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Hello everyone so today, i’m gonna talk about my safe practice in dance and how it helps me stay safe and make sure my dancing is on point, the topics i have chosen is flexibility, strength, and warm up starting off, flexibility is the range of movement possible at a joint, it allows performers to reach, stretch and move their joints to gain possession, flexibility is such an essential component for dance training, as it plays a crucial role in both performance and injury prevention VEJE RASMUSSEN, M. (2023) Taking to count the definition of flexibility, for me flexibility is all about how much movement i can get at my joints especially as someone who often tends to push their boundaries and attempts movements i haven't attempted before and to pull this off, i really need to warm up and stretch my body. It helps me move, reach, and dance without feeling restricted during my performances, plus it is crucial for preventing injuries, so I can really focus on giving my best. When i think about flexibility in my own contemporary dance practice, i have to do a lot of stretching and extension which i really try to focus on and make sure i use whole body movements not just one section of my body often times we find that we have to reach and lifts our legs, research shows that stretching increases flexibility, improves a range of motion, and improves functions of injured or painful muscles. Stretching may reduce risk of injury and certain types of stretching may improve muscle performance especially within the warmups phrases we do at the beginning of the class one of which being, raising one of my legs off the ground extending as far and high up as i can to the ceiling then to the corner of the room then back up again and then we finally attempt a balance letting our head look past the leg on the ground whilst bring both arms and wrapping them around the standing leg, therefore i find that being flexible and maintaining a strong balance with the use of strength is highly crucial. To avoid injuries I always make sure I warm up properly. Warming up is key for me because it prevents injuries and prepares my body for the movements ahead and before I perform or do any dance routines I focus on elongating my body through warm up exercises to ensure I am ready to give my best performance.

Furthermore strength is the ability to control movements, maintain a balance (as described above) and execute powerful, graceful sequences with precision and stamina, on the topic of stamina,stamina is about how long i can keep going without getting tired especially whilst performing it is super important for my dancing because performances can be really demanding and i need to maintain and stabilise the same energy throughout from the beginning of my performance to the very end of my performance which i have observed that during the initial stages of my performance there is a noticeable energy level which then diminishes as i progress towards the end of my performance and this is particularly evident in hip hop especially because sometimes i find that some of the movement can be very challenging and demanding so i then experience fatigue towards the end of my movement, hence why stamina and strength goes hand in hand because if i have strong muscles, i can perform longer without getting fatigued. Strength training is a fundamental aspect of athletic development for dancers helping to improve performances and reduce the risk of injury and i find that regular practice and consistent dancing helps to build muscle memory and strength overtime and the more i dance obviously not aiming to overwork myself but the more i dance the more my muscles adapt to the movements. Dancers require a unique blend of strength, flexibility and endurance to execute complex movements with precision and grace, so incorporating strength training into our routine helps build muscle endurance, power and stability, which are essential for performing demanding choreography for instance in my hip hop class conditioning for us is crucial especially because it helps build strength, endurance and flexibility and when we condition our bodies we enhance our core stability which is essential for executing dance moves with precision and control for example, we engage in various exercise in my class such as sit-ups, push ups and running laps/ jogging around the room to build our strength and endurance another great exercise example we do to help enhance our core stability is we all partner up and then after deciding who goes first person A holds the back of person B’s leg whilst lying flat on the floor from there, person A raise both legs ensuring that when there drop it back down they dont touch the ground as they raise it back up again meanwhile, person B pushes the other person's leg back down and also encouraging them to stay persistent and we repeat this 15 times and we also do this with butterfly kicks and repeat the same process, these exercises are highly engaging and essential for developing our core strength, which is vital for improving our overall performance and movement in dance,additionally, improved muscle strength supports joint stability, reducing the likelihood of injuries such as sprains, strains, and overuse injuries. Additionally, incorporating strength training into a dancers routine can improve posture and alignment Kimbrough, K. (2024)

Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body move and bend easier. These exercises may not improve your endurance or strength, but being flexible gives you more freedom of movement for other exercises as well as for everyday activities. American Heart Association (2024).

Increased coordination and improved intramuscular work makes young dancers become stronger, during strength training up to ten times as much adrenaline is released into the child’s blood than would be present in that of an adult. Simmel, L(2013). In Popular Caribbean Dance, I feel a lot of adrenaline being released into my body called Epinephrine which is released by your adrenal glands in response to stress. This reaction causes a number of changes in our bodies and is known as the fight or flight response Cleveland Clinic (2022) especially because of the physical stress of the workout

The younger the dancer, the greater their flexibility, the increasing stiffness of the capsular Therefore, one aim of dance training is to preserve flexibility and the earlier the better, as a dancer i have noticed i am less flexible in comparison to how i was growing up so it is clear that as we grow older, we tend to become less flexible for that reason i need to actively work on building my flexibility back up and a specific stretching that helps me to increase joint range of motion which is effective for immediate gains is PNF- type stretching . Physiopedia (2023) which helps me elongate my muscles. For example I start by holding a position for about 10-30 seconds which helps me stretch my muscle to its limits which further increases blood flow and also presents injuries.

Learning how to use all the muscles in your feet and ankles is essential to all dancers, whether you do Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz, this is because all the muscles in your feet and ankles are designed to do a certain job, if they are working correctly then your feet will feel great and function at their full capacity. Particularly in the style ‘Gwoka’ using muscles in my ankle is important because it helped me with controlling my balance, control and expressions within my movements, Gwoka in my experience has a lot of fast paced and initiate footwork so building the muscles in my ankles allows me to execute the movements with precision also engaging those muscles allowed me to stay grounded and connected to the rhythm of the music.

When i warm up i am strengthening my movement therefore when i do certain movements in dance for example like a Jete, leaps, and jumps flexibility is key as it helps me get a nice height and extension in my legs, making the movement look graceful and fluid furthermore being flexible allows me to safely land without any injuries like pulling muscles or spraining our feet or even fracturing and as someone with an history of sprains and facturing the foot i have to take extra precautions and often wear ankle support which helps me stabilise my ankle joints during jumps and leaps especially in contemporary and allows me to maintain a strong balance which is why strength is also important when dancing as it keeps my flow in dance.

Reference / Bibliography

k2410920 — 2025-03-20 01:24:41 UTC

Bibliography

VEJE RASMUSSEN, M. (2023). Why flexibility is important for dancers -. [online] Love Notes to LA. Available at: https://lovenotestola.com/why-flexibility-is-important-for-dancers/.

Kimbrough, K. (2024). Strength Training for Dancers: Benefits for Health and Performance. [online] Ewmotiontherapy.com. Available at: https://www.ewmotiontherapy.com/blog/strength-training-dancers.

American Heart Association (2024). Flexibility Exercise (Stretching). [online] www.heart.org. Available at: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/flexibility-exercise-stretching.

Simmel, L 2013, Dance Medicine in Practice : Anatomy, Injury Prevention, Training, Taylor & Francis Group, Oxford. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [12 March 2025].

Physiopedia (2023). Stretching. [online] Physiopedia. Available at: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Stretching.

Corbin, M. (2019). Balance, Breathing and Flexibility. [online] Penn State Extension. Available at: https://extension.psu.edu/balance-breathing-and-flexibility.

Cleveland Clinic (2022). Epinephrine (Adrenaline). [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22611-epinephrine-adrenaline.