drdance

Any physio supplies website will be a good starting point. The majority of those bought by physiotherapists for use in their clinics and rehab rooms will be fine. Can you ask your physio where they get theirs from?

I think the most important point to make here regarding this issue is QUALITY training over quantity. Dancing all day every day is not the answer. Those working in the field of dance science are particularly interested in this topic at the moment - essentially how to best utilise the time available to young dancers and this absolutely includes physical and mental rest. Once upon a time technique class was the be-all and end-all and everyone insisted that there was a certain format for a ballet class (barre, centre, pirouettes, adage, petit allegro and grande allegro) and that every element must be trained every single day. However, we're starting to be brave enough to consider that not everything needs to be trained every day, and in fact there may be benefits to mixing things up a bit! In sport this is known as periodization and any athlete or sportsperson, of any level, will know that training sessions will focus on a different element each time. What I'm attempting to get at in a round-about way here is that it is completely 100% possible to prepare a young dancer for entry to upper school at age 16 as long as their training is carefully planned, to address all aspects of a dancers performance (not just the technical). But it's not simply about 'getting enough classes'.

This is a great article - thank you for sharing!

Hi, I'd definitely recommend seeing the physio at school, or someone suitable outside of school who could help. It's not easy to give exercises without seeing someone in person. Where are you based in the country? I'm happy to give an independent assessment if you would like.

There are no quick fixes for this! Lots of strengthening work on that leg, paying attention to good form and technique. Keep it low and work to increase the height over time. Try floor based exercises, PBT exercises etc.

Congratulations!!!! I really hope you get some funding - best of luck! Xxx

Morton's neuroma was the first thing that came to my mind when I read where the pain was originally.... a good sports physio will be able to help with this - but it really could be anything and I'd really recommend seeing someone asap. How old are you? and where are you?

RR is not a physio but she's fairly well-known person in the Dance Medicine and Science field, particularly in how to take recommendations and ideas that come from DM&S research and integrating them into teaching and training. This article is an example of this http://www.4dancers.org/2014/06/integrating-best-practices-from-dance-medicine-and-science-to-the-faculty-of-a-professional-dance-conservatoire/. She is also involved with Safe In Dance International (SiDI) and the safe dance teaching qualifications, although I heard a few years ago that all of the staff at Tring failed to pass the course (!)

I did not mean to be critical of any individual post - everyone here comments with the same well-meaning intentions however injuries in young dancers, aren't the same as injuries in teenagers or adults, and lots of information regarding the child (not limited to, but including PMH, growth, hours of dance, hypermobility, current strength and fitness levels, mechanism of injury, current health level etc) needs to be taken into consideration. Potential injuries can be scary things, especially if Dr Google gets involved (we've all done it!) and few well-meaning suggestions can sometimes appear alarming, and before you know it you've convinced yourself it's something hideous requiring hours of surgery when actually it was merely a tweak or a twinge. If in doubt - see a professional, and go armed with all the facts. I'm pleased to hear that the young man in question is now pain free (in spite of the virus - I hope he's back to his normal bouncy self soon!) and wish him the best of luck with the upcoming audition!

While well meaning, suggestions of a possible cause of the injury (hip flexor, labrum tear etc) can be alarming and so MotoMum I would advise against thinking the worst until you've seen a professional. Any mention of pins & needles makes me think that there is nerve involvement so it may be that he did something in the class that caught a nerve and due to his age, it's likely that he's had a growth spurt recently and some shortening of muscles can happen then. Tight /short muscles can catch nerves every now and again so it might be something as innocent as that. But definitely see a professional asap!

It is true sadly that the majority of people believe that pre-school classes are easy to teach because there's "no ballet" involved except for maybe standing in first position. This isn't true - a good pre-school teacher who is well qualified and good with that age group is worth their weight in gold! What is more damaging I think is when pre-school classes are taught by teachers who want to create mini prodigies as seen on the internet. This is when damage to posture/technique/turnout etc is caused, because children aged 3-4 should not be learning ballet movements except simple, basic gross motor skills (walking, running, jumping) using the imagination etc.

I'd second the recommendation for Chantry Dance in Grantham. It shares its studios with a 'normal' (ie evening/weekend) dance school and I know that they have a fantastic teaching faculty, including male teachers.

