Why Dancers need Pilates

"It takes an athlete to dance but, an artist to be a dancer."

This is one of my favourite dancing quotes because it's essentially so true! Despite the misconception that dance is "easy" professional dancers are athletes, they train for a minimum of eight hours a day and that excludes all their cross training and active recovery needs, so this leads me into today's blog post. Why should all dancers practice the principles of Pilates?

Injury prevention and rehabilitation

I personally started Pilates for this very reason, for years I'd suffered with injury after injury and never quite got the recovery I needed, until I discovered the magic of Pilates. Pilates has grown in popularity over the years and particularly in the dancer world due, to it aiding in injury prevention and rehabilitation. Being physical 24/7 is extremely demanding on one's body, as a dancer you are expected to reach new limits with your body everyday and injuries are not an uncommon occurrence. As a dancer it is important to maintain your physical strength even during an injury and this is where Pilates comes into play, Pilates helps dancers keep their normal muscle tone, core strength and flexibility while still protecting their injury, as it is a low-impact movement. The plus side to dancers in-cooperating Pilates into their training regime is that it will prevent these injuries by strengthening supportive muscles and correcting imbalances.

Long lines and lean muscle

Dancers are praised for their ability to contort their bodies into all sorts of shapes and sizes but, more importantly their use of line. As a dancer you are taught the importance of creating long lines with your body and how this can make you appear taller or seam to jump higher, much like the magicians dancers use the use of lines and lean muscles as an illusion, to create the magical shapes you see on stage, after all they need to be able to tell the story with their bodies. Having lean muscle is so important to a dancer, I remember starting at the gym and having one of my dance teachers stop me after class and asking me why I'd been "bulking" up and what I was doing, not to mention it was the same teacher that had told me I needed to gain muscle as I was too skinny and wasn't strong enough. This was another reason Pilates called my name, I'd heard how so many dancers were gaining strength from it without the fear of "bulking." In fact it's one of the main focuses of the method, creating lengthening in the muscles. Another bonus is that Pilates has a lot of movements that focus on the leg muscles being turned out or strengthening the muscles used to increase hip and joint mobility, which benefits many styles of dance, especially ballet.

Coordination

Coordination is a learnt skill and like any skill practice makes perfect. This is one of the main Principles in Pilates as you're taught to coordinate your movements with your breath, which again is essential to a dancer. It may look like a dancer has all the energy in the world but, those thirty two fouettes at the end of Swan Lake take a lot of stamina, breath and coordination have a big role to play in that iconic dance sequence.

Balanced Flexibility with Strength

This may not be something important, especially for dancers but, Pilates gives dancers functional flexibility by performing dynamic movements that help lengthen and stretch the muscles as well as, creating mobility in the joints.

Core Strength

Pilates creates core strength in those deep muscles below those "six pack" muscles. These transverse abdominal muscles are super important in keeping your lower back from taking on any excess strain. I know you'd think being a dancer that you'd automatically have a strong core, that's what I thought as well! Sorry to burst you bubble but, I was just as shocked to discover after all the years of dancing my core was almost non-existent. Just think about it did you ever feel your abs hurt after a dance class? Core strength is so important as it is also what aids dancers with their stability and balance.