Why The Australian Ballet Dancers stopped stretching

[Jan McNulty]

A thought provoking article:

 

https://dancemagazine.com.au/2019/09/why-the-australian-ballet-dancers-quit-stretching/

[alison]

"The Australian Ballet dancers now do 24 parallel single leg heel raises at the end of ballet barre daily, and the company has seen significant decrease in injury to the ankles and calves. "

 

Which is what they're now doing at the Royal Ballet, and elsewhere, too.

[RuthE]

12 minutes ago, alison said:

"The Australian Ballet dancers now do 24 parallel single leg heel raises at the end of ballet barre daily, and the company has seen significant decrease in injury to the ankles and calves. "

 

Which is what they're now doing at the Royal Ballet, and elsewhere, too.

 

Didn't they talk about this in some detail during the class footage from World Ballet Day 2018?

[alison]

So recent?  I'd have thought maybe a year before.

[RuthE]

You're probably right.  I remember the feature, but even just after my above post I started thinking it was probably earlier.

[LinMM]

Yes I read that article I think this is a fascinating area of what exactly helps one or is useful to achieve high technical standards without getting injured. 
I think this would be useful for younger students who it has become fashionable to sit in stretches for longer periods....and often very over extended ones at that .,, I like the individual approach to people’s bodies as well 
 

[LinMM]

By the way I know they are professionals etc but doing 24 single leg rises is no easy feat one after the other! I never get past about 15 without my calf cramping up! Though don’t always do them after a big warm up on the barre which is probably key to doing them safely🙄 I always thought the Royal did 16 on each foot but perhaps do more now. 

[Picturesinthefirelight]

One of dd’s Teachers who had previously been at Australian Ballet implemented this when she was in Year 9. (Except I thought it was 32 not 24)

[LinMM]

Well I think originally it may have been 32 altogether ....16 on each leg. 
but perhaps since they have found this optimum number which helps to reduce injuries to ankles and calves as being 24 on each leg. 
But this is supposed to be done at the END of the barre! 

[Pas de Quatre]

I do it in many classes, but break it down - 8 on two feet, 4 on one foot, 4 on the other foot, then repeat it all, which works out  at 24 on each leg.    The slight break seems to help, particularly as the students come straight from school and may have had netball, or PE immediately beforehand!

[LinMM]

When I was recovering from a mild Achilles tear a few years back I was given these rises exactly as described above....on two legs then one leg then the other leg then two legs etc I think my pattern was 8 

I do remember thinking I will never ever be able to do rises on one foot again initially ...but you do.....eventually...the body is a wonderful thing. 

[MAX]

How old are your students Pas de Quatre ?  all this is quite interesting !

[Peanut68]

Finding all this really interesting & enlightening & want to try incorporate these ‘heel rises’ into my own ballet sessions.... but want to ensure I’ve got it right first! Anyone have any video footage (no pun intended!) they might be able to share showing these being done correctly?

That might help lots of us out there - thank you! Even just a phone filmed below the knees of a student wouid be great! 

[Kate_N]

If you look at footage of the AB (or indeed the RB) doing class on World Ballet Day, you'll see what they do. A nice excuse for some lovely YouTube watching.

 

I seem to remember that one year (was it 2018 or 2017?) they had David McAllister commenting on the practice, and explaining the policy.

 

But from what I see (and what I do), it's in parallel, facing the barre, with a very light touch (my teacher was enforcing the '3 fingers on the barre' rule in class the other day!)with careful attention to alignment of weight over the middle toes, and not allowing heels or ankles to sickle. Start by doing sets of 8 rises on both feet - build up to it - maybe two sets of 8 with a short rest in between each set? They're done quite slowly, but not too slowly (watch the 2018 RB class to see the problem when the pianist went too slowly).

 

Then as you get stronger, do sets on one leg, alternating. That's much harder, but it's amazing how quickly you can build strength with such a simple exercise. 

[Pas de Quatre]

Max - I start slow rises in parallel facing the barre from about age 4 - 5.  Not baby classes, but from when they are old enough to stand at the barre properly.  From about 7 or 8 sometimes I will ask them to put a tennis ball between the ankles to help alignment.  The faster rises of 8 then 4 + 4 would be from around age 10, i.e. pre-pointe, all the way up to Adults.  I use a march tempo for this, up on 1 down on 2.

 

For these rises in parallel you have to be very careful about alignment of the legs and feet.  If a pupil has very knock knees they may need a small gap between the feet, but should not be allowed to roll in.  Those with bow legs may not be able to get the knees to meet, but should not be allowed to roll outwards.

 

The slow rises with a tennis ball are also useful going all the way up onto pointe. 

 

 

[Peanut68]

So rising up onto demipointe? Or full pointe for older girls? 

Abd thank you for replies! 

[LinMM]

Yes definitely Demi pointe and the rhythm is you go up faster than down so : up on one control down on two or you could go up on two down on four... depending on music etc though as mine were set by physio there was no music!! Just counting!! 
It’s also in parallel so not first position 

I was told to do mine with legs slightly apart no wider than hip width apart though. 
There’s quite a lot shown on this years RB’s World Ballet Day (2019) right at the end of the barre and you can tell by some expressions that’s it’s not always easy! 
They do just do the one leg rises though ...so many on each leg. 
I’m wondering whether the Ballet World has taken from Sports specialists in rehabilitation(eg: running injuries) in this instance. 

