Sheila Beelam Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 After seeing Michelle's post about a trip to Turkey it got me wondering whether "hot ballet" exists? A friend is opening a hot yoga studio (I think it's called bikram yoga?) I've never tried it but she says the heat is good for deep stretching and gives a more effective work out...any opinions or experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Are you talking about applied heat or weather heat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurora Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The room is hot! Strange concept really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Yes - just do an exam at RAD HQ or a workshop there in the summer! I think the concept is unintentional but the end result is the same. ;-) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primrose Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 When my dd had lessons at the Russian ballet school in London, they would never allow the windows to be opened as they thought it was bad for the muscles (they would get cold). Sometimes the heat was overwhelming, but I can see where they were coming from. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Well I done a 2hour zumba class on the beach,it was 42 degrees!I nearly died but just couldn't stop myself! At my dds ballet class in the summer they never put the aircon on and the room is like a sauna!after class the girls look terrible,don't think it helps with her ballet but the stretch class definatly makes them more supple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I have just been at Birmingham Hippodrome a coupl of weeks ago watching Swan Lake. The auditorium was hot, when I mentioned this to the usher, she said that the area had to be warm for the dancers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletmumfor2 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 One of my daughters teachers is an ex dancer and insists they work in a hot studio (definitely no air con switched on although it is available!) He says dancers like the theatres like this so the students had better get used to working in this environment. Unfortunately I always forget this during watching week and nearly pass out when I'm sitting in my normal clothes at the side. I always think a bikini would be more appropriate but don't think this would go down well with my daughter! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) Just ballet: Well I am disapointed; I thought this was something exiting “Hot Ballet”, as we give hot salsa a completely different meaning that is, to be hot and sexy. But joking aside, yes it does make sense to improve your stretch and add flexibility. Each morning until the last few days I do a two hour Ballet aerobic workout. Firstly I would go into my gym for a warm-up of body temperature but mainly my legs (treadmill) before stretching in various position including splits (as far as I can get them), I have also included some of my old Tai Kwan Du exercises such as high kicks front and back too, when I’m finished in my gym, my back is wet with sweat, at the moment its unheated. The rest of the workout take place in my dance studio, it is heated, the only bit that is not an aerobic exercise, is, reverence at the end, as that just adds a bit of style for me, and I love doing it too. Without dought self generated heat, not too sure about room temperature alone, does increase flexibility, and certainly for salsa dancing make the moves far more fluid. Once I’m warmed up I can dance for hours, although I sweat, I don’t tire, but you do consume lots of fluid. Edited October 20, 2012 by Michelle_Richer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 When we went to the recent open day at Tring, we went into one of the studios in the mansion to observe some older students, and it was boiling even with all the windows wide open! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 When I went on a tour of the newly refurbished ROH some years ago they said that although the auditorium was air-conditioned there was no air-conditioning backstage. This was because the opera singers cannot tolerate it, and that suits the dancers too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Beelam Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 From what I understand, the hot yoga studios have heaters setting the room temp pretty high - I'm going to the studio to be a guinea pig once they're complete, but not sure how I'll cope as I love being near the air con in ballet class 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 No AC. No fans blowing on the class. Room at a comfortable temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Flexibility and heat. Anyone that has an hot-tub / spar outside will know, its give the most pleasure in the winter. That is when you are stiff with cold and you get into a hot tub with the water temperature around 40ºC, that stiffness just melts away. Its a wonderful environment to sit / lay and do stretches in. Air Conditioned / heated rooms; This I think depends upon the level of physical activity, if its high, not only will the body temperature rise, flexibility will increase and so will the room temperature. At dances, when the dance gets going, it’s not unusual for windows and doors to be opened to lower the temperature. Just last weekend we had a constant stream of dancers going out to the main entrance to cool off, where the temperature was around 7ºC. Some of the dancers inside had the clothing on their backs wet with sweat, as Salsa dancing can be quite energetic. Where AC is present, there tends to be a cluster of people under it and a clear preference for it. I can understand that a performance that was not particularly physically demanding, the need for a constant room temperature free of draughts, in that case elevated temperature would assist flexibility should it be required. I guess at the end of the day, its horses for courses, or one solution doesn’t fit all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primrose Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I dont think it is about assisting flexibility, I see it more as a safety measure in keeping the muscles warm so this in turn prevents injury. Cold muscles are very prone to injury. I must admit though, I dont think heaters need to be turned on to make the studios even hotter, but I do think that opening windows or putting on AC is not a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I was hot last night! 