Improving Low Arches

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

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 This week I am discussing a topic that has been very prominent in my ballet life: flat feet.

Feet are a very big deal when it comes to ballet. They complete the leg line and look so pretty in pointe shoes. That is, for people with naturally normal to high arches.

I have what are called Flexible Flat Feet. There is an arch in my foot when there is no weight on it, but when standing it is flat. I struggled with the appearance of my feet (standing and pointing) until about age 27 when Abby helped me concentrate on finding their full potential. Now I am okay with my feet and sometimes I even like them! ;)

In this video I share some tips that helped me improve the strength and flexibility in my feet. The best thing is, I hardly spent any time outside of ballet class working on my feet, so this video is really about being aware of the opportunities that are provided in class to concentrate on your feet.

If you are struggling with low arches I hope this video will give you something to look forward to working on in your next class!


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Yes, Imperfect Bodies Can Dance

Saturday, September 6, 2014

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I was teaching a group of 10 year olds yesterday, and was talking to them about turnout. I explained that I, personally, have very little rotation and circumduction in my hips, so I had to learn to work in a way that allowed me to use the correct muscles and as much turnout as possible in the correct way. As I looked around that room of absolutely beautiful children - some extremely talented, I told them that traditionally only the best bodies were chosen for ballet. Only the ones that already had the rotation and circumduction, along with a host of other things. Most of us in that room would not have made the cut (mainly me!).

A few days before I had been in one of my own classes, and was doing a stretch for my hips. While others had their knees falling to the floor, mine were no where near. My teacher that day commented that it is interesting about me that I have so little of that flexibility, yet it doesn't show in my a la seconde. And for that, I have to thank my training for teaching how to use what I have.

Sometimes I get a little too down on myself, saying that I had very little natural ability. I do have some natural ability for dance, and could never have achieved what I did without it. However, I have a lot of things I have to fight, and because I have attained a fairly high level, it's not always obvious what I have had to overcome. So when I get a correction about turnout, I have to be gentle with myself. When I am told I am rushing the music, I have to remember that once upon a time I could barely pick up combinations. Now, I tend to rush because I do remember the combination, but until I am really confident in it, I get driven to the next step, next step; instead of thinking about my musicality. Sometimes I tense up and get stiff, but that's ok because mentally I have to think about 50 things at once to keep up. It's not always that way, but sometimes it is. It's strange to think that there are people out there that don't have to think about all those things at once because it happens naturally for them. But, that's me. I'm imperfect. And guess what? I still get to dance!!!

There are ways to teach imperfect body types. Check out http://www.ballet4everybody.com/, which teaches teachers how to train dancers with different abilities. Without having learned from someone who had gone through this training, I would never have achieved what I have with dance. Most likely, I would have ended up injured, frustrated, and burned out. I probably would never have become interested in teaching because I couldn't figure things out for myself. Now that I am using these methods to teach, I feel like I have so much more of an understanding of what students are or are not doing to make movement happen.

Don't get me wrong, I love to watch an ideal body type perform ballet in an ideal way. But, I also love to see different body types, and how they use their differences. More than anything, I am grateful to live in a place, and a day and time, where I got the chance to dance despite my imperfections. And I think it is my imperfections that make me the teacher I am, because I did have to learn how to dance.
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New Video! Abby's Ab Workout!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

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We are so excited to share this requested video with you all today! When Abby was my instructor, we would do an ab workout in between barre and center work. We all got such strong cores, which greatly improved our dancing and our overall quality of movement!

So, here it is for you to do too! Abby suggests doing the workout three times a week, and it's light enough to do daily once you get used to it.

The video is follow along style and has music included, but please feel free to mute it and play your own motivating jams! Enjoy! :)




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Dancing Outside My Comfort Zone

Monday, September 1, 2014

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Last weekend I did something non-ballet: I took a Contemporary master class at a local new dance studio. It's been two years since I've taken any other dance class other than ballet, and for some reason I thought this was going to be a joyous and easy piece of cake. Ballet is harder than any other kind of dance, right?! That's what I always tell myself. But the complete opposite happened: I struggled. And I haven't felt that way in a dance class in a very long time. It was humbling.

Krista Johnson was our guest teacher. I had not heard of her before, but I don't think that says too much about her credibility! We started with about a 10 minute warm-up and stretch. By the end of this I was already feeling sore! Granted, I have been on summer break from ballet for three weeks and I'm just getting over my hip flexor tendonitis so I really shouldn't be so surprised at my soreness :)

After our stretch I thought we would get right into choreography, but no: we did improv exercises across the floor! The last time I did improv was at a convention in Dallas in the 9th grade...all those feelings of teenage anxiety came bubbling up, but I thought "I'm an adult. I can handle this". We were given different instructions for each section (for example: keep 3 limbs on the ground at all times, make every movement a circle, there's a magnet on the other side of the room but you don't want to be pulled in) so I was thankful for that, but when it was my turn to go, my mind went blank. I couldn't let go and just move or come up with different ways to move. I dance silly around my house every day, why couldn't I do this?! I had never wanted my ballet class back so badly in my life.

But you know what? I survived. Sure I wasn't good, but it wasn't a competition. Krista kept reminding us that there was no right or wrong with these exercises, which was comforting for me to hear. But I still like to be right! ;)

Once we got through the improv exercises we started learning choreography. I was so happy to hear that we would be dancing to a Sam Smith song - his cover of Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" (look it up on YouTube if you haven't heard it. It's beautiful!). At this point it occurred to me that it's also been two years since I've attempted to learn choreography to anything other than ballet. I have always felt like picking up choreography is one of my strengths - even in jazz or contemporary - but I guess because it's been a few years my brain was having a hard time keeping up. I was working so hard just to keep up with the order of the steps that I never had a chance to really dance. I reminded myself that non-ballet dancers feel this way about combos in ballet class, so I shouldn't expect myself to just be awesome with no experience. Dance has a way of bringing out the competitor in me, so I have to ease up on myself sometimes!

I wanted to share this experience with you all because it made me realize that for those new to ballet, this is how you probably feel in class. It is so overwhelming, but I want to encourage you to keep going. If you're coming back to ballet after a hiatus and find that it's not as easy as you remember, don't give up. Don't sideline yourself when you get uncomfortable (as adults we are allowed to do things like that!). Know that you're not alone if you're feeling like a hot mess! It will get better! :)

Me (far right) with Krista Johnson (middle) and the group from the Contemporary master class.

This week I returned back to my ballet comfort zone. I happily dragged my oh-so-sore body to the barre :)

Do you have any experiences that took you outside your dance comfort zone? How did you handle it? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section!

- Jana
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