drdance

Glad to hear. And I hope the appraisal went well.

Resistance bands are designed for strengthening. Spanner has it spot on - fitness is so individual so exercises need to be 'prescribed' FOR the individual. Check with your DD's teacher, or seek advice from someone who knows their stuff :-)

"Shin splints" don't exist. It's an 'umbrella term' for shin pain which can be caused by all sorts of reasons: tendinitis, stress fractures, periostitis etc etc etc Shimmer has put it well, you need to know what has caused the issue in order to help it get fixed. A lot of these lower limb chronic issues need the underlying cause sorting and it might be biomechanics (alignment) so orthotics might be necessary or it might be something else that needs sorting so physio or podiatrist should be your first port of call!

Ice baths are great for reducing pain, swelling and inflammation. Take care with ibuprofen or any other anti inflammatory meds or painkillers (NSAIDS). Use them only when resting otherwise they mask pain which is a sign something is wrong. If it's a case of 'patching her up' for the appraisal or a performance, as is often the case in dance medicine, pain medication may be needed to get through the appraisal BUT seek advice immediately afterwards and never do it apart from on a one off basis (and even then I would rather it didn't happen but to be fair we all take the odd painkiller to get through something we can't avoid!)

MIDAS is monthly - Birmingham might be a trek but we do get some from Co. Durham!

Just wanted to wish everyone's DC all the very best for the forthcoming assessments and appraisals. Praying for the right outcome for each and every one of you!

I did actually investigate setting up a 'free school'.... The criteria are quite tough, there has to be a genuine demand for education in the vicinity and it cannot be selective in any way....

MIDAS in Birmingham takes students of any age that are wanting to train seriously. We had a student last year who was in her 3rd year at university but wanted a decent class that would allow her to dance at a high level with quality teaching.

Well Discouraged I'll be first to offer teaching / coaching!

Hi, as with any injury when people ask for advice on here I recommend that you visit a sports/dance physiotherapist or a podiatrist asap. In the meantime, plenty of ice (use an ice cube to massage the sore spot) and avoid any weightbearing activity that will put the joint under unnecessary strain, so avoid pointe or anything going onto demipointe (including full plies), as well as all jumps. If standing is causing pain then it might be a good idea to have a couple of days off class completely, and focus on floor barre and other non weight bearing conditioning exercises. A few days off the feet and focusing on core, turnout and technique can actually be a blessing!

Jerwood is very good. Also Sharon Morrison runs her own private business and that serves Elmhurst through BUPA (she's probably working on Dancing on Ice at the moment though). Dance UK healthier dancer programme has a practitioners register with lots of allied healthcare professionals who have chosen to be listed on a dance specific list. If its strengthening or mobility exercises your after cant your teacher help?

Veryskint - Please don't think I was being critical of the classes and training method- it was clearly beneficial for you and must have increased your core muscle endurance to support your back alleviating your pain, which is always brilliant in any situation!

Sorry but I have to laugh, muscles can't turn to fat and then back to muscle again. Muscles can get weak and lose bulk, and a layer of subcutaneous fat may form on top but muscle is protein (aka polypeptides made of small molecules called amino acids) cannot turn into fat (aka lipids which are made from molecules of glycerol and fatty acids). Their chemical structure is totally different. It reminds me of when someone told me, very proudly, that someone who she'd paid a lot of money to had informed her that "her ribs were out" And that was the root of her back pain. My first thought was "where have they gone to?!".

My advice..... Talk to her. Tell her exactly what you wrote here. There's still time as she will be auditioning next year if she does want to go away.

I've had this issue with students going to Freeds in the past - we put it down to swollen feet from lots of walking. If you can unpick the ribbons without it looking like you've done anything to the shoes you should be ok. But if you've darned or glued toe protectors on, or made changes to the shoe through sewing on ribbons etc then it might be more difficult.

Hi everyone, MIDAS is having an open class on April 6th in Birmingham, for prospective students to meet staff and get a flavour of the training on offer. It will be a 1.5hr class with ballet, body conditioning and jazz leaps & turns, and will cost £12. For those unfamiliar with the scheme... classes are aimed at talented students who want to supplement their regular training with technique, fitness and performance training. Classes don't just focus on ballet technique, as we know that the fittest, healthiest and happiest dancers are the most successful! For more information email director@midas-dance.org.uk

Absolutely not! - even professional dancers need to work to maintain their core muscles. And of course during the adolescent years muscles are growing so with increases in size there must be increases in strength, power and endurance.

Core strength is actually the incorrect term used in dance - people really mean good endurance of the core muscles. Dancers need to be able to contract their core muscles (abdominals, intercostals, obliques and back muscles) to stabilise their body over what could be several minutes at a time, while the rest of the body is pulling in all directions. Strength is great at first, but without good muscular endurance it's useless. Pilates is good for focusing attention on the muscles but doesn't usually challenge them in standing positions, (where the effect of gravity is very different) or at the same dynamic intensities that they need to maintain a contraction during jumps, turns and sharper movements.

I don't want to worry you but a hairline fracture of the 5th metatarsal (little toe side) is commonly called 'dancers fracture' and is very common. I would strongly advise you see a chiropodist/podiatrist to get it checked out.

I would say there is no such thing as too flexible AS LONG AS the dancer has strength to control it. Ballet schools require a certain degree of flexibility at the hip, ankle and lower spinal joints but things like not being able to do 'splits' can be overlooked if a dancer has the right joint range of motion (different from muscle length, which can be worked on later). The looser a dancer is, the more trouble they have controlling it (usually) so will need to do a lot of strength training.

As for your frustrations at not knowing why your DD (who is clearly talented and able) didn't get through: I can see both sides of this coin. Sometimes when you are auditioning hundreds of students it is simply not logisitcal to give every single one feedback as to why they were unsuccessful. However I also know how frustrating it is to not have any clue why, especially when others may have almost 'set you up' for success. As for your other point about a lack of respect from the schools etc about how much effort and money and work goes behind every single dancer, well sadly this is a facet of the ballet/dance world (but by no means should it be acceptable). The dancers are pretty much the bottom of the pyramid and when they and others around them work so hard constantly, they tend to only be thanked by means of low wages, brutally exhausting hours and, historically, more verbal criticism than praise. In many upper schools and companies, adult dancers are belittled by being labelled 'boys and girls', and by being talked 'at' rather than involved in their learning/training. While there are some who acknowledge that this is unacceptable and needs to change, the majority are, it appears, of a mentality that "it worked for them so this is how it is". It is something that for some reason really irritates me! Particularly as it's common sense to a lot of people that in any line of work, if you are happy and feel respected and valued, you are more likely to perform better! A young dancer (and their support network) needs to be very resilient!

Just as an 'FYI' moment - MIDAS will take students of any age (realistically); last year we had a student who was studying at Warwick university who had danced to a very high level before that and wanted to take classes somewhere that would still challenge her.

That looks brilliant!

Starting pointe late is not necessarily a hindrance, in my opinion. I feel that a late pointe starter can catch up quickly if the rest of their technique and strength is good. I would rather someone start pointe a bit later, to be honest. Of course if you a looking for a professional career you'd need to catch up to quite an advanced level by aged 16, but I wouldn't say it's impossible.

Sometimes pain in the wrist can be growth related - I used to have really painful wrists, inexplicably so, during adolescence. When do her wrists hurt? Unless you're doing a lot of acrobatic or gymnastic work I wouldn't worry about strengthening them. As for ankles, you can never do too many rises... They are one of the best conditioning exercises I know (done properly, of course). Teachers are expert at being able to tell when you're strong enough to go onto pointe, and its not always to do with just the ankles.