The Ballet Bible
Discover the Secrets to Conquering Some of The Most Common Pitfalls You Face When Learning Ballet
ballet questionsHi everyone I need some feedback on some of my ballet questions. Any feedback on any of the questions above will be very much appreciated 8 Comments »RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment |
|
Ballet shoe insteps — if those are those things that are supposed to make your arch look terrific, forget it. It is a ridiculous form of cheating. They do nothing to improve the function of your foot. There is no substitute for your own foot’s strength. If you don’t have arches that pop out of the shoe it’s not the end of the world. Most of the audience looks at the upper half of your body, not the lower, in any case.
Flexibility — stretch. Pilates. If you are super tight, you might try massage therapy.
Nerves are normal. Sometimes it helps if you can look at nerves as a form of energy that needs to be released. Try focusing very intensely on what you are about to do. That also has a good effect on containing the butterflies!
Comment by Zoe — February 22, 2007 #
Hi,
I’d like to comment on the “nerves on stage” question and would like to add on what Zoe said.
In general, people are less nervous about things if they are better prepared for the task at hand, but I’m assuming this isn’t the problem here.
Like Zoe said, nerves, to a certain extent, are normal when you have to perform (on stage or otherwise).
It might help to understand a bit more about how “nerves” or anxiety or excitement or whatever, work.
In any situation, you have 3 components, A) the situation, B) the way you look at the situation and C) the way your body responds, the way you feel etc.
Most people think A causes C, but they overlook B.
From a biological perspective, there is no difference between anxiety/nerves (negative feeling) and anticipation/excitement (positive feeling). Both have the same effect on heart rate, blood pressure, butterflies in stomach, etc (think: falling in love and seeing the person you like walk by and waiting for an exam, it both flutters in your stomach, but the first category of butterflies is pleasant and the second is not). Back on stage…
So, your body expresses certain signals, caused by the performance you have to give. Then your brain steps in and interprest both body signals and situation and decides, based on previous experience and the kind of person you are, if you are nervous or excited.
The first might be negative for your actual performance (provoking thoughts like “Oh no, I can’t do this, what if I miss a step, …”, the second one might provoke “Yes, this is my moment, this is what I’ve been training for, let’s do it, I’m great, I like this, I like the music, I’m well prepared, etc”).
If your brain has a tendency to interpret stage-butterflies as nerves (negatively), try to catch the thought that comes with it, and override it. This sounds articial, but with practice, it really works.
Tell your brain it’s worrying about nothing, and that it mistakes nerves for anticipation and excitement.
To convince your brain it has nothing to worry about, it might help to ask questions like “what’s the worst that could happen (and if so, then what?” or “how big is the possibility, statistically speaking, this would happen”, “what would I say to someone in my shoes” etc).
Also, relaxation techniques (breathing exercises etc) help with “stage fright”.
Ok, enough psychobabble for now
. People who’d like to know more, the techniques I describe here are based on RET (rational emotive therapy) of Ellis and on cognitive behavioural therapy of Beck.
Great book about this: Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think by Greenberger and Padesky.
Comment by Kaat — February 22, 2007 #
Yoga has helped my flexibility more than anything. I practice every day, and that is what makes the biggest difference. Yoga and Pilates are also highly recommended by most ballet schools as the best cross-training options for dancers. They both improve core strength, balance and flexibility. Everything you do in yoga can be applied to ballet.
Comment by danceyogamom — February 22, 2007 #
about the nerves, I’ve found that if you are actively warming up, stretching, or doing some last minute practice it can help take your mind off of what you are about to do so that you don’t let yourself focus on it and become nervouse.
Comment by Marissa — February 23, 2007 #
i can’t answer the fisrt question as i have never seen them but for the other two i can. For flexibilty i suggest taking it step by step and working your way through streches. Fisrt start with touching your toes , do this stretch until you can do it comfortably, then touch the palm of your hand to the floor instead, after this then try to touch your nose to your knees. These streches helped me enormously with my flexibility i went from wooden board to elastic band.
For stage fright i suggest not looking at the audience. If you don’t look at them you can’t see them looking at you, have a set focus at the back of the audience where you constantly look , this is an awesomne trick because while you look asthough you are looking at the audience you arnt and its helps me with stage fright too !
Comment by holly — February 23, 2007 #
I dont know much about Instep but all i can say to flexabilty is
STRECH STRECH STRECH!!!
You cant do anything else!! 24 7ve .. STRECH.
And as for nerves. Just dont think about it. Just be convidente .. and they will all go away ..
Hope this has helped alittle
Comment by Dylan — February 26, 2007 #
Hi with the flexibility part um try warming up first then repeatedly do splits on left right and centre over and over again. Then toe touches about 20 times. Do it maybe twice a day and see if it helps as it hepled me A LOT!!!
Comment by Joanna — March 7, 2007 #
have a streching routine helps nothing serious but i did split streches morning and night for a week and now i can do mounts but dont over strech getting into the habit to strech every morning before school is real good
Comment by geane — March 29, 2007 #