Ah! - this is much more of a useful response to me :D It is not the quads predominantly that you need to strengthen in order to lift your legs above 90 degrees. They do play a part, for sure, but as others have said on here, the core (iliopsoas) and the hip flexors, sartorius and adductors, glutes etc Plus, the deep 6 hip rotators also need strength to assist. As a rule, if you find a movement hard (eg leg lift above 90 degrees) you can train for it using the 3 types of muscle contractions. You can do an isometric contraction (ie a hold) so have something or someone assist you to lift your leg to the desired height and then try to hold it there. The second type of contraction is eccentric, and this is so useful. By slowly lowering the leg (as slow as you can) from the high point down to closing, you can strengthen the muscles that are involved in lifting. The third type of contraction is concentric, and this is the action of lifting the leg from 1st or 5th up as high as you can, quite slowly. In my opinion the easiest to do is the eccentric. Start with 5-8 reps of these on each leg every day or every other day and you'll notice an improvement fairly quickly. Then add in the other types. I should add that it is absolutely essential to make sure you are being strict with your technique - straight and lengthened body (pelvis neutral; try to eliminate any curve in your lower back but don't overdo it and tuck under), engage abdominal muscles, transfer your weight over the standing food and feel lifting up out of your supporting hip whilst trying to keep your hip bones (pelvis) as level as possible, and work to keep your legs as turned out as possible. A common fault is losing turnout on lifted legs, as they get higher. If your technique cannot be maintained then reduce the height of the leg until you get stronger. There is no benefit in strengthening poor technique as it makes life a lot harder to correct and you'll have to redo all your strength work. Please feel free to PM me if you have questions or if you are unsure of what to do to help!

I disagree wholeheartedly with this, and I am sure that any strength and conditioning specialist who works with dancers would also do so. In my opinion, some good quads exercises you can do that will fully support dance, including ballet, are squats and lunges. It is a common misconception that strength in the quads is not important in ballet; if this is correct then why do dancers at RB and other high profile companies now train quads using squats, lunges etc? Deadlifts are also very useful but they train the back of the legs as well as the quads. However - rather than looking at a particular body part/area and thinking that it needs to be stronger, it may be more helpful to consider what area of your dancing you want to improve (eg jump height, leg height/control in adage etc) because it's easier to 'prescribe' exercises for a specific purpose. When you talk about wanting to strengthen turnout, do you mean standing leg turnout or turnout on a gesture leg? (also known as the working leg, although I hate this term because the standing leg works just as hard!) - the exercises I would prescribe would be different depending on the answer to this question.

Is your daughter at vocational school? Are you in the UK? If the answer to these questions is yes then it will be difficult to talk to your DD's ballet teacher. However, if the answer is yes then she will also have access (hopefully) to at least a good dance physio and/or strength coach. Something in your post makes me think that you're not in the UK, though which makes my advice different so please let us know where you are. Thanks

There are some really good things that your DD can do to help her build strength if you're really worried about her, but pilates isn't necessarily one of them! As other parents have already said, there's probably nothing to worry about and her strength will develop with age and physical maturity.

Eeeek! Who did you see in the end? I’m afraid I can’t comment on the healing of a labrum tear other than to say take it very seriously. For other followers on the thread who don’t know what this is - the labrum is a bit of cartilage that goes around the edge of the hip socket. When the labrum tears, sometimes the torn bit gets a bit loose and can catch in the joint. Hip labrum tears are quite common in professional ballet dancers of a certain age due to wear and tear, but this is an injury that sadly is becoming more and more common in adolescent dancers as they strive for the ‘instagram-trendy’ extreme flexibility. I wish your DD a thorough recovery and hopefully she’ll be back dancing soon.

There’s been lots of research recently on early specialisation in sport and findings indicate there are risks including higher injury, psychological stress & ill health, and a greater drop-out rate. To my knowledge no similar research exists in dance although it should!

I know there are some adult ballet courses out there but can anyone tell me if there are residential summer schools for adult dancers? Thanks

You could brush/dab on black liquid dye in the same way people brush/dab on calamine BUT make sure that the shoe doesn’t get wet otherwise the shoe is compromised

His mum isn’t a ballet mum at all so she’s not really bothered, she’s quite happy to not have to trek to Birmingham every weekend! I don’t know if it’s height per se but proportions - my lad is long in the body. Yes it was Birmingham

It was a No for my pupil - I thought he was a little tall perhaps for RBS but he has so much potential and stunning legs and feet. Hopefully he's not too upset.

MIDAS auditions are this Sunday but we can still add one or two people if you’re keen.

Depends where you are in the country but there are lots of supplementary training programmes available nowadays. Can you let us know where you are willing to travel?

While we're on the topic of CPD - lets not forget that an unqualified person can open a dance school where no exams are taken. This "teacher" has no obligation, other than moral, to undertake any further CPD, ever. Secondly, while the major examining bodies have CPD requirements, lets also not forget that there is no requirement for child protection training. CPD hours can be online, you can claim hours for going to the theatre, and you can self-certify your CPD without having to ever submit evidence. Therefore, many teachers can say they are meeting the CPD requirement but not actually attend any course. Only if audited as part of the random process would they need to provide evidence.