50 minutes hard class and oh,dear my pose turns were awful I must practice over half tern! I wish I had a video because I am such a visual learner. The dance is easy though but it is fun and will look so pretty when finished. Plus we will be getting longer classes so we can all dance together 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurora Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 If I get too hot when I'm dancing I can't concentrate, feel like I can't breathe properly and even get dizzy so that certainly doesn't help and is even dangerous. So it depends how hot we're talking about. As hot as a hot yoga room? No way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 The room should be a comfortable temperature with no drafts - no AC - no fans blowing on students and that includes ceiling fans. The heat necessary to efficiently use muscles is generated from within - not without. But then, the heat generated from within should not be dissipated from without by the use of AC,fans,etc. How is heat generated from within? By a slow warm up such as flexing/rotating feet, gentle bends, etc. and then a well constructed ballet barre routine' starting slow and small and gradually increasing in tempo and amplitude. I once attended class in which the first exercise at the barre was grand battements. The teacher (a world renowned dancer) declared that it would either make us or break us - i walked out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Anjuli: What you say makes very good sense, however in reality there are always compromises. I must confess I took it for granted that Ballet schools did a proper warm-up and cool-down as standard. However your statement may be valid in a large theatre with a large volume of air. The heat necessary to efficiently use muscles is generated from within - not without. But then, the heat generated from within should not be dissipated from without by the use of AC,fans,etc. But in a small ballet class room with a low ceiling, its unlikely to have a large enough volume of air to dissipate all the excess body heat generated, therefore some thermal assistance must be required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Well, I've dealt with the reality of large and small ballet classrooms. In neither would I - and this is a personal choice - ever dance with AC or fans blowing directly on me - or my students. Others make other choices. An open door - an open window on a warm day does provide a natural flow of air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdance Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 When working in the US I insisted on the studio being air conditioned - largely as outside it was 85% humidity and around 35 degrees C or above and too warm/too humid for sweat to evaporate and for body heat to dissipate. The A/C maintains constant temperature of 17 degrees C (just below room temperature) and the correct level of humidity. While I agree that fans or cool air straight onto hot bodies isn't the best thing for muscles, Anjuli is right in that the heat is generated from within, so it's actually not that dangerous. Having said that, the best way to generate this effectively is to do continuous movement that works the cardiovascular system (eg low impact aerobic movement) for at least 10 minutes. Dancing in a studio that is too warm is much more dangerous and can lead to dehydration, fatigue and ultimately fatigue related injuries. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Salsa in the evenings outside in a hot country is so difficult expecially when it's 40 degrees but has a nice feel to it,and i love the water fans spraying! Ballet on the other hand is completely different I would of thought.Not cold or too hot without fans or a/c but maybe heat the room up to a decent temperature before class begins? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 (edited) Salsa in the evenings outside in a hot country is so difficult expecially when it's 40 degrees but has a nice feel to it,and i love the water fans spraying! Wow Tomuchtalant, do I take you present the wet T shirt look at your salsa on the beach, so I guess it really is hot and sexy. Went to a Halloween Salsa party tonight in short strappy red sparkly dress, complete with black spiders, red tail and red devils horns, didn’t really get too hot in it, but then it didn’t cover very much. I’m glad I had a nice warm coat with me as the outside temperature when we left was only 2.5ºC. It see Hot and Sexy ballet does exist, for me anyway. I have found an example on a Ballet Training DVD where a short sequence is danced to a tango rhythm, that may be common, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it, and that has pressed the right buttons with me, and I cant get the rhythm out of my head. Although we sometimes dance tango as a secondary dance at my salsa class, it really hasn’t impressed me, but this is different, it has the WOW factor. So much so, I will be adding it to my daily Ballet workout until its polished, then I may use it as a demo in my salsa class should we do tango as the secondary dance just to show off a bit, as they say, if you’ve got , flaunt it. Edited October 27, 2012 by Michelle_Richer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nana Lily Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 This thread was about "hot ballet". No references to sex. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieW Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Can we keep this thread to any further discussion about "Hot ballet" as in "Hot yoga" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_yoga rather than the sexiness or otherwise of dance. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Yes we must remember children sometimes join us on this forum. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 AWWWW sorry guys, I didn't think there was anything particularly explicit or offensive in what I said and certainly none intended, I guess I shall be walking on eggshells in future. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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