in and of itself is a great form of exercise, classes do not always perfectly prepare the body for the demands of performance and can often leave some muscle groups over worked, and others neglected and weak.  Pilates training can make a huge difference in a dancer’s performance ability and even help her/him stay in shape during the off season.

Professional dancer, Erica Day, knows first hand the benefits of Pilates for dance as it has helped her through injuries, improve her dance technique, and train as an aerial dancer! In this interview, Erica lets us know first hand just how much Pilates has helped her in her blossoming career!

Q: How long have you been dancing?

A: I have been dancing since the age of 3! At 4 it was about 2 hours a week and of course, as I got older the training became more and more serious. By the time I reached high school age I was taking over 20 hours of dance per week.

Q: Tell us about your experience as a professional dancer

A: I worked for Celebrity Cruise lines as a dancer for a 6 months, travelling in Europe and then the Caribbean. After that I moved to NYC for the International Student Visa Program (ISVP) at Broadway Dance Center. It was a great year to meet people and study new things. While in NYC I was given the opportunity to perform as a back up dancer for recording artists Sir Ari Gold and Lily Halpern, opening for the tour Waitin4U featuring teenage heartthrobs Cody Simpson and Greyson Chance. For the past year I have been employed with Norwegian Cruise line as Dancer, Dance Captain and Aerialist. Those contracts have taken me to Alaska, Panama Canal, Egypt, Israel, Turkey , all over the Mediterranean and all over the Caribbean. It has been an amazing time and I’m so excited about what the future brings!

Q: When did you start doing Pilates?

A: When I entered the International Student Visa Program at Broadway Dance Center, they offered Mat Pilates, which I started to take about twice a week.

Q: Did you start Pilates to rehab an injury?

A: When I was about 18-22 I would have these “episodes” where my knees would give out and my pelvis would shift out of alignment and I’d be on my stomach on the floor unable to stand up. At one point, I had an X-Ray done and my pelvis was way out of alignment, tilted forward 40 degrees! Obviously not a great thing for a dancer who needs to be able to dance, shift weight, and balance all day. I saw many doctors and no one really knew why it was happening but chalked it up to me not having a strong enough core or knowing how to use it properly. It was then that I realized, I can really focus in on what it means to work from my core or I can continue on the way I am and probably not be able to dance in a few years. I chose to focus with Pilates.

Q: What do you enjoy about Pilates

A: I enjoy knowing that my body is getting realigned as the class goes on in a safe manner, I love the low impact but difficulty of the moves, I love feeling the burn and having the parts I’m working on shake and I love how it shapes my body. It’s also a great way to get me connected to my breath!

Q: Absolutely, breath is so important in maintaining stamina in dance, and life! Have you felt a difference in your dancing since starting Pilates?

A: Practicing Pilates has definitely made me stronger and more aware of my body at all times. It has given me a better sense of alignment and awareness which makes some of the more challenging aspects of my performance happen with more ease.

Q: Do you think Pilates has helped you avoid injuries?

A: MOST DEFINITELY! I started the reformer last year and took a handful of privates and classes right before I was called from Norwegian Cruiseline to fly immediately to Toronto to train in aerial dancing, including Spanish Web and Bungee. You need to have the strongest core to really execute the tricks safely and in a 7 month period I stayed completely injury free! As a person who suffered from lower back injuries consistently in my late teens to early 20s, that was a huuuuge feat. Without the Pilates background who knows what could have happened.

Q: In your opinion, why is Pilates a great compliment to dancing

A: From an esthetic point of view, Pilates shaped and toned my body like no other exercise program has, including lifting weights, running, and Yoga. My lines became leaner and longer. My ankles actually became stronger!

Q: Has Pilates helped you become a more proficient dancer?

A: Unfortunately as a young girl no one really talked to me about how important my core is. So here I was whipping out all of these difficult tricks without an understanding of safety and where movement comes from. Now when I dance, I know to engage my lower core and “zip everything up” creating a really strong safe casing around my abdomen and lower back area. It’s starting to become second nature and I find when my balance is unsteady, I just think about laying down on the reformer or floor and “zipping” everything up. When I focus on that I can hold things for days. Pilates has really helped my control and added a calmness to my dancing. There is no need to be frantic because I know my core is there for me. 

Thank you to Erica for sharing her experience with Pilates and dance! If you are interested in learning more about how Pilates can help you avoid injuries and improve your performance, contact hayley@betterbodybuffalo.com!

