A
female
age
26-29,
anonymous
writes:Hello everyone. This isn't a relationship question, but if you can provide, I'd love to receive some advice on the best ways to improve my ballet, leaps and turns mostly. I aspire to audition for the musical theatre program at my school and my friends that go there say that they accept people who can dance like...okay? You know? And I do, I mean, I am flexible and becoming more flexible because I stretch everyday, and now I can put my leg over my head(though I am still working on bringing it higher)I know about the five positions of ballet and I'm practicing my pirouettes right now and moving onward. It is mostly my leaps that I am concerned with like my grand jetes and attitudes.So yeah just some advice on how to improve my jumps like, any exercises I could do on a regular basis that would really help me with my legs. And any other advice that could help me further prepare myself for musical theatre. Warnings, wake up calls, reality checks,what I should be careful to expect all are helpful as long as they are given with sincerity. Thanks! Reply to this Question
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female
reader, maverick494 +, writes (27 September 2012):
What are the specific requirements of this theater? You mention ballet, but is it classical, or modern? French or Russian? In any case, you can't learn ballet at home with a few vids. It's not like the movies. You won't be able to get the exact positioning right, nor will you have anyone to correct you when you're wrong and by then you'll start to get bad habits. This brings on injuries and correcting this will take longer, if you can at all.
I practiced ballet as a teen to help with overall conditioning, coordination and basically just dance, but it's so much more than that. Ballet dancers use muscles we don't normally use. It's like learning how to walk all over again. Just standing in the correct way is hard to do if you haven't been taught the proper way. So if you're hell bent on learning ballet, get a good coach and take at least 3 classes a week (as a start). Also try to see it as a whole. Ballet is not just "positions" "turns" and "leaps". It's about the movement as a whole. Everything needs to be fluid and in correct form.
As for the time frame, it's for example possible to go on en pointe within one year for adults, but the girls who manage this practice at least 4 times a week several hours per session. And then it's up to the shape of your feet and the strength of your ankles whether you get cleared to do so. This may not be your goal, but I just wanted to show what effort it takes to get merely adequate.
In short, correct form is everything in dance, well, professional dance that is. Invest in a mirror if you want to practice at home in addition to taking classes.
I can't stress this enough: Ballet is not something you can learn through a bunch of e-how tutorials and a book. You'll cripple yourself that way.
As for stretching, I highly recommend investing in this book, Stretching Scientifically. It doesn't just tell you what to do, it tells you why it works. http://www.amazon.com/Stretching-Scientifically-Flexibility-Training-Revision/dp/0940149451/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348785359&sr=1-1&keywords=stretching+scientifically
(Copy and paste the entire url, DearCupid has trouble recognizing them)
When it comes to stretching, it's vital that you stretch everything, in the right way, at the right time. You've got isometric stretching, static stretching, dynamic stretching, passive stretching, etc. You need to know when and how to do these stretches. I can now finally do all the splits, backfolds, forward bends, my shoulders are flexible, my neck too. But it took me quite some time to accomplish this and I needed help from others with proper form and such.
Flexibility is more then putting your leg behind your head. I may be stating the obvious, but many people have injured themselves by paying too much attention on one area and neglecting another.
I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing your goals. Just don't be naive and think you can get there on your own.
A
reader, anonymous, writes (27 September 2012): What honeypie said, and also youtube videos and a full length mirror.
OP any form of creative dance requires a tonne of skills other than physically being able to do moves. Timing with music, cadence and perfect form are exceptionally important in ballet. Anyone can get flexible, just google techniques for that. But getting form perfect requires a hell of a lot of practice in front of a mirror plus a great coach.
Seriously OP great dancers practice about 6-8 hours a day. They also very carefully manage their diet to provide the maximum nutritional benefit for the workload they put their body under.
Also timing work can be very taxing and time consuming.
Dancers also have to work on mental focus, being able to get in the "zone" on command and block out all other things but the music and dance is quite important.
Now what I'm talking about is if you want to have dance as a profession then it basically has to be your life because it's quite simply all about how much time and effort you put into perfecting it. Yours is for school, so if I were you I'd ask the teacher who runs that for advice on how to prepare and get into that programme.
But again OP, practice, practice, practice. Even if it's for school its a good habit to learn to apply yourself 100% to things to you want to do well in. That kind of work ethic will serve you well as an adult.
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A
female
reader, Honeypie + ♥, writes (27 September 2012):
 Take classes and get a good coach.
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