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Betz, PT Pilates for Scoliosis by Suzanne Martin, PT, DPT RECENT COMMENTS 06/14 - milksnake breeders on Continuing Ed: The Franklin Method 06/13 - cornsnake breeders on Pilates for Breast Cancer Survivors 06/12 - Rat Snake Breeder on Continuing Ed: The Franklin Method RSS FEED Pilates Pro RSS Pilates Pro Comments RSS VISIT OUR SPONSORS Advertising -- --   --     -- Job Form Job Form Pilates Instructor Chicago CT - New Haven FL-certidiedpilatesinstructor CA-Oceanside Abu Dhabi - Pilates Instructor CA-Los Gatos CT-Fairfield CA-Oceanside-intern CA-San Luis Obispo FL-Pompano_Beach Hong Kong AU-Melbourne LOCAL GUIDES All Local Guides Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut DC Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming -- Pilates for the Young Dancer by: Timea Presley I have been re-invited to teach Pilates classes for young ballet dancers as a part of the Washington School of Ballet’s prestigious Summer Intensive this June and July. Students between the ages of 13 and 22 from all around the world auditioned and have been selected to participate the program that allows for rapid advancement in a short amount of time and study with the acclaimed Washington Ballet Faculty in the nations capital. As a former dancer, I wanted to dig deep and get some real answers and decided to turn to Leslie Braverman , former ballerina and STOTT Pilates Lead Instructor Trainer in Portland, OR for a thorough explanation why Pilates is important for the developing body of a young ballet dancer. Timea : When I first mentioned to you that the Washington School of Ballet incorporates Pilates into their Summer Intensive, you seemed very excited. Why do you think it is a big deal? Leslie : Years as a professional ballet dancer followed by a career in Pilates has shaped my passion for Pilates and dance. Many high caliber ballet programs offer Pilates—I was delighted to hear that TWSB is among them. Timea : Many dancers incorporate a few Pilates exercises into their warm up. What made you go further and take full length Pilates classes? Leslie : In the summer of 1987, Pilates was not available in every small town like today. I had the good fortune to discover it in NYC when I studied at School of American Ballet. Elite dancers in New York knew about the benefits of Pilates and attended classes to improve their dancing, manage injuries and stay in-shape during layoffs. I wanted to do what the professionals were doing. At the Pilates studios I got to work out with the best dancers in the city. Timea : Do you think Pilates can help to prevent injuries and prolong a dancer’s career? Leslie teaching the exercise Bend and Stretch to Pacific NW Pilates client and young dancer, Caitlin Christopher. Leslie : Yes! Many dance injuries—tendonitis, stress fractures and shin splints—occur from over-use, faulty mechanics and muscular imbalances. The same injuries end careers. Since Pilates is informed by sound biomechanical principles, dancers learn how to place their joints in a neutral, stable and centered positions and develop strength and flexibility that is balanced and functional. Experienced Pilates instructors teach a dancer to control alignment, be strong in all ranges of motion, gain control in mid-ranges and stabilize joints without bracing and gripping. The spring-based equipment and mat exercises provide valuable feedback and resistance to enable a dancer to make changes quickly. My path from performer to Pilates instructor has provided years of experience. As a student of the method and a STOTT PILATES Lead Instructor Trainer, I can say unequivocally: Pilates is an excellent way to prevent injury and prolong one’s career. Timea : Dancers in training often find it challenging to carve out time for classes that are not directly dedicated to improving their technic and form. In other words: Pilates is not a dance class. It feels like a wellness class. Why should it then be taken? Leslie performing the Dawn Variation, Act III of the ballet Coppélia at Oregon Ballet Theatre. Leslie : My own story has led me to believe that Pilates can improve ballet technique and form. Many years after I studied Pilates in New York, I danced in Oregon Ballet Theatre where I acquired a tibial stress fracture that would not heal. After a year of treatment, I still struggled to get back to a full dance schedule. Nothing helped. Eventually, I had to have surgery on my tibia to stimulate bone growth. I couldn’t dance. For months I went to the Pilates studio instead of the ballet studio. Then, something amazing happened. When I finally returned to work, I was stronger and more flexible than ever before. Pilates had helped me restore balance in my legs and trunk. My muscles were still long, lean and toned, but I had strength in my external rotators (turnout muscles) and the muscles used in parallel and internally rotated alignments. Harnessing the strength in the opposing muscles enabled me to balance better, hold my legs up higher and jump longer. I had real core and upper body strength for the first time. Too often dancers (like me) turn to Pilates in crisis. I wish I had taken Pilates preventatively— I would have been a better dancer, and I may not have been injured. Timea : What did you get from Pilates that you couldn’t find in any other method? Leslie : Pilates helped me be a smarter dancer. After I returned to dance from my injury, it enabled me to cope with many of the physical stresses and pressures that a career presents on a daily basis. It was a place to find my center, be in balance and restore movement without compromising my line or the long and lean shape of my dancer body. Timea : Dancers have extreme flexibility and often hypermobility. How does an overly flexible body behave long term? What are the challenges and what can be done to prevent an unfavorable shift in postural balance? Leslie : Dancers need extreme amounts of mobility to achieve the look and choreography (steps) of dance. That said, dancers with uncontrollable joint hypermobility are predisposed to injury. They have to acquire the ability to control their joints in mid-ranges, and the skill to go in and out of their mobility at will. Hypermobility should be a choice not a requirement. For example, hyperextended knees are desirable because of the look they achieve. Yet, to perform adagio, pirouette and balance, a dancer with hyperextension must practice how to control their knee alignment to be functionally straight and strong when called upon. Alternatively, if the student can only stand on their legs by dropping back into their knees—relying on ligaments, not muscles—they are likely to break down and become injured. Timea : When you teach Pilates to dancers, what is the most typical weakness, or issue that they have? Leslie : With ballet dancers, I most frequently see issues and weaknesses related to forced turnout. Turnout should be expression of rotation of the whole leg, with the hip providing 60% of ...