 

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Pilates Exercise: Knee Folds

Photo via nocpilates.com

Knee folds are a component of the Pilates Fundamentals, which means they are a great tool for teaching beginners important concepts that will help them advance through their Pilates practice. Knee folds also help you find and work your deep core muscles while allowing you to feel how your legs can move while keeping your pelvis and torso completely stable. Additionally, knee folds teach moving without tension and maintaining length through the spine. In order to stabilize your pelvis and minimize tension during knee folds and other Pilates exercises, you must engage all of your powerhouse muscles from the abdominals and glutes to your inner thighs, pelvic floor and hip rotators. This exercise really allows you to engage all of those muscles to do just the right amount of work, teaching efficiency and movement without tension.

How they’re done
Knee folds are a very simple exercise:
• Lay on your back with your legs bent, feet on the mat, feet lined up with the middle of your hip.
• Find a neutral spine position, maintaining the natural curves of your spine.
• Keep the spine stable as you exhale, pull the belly button in to the back, and float one leg into a tabletop position (90 degree angle at the knee).
• Return the leg to starting position and repeat with the other leg.
• Continue alternating legs, exhaling on the lift, inhaling to return.

Why I love ‘em
What I really love about knee folds is that they are great for ALL clients, from first timer to expert. With the right variations, knee folds can be a huge challenge, and for everyone they engage the transversus abdominus muscle, instantly narrowing the waist and increasing your core strength and stability. Creating a deep fold in the hip socket while keeping the pelvis stable is a great core stability challenge and lesson in efficient movement.

Helpful hints:
• Engage your abdominals to bring your leg up.
• Think of your leg floating into tabletop position to keep the work out of the leg.
• Do not let your pelvis tuck as the leg comes up, maintain space between your lower back and the mat.
• BREATHE! Exhale to engage the abdominals and lift, inhale as you lower

Kick it up a notch:
• Try the knee folds while lying on a roller for an extra core stability challenge.
• Add a cervical curl (like a crunch) as you lift your leg.
• Once you find your core and build up strength try lifting two legs at once for a double knee fold.
• Try it while sitting on a physioball!

Be well!

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Pilates for Dancers

As a dance teacher I see dancers injure themselves, complain of aches and pains, and stress about their lack of flexibility, or upper body strength, or trouble balancing or any other “issue” from a list that every dancer keeps about their own dance performance.  Unfortunately, dance training can lead to imbalances in muscular strength and flexibility and may not address the “issues” or causes of injury that many dancers suffer. For example, a student who needs help developing ankle strength to avoid sprains and strains may not get that extra training from a typical schedule of dance classes.

That’s where Pilates supplemental training can make a huge difference for dancers.  Pilates provides core strength, increased flexibility, and most importantly a balanced musculature for injury prevention.  But there’s more; dance can make a huge impact on dancers’ performance at all levels.  Dance students and performers at all ages and levels can benefit from even just 1 hour of supplemental Pilates training per week.  Here are five ways dancers can benefit from Pilates:

1. Toned, Strong Muscles without Bulk

Pilates supports the dance aesthetic by strengthening and toning muscles while also elongating and slimming them.  The focus on the deep, intrinsic muscles of the body help to pull muscle into the bone, creating a slimmer frame but providing the strength and endurance a dancer needs each muscle to have.

2. Core Strength

There’s more to core strength than having flat abs.  The holistic core strength-upper abs, lower abs, obliques, and back-that Pilates provides helps dancers with balance and so much more.  Pilates offers core strength in the deep muscles below those famous “six pack” abdominals that allows the core to take over when the limbs want to move. This helps protect the back from injury and allows a quicker response time and movement efficiency.  Dancers can move around with ease, go off-balance and find their center without having to think about it when they do Pilates training.

3. Flexibility BALANCED with Strength

Pilates gives dancers flexibility in a different way than standard stretching for dance classes.  Dancers who do Pilates will gain more functional flexibility by performing dynamic movements that help lengthen and stretch muscles and create mobility in the joints.  The flexibility gained from Pilates is also balanced by strengthening that does not shorten the muscles so flexibility is not sacrificed, yet the muscle stays strong to prevent injury.

4. Improved Joint Alignment

Because the balanced strength and flexibility, movement efficiency, and joint mobility that inherently result from Pilates, dancers benefit from improved alignment of the hip, knee, and ankle joint.  This will improve balance and performance capabilities and vastly decrease the likelihood of injury.

5. Treatment of Injuries

If injury does occur, Pilates is an incredibly useful tool to speed recovery and help dancers stay “in shape” while they are rehabilitating.  Pilates can treat lower back pain and injuries, plantar fascitis, tendonitis, muscle strains and sprains, and much more. Many dancers find Pilates when looking for a way to treat an injury and get hooked for life.

 

Contact Hayley if you are interested in private Pilates specifically for dance or a Pilates class for dancers.

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