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Stretching and Flexibility
Welcome to Arabesque's page of stretching tips. The following tips have been submitted by viewers of the site and have proved helpful in becoming a more flexible dancer. Again, these are all posts from Arabesque visitors. Before attempting any of the tips suggested on this page, be sure that you do so with caution. No one here claims to be an expert, myself least of all, and care should be taken to ensure that you do not injure yourself. If you would like to add a tip to the list, please make a submission at the bottom of the page. Thank you!
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Better Russians/Toe Touches
Here is a GREAT way to do better Russians/Toe Touches. Sit on the floor with your feet together and straight out in front of you. You scoop your hands forward twice while trying to touch your nose to your legs. Then you whip your legs out to the side with your toes pointed and hands together above your head. Do about 6 to 8 of these everyday and I can guarantee your Russians/Toe Touches will be better!
splitz
For the people who can't do the splitz...don't feel bad I can't do them either. I'm really close on my right split but I have tight hamstrings and it's really hard for me!! :( But anywayz,,,my tip is to lay down on the floor or sit up with your feet against a wall and have a friend put your legs (or shoulders if you're layin down) until it hurts a little (not a lot it'll possibly injure you) and hold it there until the pain goes away. Then have your friend push you farther and farther until you're in the splitz against the wall. Remember it's ok if you don't get it in a day...this will probably take a few days or even weeks. It all depends on how flexible you are!! Well, I really hope I helped!
~*Flexibility*~
Hi. My name is raven and i have been dancing since the age of 2 and i am currently 13. I know for a fact that the splits dont come in a day. Me myself i dance 7 days a week nonstop and i still dont have my splits. Here are a few tips to help that my mom gave me who is current owner of encore dance academy and has been for 17 years. To help your splits get farther rock from side to side or forward and back depending on which split you r in. This will help your legs to slide. Also put your arms out in front of you. It may hurt at first but it will take the pressure of your legs and help them to let go. If you want to help your kicks and their control sit up against a wall and put your leg up as far as you can without holding while the other is bent under you. Then try to move your leg front to side with out letting it lower. Then switch and do it on the other leg. These are just a few tips off the top of my head. Good Luck!!! :D
Splitz
To be good at the splitz you need to stretch before doing it and then slowly split your legs apart. Sometimes it is easier to ask someone to push your shoulders down(not too hard!!). If you do this everyday yours splitz should improve. It alos helps if you are a dancer or gymnast!!
Toe Touches
To get better toe toaches sit in staddle (as far as you can go) lift you legs up and do a circle motion. Don't lean back too far! Later**
It Will Hurt You
If u want to do the splitz sit against a wall and get a friend to push ur legs out untill it hurts then holt it there untill the pain goes then make ur friend push u further u could do the splitz in a day it works. E-mail me if u want more tips good luck
Getting your stomach to the floor
Sit with your legs out in front, then spread them wide. Tell yourself that it's like sticking your butt out, but remember to MAINTAIN YOUR TURNOUT!! And keep your toes pointed (unless you are flexing on purpose). Telling yourself that to stick your butt out really helps to get your tummy flat on the floor. Also, remember to do this with your back flat, you don't want a hump in your back (ick) :P
Changing Up Your Normal Stretch
For me, streching my hamstrangs is a real pain and sometimes very frustrating. i though it would help if could make it a little easier or funner. This tip isn't much but here it goes: Put one leg (let's say left) out if front of you as you are sitting down on the ground. Then, pointe your right foot and place it over your left one slightly bent. don't forget to keep your feet pointed! try this strech with your straight foot flexed and turned out. Remember to keep your back straight as you go down or it defeats the whole porpose. :D
tUrNoUt
If you want your turnout to be better, then sit down with both of your legs together and then pull your toes away from eachother, but you have to keep your knees pointing up (or else it would be pointless) This should help your turnout alot! It did mine!
Stomach Strengthening
So this is not really a flexibility tip, but it is a strengthening tip. SO, lie on your back with your legs out in front of you and your hands behind your head. Now, slowly raise and lower your legs together. When you lower your legs back down, do not go all the way back down to the lorr, keep your legs about 6 inches off the floor and then raise them again. After a while, you will get a nice flat tummy. And after an even longer time, you might develop a six-pack! I have a six-pack (I think it comes naturally because even before doing my strectch, I had it), and I maintain it with this stretch.
