Over the years I’ve discovered that different dance studios have varying approaches to stretching. While most do require dancers to stretch, more often than not they ask students to do so prior to actually dancing and the amount of stretching done varies considerably. In all cases, the stretching almost always gets done when the dancer’s body is cold. Plus, teachers’ knowledge base about anatomy, flexibility, injuries, and good exercise habits tends to be…well…less than I’d expect, especially at the professional division levels.
Julian has seen the affects of this on his body. Recently, a visit to the acupuncturist—a Chinese doctor who is himself a decathlete and specializes in sports medicine—set Julian straight on his pre-ballet stretching regime. Since we went to New York City last summer for his summer intensive at American Ballet Theatre, he’s been stretching for at least 15 minutes prior to taking class. He saw all the 'serious dancers' doing this—including many of the professionals when we would go to Steps on Broadway, a popular place to take high-level dance classes of all types. All the girls at his current ballet school in San Francisco do this as well.
The acupuncturist, however, told him that a minor issue he was having with his Achilles tendon was caused from stretching while he was cold. The solution? Warm up first! Run, jump rope, spend time on a stationary bicycle—do something to get the body warm.
When he saw a Hilot massage therapist recently for a pulled gluteus maximus muscle and described his typical stretching and warm up routine, the masseuse told him the same thing: warm up before stretching. 'Go jog slowly around the parking lot or the studio before you do any stretching,' he recommended.
The exception to this rule comes in ballet class where time spent at the barre at the beginning of class actually serves as a warm up. Most ballet teachers will give students a chance to stretch prior to going to center to do exercises. However, a good long stretch—maybe even a formal stretching time with instruction—would probably be best and serve the dancers well.
Stretching at the end of class also is optimal and accomplishes much more—and does less damage—than at the start of class. However, I see so few teachers taking advantage of this time with their students. When I think back over the thousands of hours of class Julian has taken with the numerous teachers, I can think of only one or two who used this time for stretching—if that. Most simply said, 'Okay, thank you!' and released the class. When he was younger, many used it as a five-minute cool down period with a little bit of what could be called stretching.
As dance students get older, though, and more serious about their dancing—like Julian, who is 16 and dances hard six or seven days a week—it becomes all the more important for teachers to instill in them good stretching habits. They are not always motivated to do it on their own after several hours of class or rehearsal.
Today when Julian and I left the same acupuncturists office, the doctor gave Julian a particular stretch to open up his hips and stretch his lower back, which is always really tight and inhibits his flexibility. An apprentice acupuncturist who happened to be there, too—who also happened to be a yoga instructor, offered him two yoga poses to use as back stretches. (Needless to say, Julian could hardly do any of these three without difficulty.) These three tips will probably help him not only improve his flexibility but also avoid injury. His pulled gluteus maximus muscle was caused, in part, by the tightness in his lower back and legs.
Dance instructors need to be educated about the body and how to help it perform optimally so they can help their dancers with stretching and flexibility. At Julian’s last studio, the owner/director was a Pilates instructor. Each week the students did a Pilates class. This helped Julian’s flexibility and core strength tremendously. At American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive, he had to take a yoga class once a week. It would behoove all studio owners to consider not only offering these classes to their students but requiring them of their professional division students.
If the studios aren’t going to take it upon themselves to do so, then their teachers should get trained in good stretching techniques and implement them in class. They should know how and when students should stretch, just like they should know how to position a dancer’s body for ballet or when they should begin wearing pointe shoes. This will ensure that the dancers they turn out will be less injury-prone and, therefore, longer careers.