| A strong body and having strength is very | | | | have to be worked constantly, by being |
| important in your ballet dancing. Having strength is | | | | lengthened and then contracted. Dancers have to |
| more than the ability to pick up heavy weights, it | | | | visualize lifting up their abdominals in order to keep |
| is more a sum of your energy. Strength in your | | | | then strong and support the lower back. |
| body defines your presence, enables and | | | | As a ballet dancer, your strength is the key to |
| empowers you. | | | | power, endurance and control. Take a grande jete |
| A body without strength won't be able to hold | | | | for instance. To get it looking effortless takes a |
| itself up, let alone move with grace. Having a | | | | tremendous amount of muscular strength. Most |
| strong and flexible body will also guard you against | | | | ballet dancers aren't particularly interested in |
| injury. | | | | developing large bulky muscles, and are |
| As with stretching, the process of getting a | | | | continuously striving for a streamlined look. This is |
| stronger body requires putting your muscles | | | | gained by doing exercises that work with the |
| through their various paces using mental as well | | | | weight and force of their bodies against the push |
| as physical focus. When you do a specific | | | | and pull of gravity. |
| exercise, you must learn to actively engage your | | | | Strengthening broken down is the shortening and |
| attention to the exercise at hand and how your | | | | then contracting of the muscles. This is |
| body is responding. This approach will give you | | | | codependent on stretching, and your muscles will |
| better results than haphazardly running through | | | | be healthiest when you balance strength and |
| the exercises. The way that you visualize a | | | | stretching. A lot of this combining happens during |
| movement has a profound effect on its | | | | the course of your classes. When you do a |
| execution. It helps to think of mental images to | | | | grande battement for example, you strengthen |
| get the technique of an exercise right. For | | | | the quads and at the same time stretch the |
| instance if a dancer is stretching her leg, she | | | | hamstrings. While one muscle group relaxes, the |
| doesn't just think 'stretch my leg.' She imagines | | | | other contracts. |
| her leg is growing longer and extending up to the | | | | If you do frequent and careful stretches within |
| heavens. This can make the difference to the | | | | your strengthening routine, you not only gain |
| way the leg looks from looking stunted and stiff, | | | | flexibility, you will also starve off injury and |
| to looking long, elegant and elongated. | | | | increase your ability to respond quickly and |
| A lot of your body strength comes from your | | | | efficiently to the demands of classical ballet. |
| abdominal muscles and your core. These muscles | | | | |