 

 

[Pas de Quatre]

Just to clarify, the older students do the demi pointe exercise at the end of barre. Pointework is separate and may or may not include slow rises in parallel.

[Kate_N]

Here's an article from the Australian Ballet website:

 

Strength beats stretch

 

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Kate_N

[Millicent]

This is really interesting.

 

I see a lot of young dancers at festivals with extreme flexibility e.g. doing oversplits poses at the age of 8 or 9. I wonder if this inevitably leads to later injuries or if there is a safe way to achieve such flexibility at a young age?

[drdance]

22 hours ago, Millicent said:

This is really interesting.

 

I see a lot of young dancers at festivals with extreme flexibility e.g. doing oversplits poses at the age of 8 or 9. I wonder if this inevitably leads to later injuries or if there is a safe way to achieve such flexibility at a young age?

 

Dance physios have reported an increase in hip and lower back problems in competition dancers with extreme flexibility. And of course lets not forget the extremely rare but still-horrifying case reported recently of a child left paralysed after being 'forced' into back and splits stretches.

[drdance]

It's worth remembering the take-home message in the article which isn't actually very clear (IMHO)

 

• If you want to retain strength and control then passive stretching immediately before is the last thing you should be doing. Sports/dance scientists have known about this for a while. The science behind this is that when muscles and other elastic  structures are stretched to the max, their ability to subsequently contract in order to produce force, or to contract to provide stability, is reduced. But this is temporary.
• If you want to improve flexibility, passive stretching is still one of the better ways to do this, but it must be done safely - so, when muscles are warm and tired (and not expected to then produce lots of force), and in stretches that are not likely to cause damage to joint structures or bones, and in positions that have an 'escape route' ie a position that can be changed instantly if pain is felt.

It is also important to remember that joints that are very flexible are more prone to injury so should be strengthened at every part of the full range of motion.

 

 

[LinMM]

Thanks drdance a very clarifying post 

I like the approach in the original article of looking at an individuals body to see why any particular stretch is difficult and then locating what needs to be worked on for that individual to improve facility in that stretch....so definitely not the one size fits all approach to stretching! 

 

[Anna C]

We’ve talked about this a lot over the years.  I have learned two things from my years as a dance Mum with a hypermobile child:

 

1. Stretches and exercises should be prescribed just like medicine; prescribed by a qualified professional, tailored to the individual and never done unsupervised until the student is mature enough to do them correctly.

 

2. No stretching should be done before a full barre session. 

 

What might be misconstrued as a lack of flexibility can actually be a lack of strength and/or a lack of proprioception.  One teacher thought my (then little) dd’s feet couldn’t point enough for a classical ballet career when in fact she had hypermobile ankles, lack of strength in the surrounding ligaments and low proprioception so couldn’t actively engage her hamstrings and achilles.  She had to be taught how to feel them engaging and gain the strength to keep her feet pointed.  Ditto with turnout; she has flat turnout but didn’t have the strength and control to *hold* the turnout.

 

So before embarking on any stretches (especially sitting in a stretched or - even worse, overstretched position for any length of time 😳) I would always check with a qualified professional or experienced Dance Physio for a full assessment and advice on whether the issue is flexibility or a lack of strength.  They should then give you a prescribed set of exercises.

 

Finally, ALWAYS ignore “competition stretching” pre class or pre audition.  It’s bad for the growing body and is not something that should be copied.  

[Peanut68]

Anna C - great advice & info, thank you!

[HopelessMummy]

Sorry to be thick. Leg rises. Are they the same as going on tiptoe then back down? Not quite down with the lingo yet

[Anna C]

57 minutes ago, HopelessMummy said:

Sorry to be thick. Leg rises. Are they the same as going on tiptoe then back down? Not quite down with the lingo yet

 

Yes, on one leg, using the barre (lightly) as support.  

 

Here’s the Royal Ballet in class; rises start at 26 minutes:  

 

 

[HopelessMummy]

Thank you. That's super helpful

 

[Tango Dancer]

One of the teachers in my class (ex royal ballet school) makes us do them at the end of barre.  We do 16 on each leg and the last 4 are a complete killer. 

 

We go up for a count of 2 and then down for 2.  She usually uses the song por una cabeza by Carlos Gardel for the exercise so it's fairly slow and you definitely feel you've done them. 

[Dance*is*life]

I didn't realise that the other foot is not pointed.  Is there a difference in the value if the foot is pointed?  And I also wondered about the difference in doing it parallel or turned out. Does anyone know??

[Pas de Quatre]

I don't think it matters whether the lifted foot is pointed or not. However the exercise must be in parallel for correct ankle alignment. On a video of my pupils doing it, I notice one girl very slightly lifted her hip on one side, something else to watch out for.

[Dance*is*life]

Thanks - that's very helpful!