Do you need to cross-train if dancing is your real passion?

Abstract

Do you need to cross-train if dancing is your real passion? Only if you want to improve stamina, strength, and performance skills—and to deal with stress along the way by Laura Hanlon All my life I have been an extremely active and physically fit person, and despite my love for dance, I know I will always yearn for more in the way of movement. Is it necessary? I find it crucial to take part in other forms of exercise to remain in good health both physically and mentally. Being healthy is especially important for dancers, because we use our entire body as our instrument and means of artistic expression. According to the Dance Fitness article featured in the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science monthly magazine, “Good fitness is key to reducing the risk of injury, enhancing performance, and ensuring longer dancing careers. A healthy dancer is one who is in a state of being ‘well’ in both body and mind. A physically fit dancer is one who has the ability to meet the demands of a specific physical task at an optimal level.” In order to meet all of these demands it is important to find the ideal form of cross-training that works best for you and your own body and its needs. Allison Gomes, a Certified Pilates and yoga instructor who graduated from the University of California, Irvine with her Bachelor of Arts in 2006, states, “I believe there are two main functions that cross-training in any sport or activity serves. The first is to enhance and increase the skills required for the activity [in this case dance], and the second is to counteract the imbalances or areas of the body that are left vulnerable or weak from the activity.” Lauren Warnecke, a dance writer and educator with both Dance (BA) and Kinesiology (MS) degrees, compares cross-training to eating a balanced diet in her article, Is Cross-training A Good Idea? stating, “For maximal health, you need a healthy balance of strength, endurance, and agility- based activities just like vegetable, grains, and proteins in the diet.” While I enjoy a diverse regimen of physical activity, I feel very strongly about a few types that I practice on a weekly basis, including Pilates, yoga, and running. Each of these forms of conditioning exercise offers a different benefit for the mind and body. First, although the Pilates Method has grown over the years into a major phenomenon, this somatic practice has actually been around since the early twentieth century. Pilates offers a movement experience especially attractive to dancers due to its therapeutic, low-impact approach. I have found that Pilates dramatically helped me to strengthen various parts of my body and visibly enhance my muscle tone and definition without adding bulk. It has also increased my flexibility, promoted a balance of working my body evenly, and has provided me with ways to work through minor injuries. Both Allison Gomes and Barbra Bean, former dancers and now Pilates teachers at Studio du Corps/Pilates Center of Orange County, mentioned the excessive amount of external rotation in the hips, hip flexion, and back extension that most dance techniques require, as well as the imbalance of the lower body versus upper body and core activity. Pilates works to foster correct parallel alignment and upper body strength, which greatly helps to counter the disproportionate tendencies in dance. Dance training in general, and more specifically the rehearsal process, can be extremely asymmetrical. Gomes states, “It is so important to cross-train in a way that brings