Flexibility in General
I have been studying ballet for almost 11 years (since i was 5.) and over that amount of time, i have have the oppourtunity to come across many different ways of stretching. On this page, spilts seem to be the one everyone is concentrating on the most. This is pretty much the basics of the stretch, for more details and other info, e-mail me. Chinese (Middle) splits: Lie on the floor with your butt against the wall. Point your feet up to the ceiling and gently lower your legs down to the side. Make sure to pointe your feet. Stay in that position for at least 15 minutes. The muscles in your leg soon becom tired of holding that position for such a long amount of time and your legs begin to let go and stretch out. Make sure you don't only do this. Alternate with other stretches to make sure you don't injure anything. Regular SPlits: Hamstrings are teh culprit in this matter. Sit on teh floor with your feet straight out in front of you. Lean forward and try to put your nose on your shin. Point your feet and most important: PRESS YOUR LOWER BACK DOWN!! You don't want to have a hump in your back. It defeats the whole purpose of this stretch. Well, that's all for now. If anyone has any questions on any other questions, feel free to e-mail me and i'll get back to you ASAP. laterz.
Leg and Back Stretch
Hold onto a barre or a wall or anything sturdy enough so not to wiggle and make you fall. Holding onto something with one hand, bend your leg so your calve is touching the back of your thigh, grab your ankle and try to keep your hips facing front at first and keep balance standing on that one leg! Slowly bring it up, try turning it in and out to give you the feel of it if you can get it higher then your waist. Keep trying to stretch the muscle some more, keep bringing it higher and higher, most people can reach it to their shoulders, some to their waist and others like 'Gumbi Victoriana' to their head. This will increase flexibility in your lower back and give you greater way on bringing that leg into a high, beautiful 'arabesque'. ;)
Split
To do a split, slide slowly down to the floor. When you can't go any further, flex the foot in front of you. This will stretch your muscles and make you slide further down to the floor.
STRETCH RAISE YOUR ARABESQUE!
JUST GET INTO A DOORWAY! IT'S BETTER IF THERE ISN'T A DOOR THERE BUT EITHER WAY IS PERFECT! YOUR STANDING LEG IN YOUR ARABESQUE, SAY THE LEFT LEG. TURNEDOUT PUSH IT CLOSE TO THE BOTTOM, SIDE OF THE DOORWAY. THE RIGHT LEG PUT IT STRAIGHT UP ON IT LIKE YOUR DOING A SPLIT. THEN PRESS DOWN. ALSO, DO THE OTHER SIDE AS WELL. TO REALLY CHALLENGE YOURSELF WHEN YOUR IN THE POSITON TAKE YOUR HANDS AND WALK UP THE WALL! IT WILL FEEL REALLY GOOD! NOT ONLY DOES THIS STRETCH RAISES YOUR LEG. IT ALSO STRETCHES YOUR UPPER BACK TO GIVE YOUR BACK'S ARCH JUST THE WAY YOU WOULD LIKE IT. DO THIS 2 TO 3 TIMES A DAY AND IN 1-2WEEKS YOUR LEG IN ARABESQUE WILL GO UP TO YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR BACK UP AGAINST IT!
Splits
One thing that you can do to perfect your splits is to stand up streight, and S-L-O-W-L-Y bring yourself down. Keep your hands in front of you while doing this. You would'nt want to hurt yourself!
General Flexibility
To make yourself more flexible what you need to do is balance yourself on a table with one hand, and then take your other hand, grab your foot, and PULL it up to your head. Bend your head closer to your foot if you need to. When I first tried this I thought i would never be able to get it but guess what? I GOT IT ON MY FIRST TRY! Good luck to you all! Email me if you love to dance! Luv ya!
flexibility
To get more flexible in your back and in your legs, sit on the floor, and then put your heels together so that your legs make a diamond shape and then lean over and try to touch your forehead to your feet. if you cant, just ease down until you can, but be careful, when i did it one time, i went too far and injured the tendons in my back. this is a really good stretch for your lower back, or at least mine! luv all you dancers, if anyone wants to talk, just email me cause i am always open to meeting fellow dancers who share the same passion as i do. >jess
Splitz
I heard this from my dance teacher. Some poeple are just not ment to get the splitz :(. I dont have my splitz yet and i am 13 and i am just going to keep trying. Just remebr dont push yourself into the splitz. I am sure you would rather dance without the splitz then not be able to dance at all.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Just Practice! Thats all! It won't come to you all at once.
