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Benefits beyond ballet




Benefits Beyond Ballet: Why you should enroll in Pre-Pointe and Floor Barre

by Ms Geneva & Miss JacLyn

This Fall, we offer Floor Barre and Pre-Pointe back to back on TWO different days. Choose both classes or one! Pick a day that works for you and experience the difference.  Enroll on www.dreamsdance.com, or do a FREE trial class for both.
Mondays 7:45-8:45pm or Tuesdays 7:00-8:15pm. Open to level 4 and up dancers
 
Floor barre helps with all forms of dance as it lets you become aware of your body through a total body work out by increasing strength, flexibility, and posture. Lying down on your back, side, stomach and being in a seated position through the exercises allows for total stabilization to focus on specific muscle groups just like Pilates! It also helps you correct bad habits and allows you to learn how to lengthen your body to its fullest extent all the way through your pointed toes. 

Class often starts with abdominal exercises then gradually moves to leg work that includes dance movements done at barre such as kicking the leg quickly up to the front towards the ceiling and then lowering very slowly. Muscle groups that are targeted include abdominals, hip flexors, inner thighs, glutes, hamstrings, calves, obliques, and even the upper body as we focus on strength needed to hold arms correctly in place while dancing! Floor barre is low impact on your joints so it’s a safe way to get a fun work out while we “feel the burn” and discuss how each exercise will be beneficial to specific dance moves. 

My favorite part of teaching this class over the summer was not only having students tell me they were sore in muscles they didn’t know they had (ha!) but telling me how in dance classes they were noticing a difference. For example, the ability to hold their leg up for longer amount of time in a high extension or simply being aware how much longer their legs were feeling when pointing their foot out in a tendu. 

What’s the pointe? Pre-pointe classes are offered to ballet students who want to further develop and strengthen the muscles necessary to go en pointe. This class stresses correct alignment and correct classical ballet technique. Pre-pointe class allows teachers to assess readiness for pointe work while offering a new atmosphere to work on technique.

Since Pointe shoes require incredible strength in the ankles and feet, parts of the body that non-dancers rarely exercise: the ankles and feet! Special exercises are used to pinpoint the appropriate muscles, so that dancers can ascend onto their toes safely, and descend with control. The majority of the time spent in pre-pointe class is as the barre refining ballet technique.

Pre-pointe classes often incorporate specific exercises performed with tools including Therabands, massage ball, mats, towels, and other items . The Therabands are important tools for added resistance in exercises. The dancers are instructed to pointe and flex their feet in parallel correctly, maintain turnout, and increase flexibility in the toes, foot and ankle.  Abdominal work may also be included in the class because core strengthening helps tremendously in pulling up while dancing in pointe shoes. Pre-pointe class often works slowly and strictly so dancers don’t develop bad habits.

Thus, Pre-pointe class is to prepare, refine and strengthen ballet technique for the dancers before the take Pointe class. Remember, Pointe is the true extension of ballet!


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