Anything Requiring Flexibility!
Don't expect everything to come to you all at once (rome wasn't built in a day!) You have to have complete and utter paients with yourselve but the worst you can do, is literally, make excuses for yourself, to ... yourself. If you're older then 10 yrs of age, start working on making your own daily routine exercises and just put on your favorite music and do strange movements of your own creativty with turning twisting just to even warm up. I recommending going to Barnes & Nobles and asking if they have any "Ballet," "Dance," books. View their selection, or if you have a Library, even better, check theirs out to. Do not get gymnastic books for ballet, that's the worst you can do. Gymnastic has a bent back for many things, if you read their work on flexibility it might be the worse you can do for ballet. For splits, try standing in first position, holding a hand on a doorknob or chair. Tendu front, hold it, raise the leg four times. Do several grande battement, this means! "Big Kick." So with no control kick your leg up, control it coming down and then at the last one, take it back into fifth position, tendu and try to split. Do this at least thrice times.
Splitz
Sit with your legs spread out as far as you can spread them next to a wall. Have a friend push you slowly towards the wall until it hurts. Keep doing it and you'll get there. That's how I did it and it took me about 2 days!!! ;)
The Splitz
The secret of getting the splits is to have your back straight while you are in the position. It has taken me around 2 months to do the forward splits after stretching 2-3 times EACH DAY!!If you want to do the splits you must be prepared to put in the time every day, not just on off days as this will take you twice as long again! The splits is all about dedication. DEDICATION is the key!
Splits: How to go down further and improve!
When you are doing your middle splits, it is a good idea to point your feet up to the cealing. If you feel that you can't get lower once you are the lowest you can get, just hold it and don't let go! And don't pressure yourself, like I used to do as it turns into A LOT of pain.
Flexibility/Splits
Breathe & RELAX!! Don't try to push yourself into the oversplits in just like 10 seconds. First it took me peronally 2 yrs to master the splits and I still cant do them very well. have 2 low stools next to you so you can rest your arms on them for balance. (try your best to keep your chest up the whole time, think TALL). I try not to push myself beyond the point of mild discomfort. Splits aren't supposed to hurt, at least not really bad. breath for like 1 min then push down. Think of it as pushing so your hips don't open up. Breathe for another min and push some more, etc... as soon as you go as far as you think you can, hold that positon for about 3 min. If you feel confident enough to push lower, do so... just remember to take it slowly, there's no rush. Ask your instructor excercises that he/ she recommends to improve flexibility/turnout. *entry editted for grammar*
Splits
Lean facing against a wall with you legs turned out as if you are going to go the splits (middel splits) and push youself closer to the wall.
Stair Stretch
I put my legs one at a time up on the counter or a high stair for a stretch. You keep "squared up" so your body isn't sprawling all over. Just do it as a regular stretch, and you should notice more flexibility.
Splits
Get in your split and then relax. For some reason the relaxation takes you down futher!
Turn Out
Sit in frog keep behind down bend your leg down to the floor keep back straight.
Splits
My friend told me to spread my legs out like you are going in split and push your upper body down to the floor. Don't keep going if it hurts bad it heps with turn out as well.
Splits
Spread your legs wide open and try to put your stomach on the floor.
Splitz
I've been taking dance since I was three (i'm now 13) and I'm just now starting to get my spilts. There are some girls in my class who can slide into the spilts right at the beginning of class. I have to stretch a lot before I can get all the way down on the right side and I'm almost there on left. Once you get both your splits it will make split leaps and stuff like that a WHOLE lot easier. *This entry editted for spelling and grammar*
Splits
Well, for me splits arn't that hard. Im 13, which mean im a lot stiffer than 6 and 7 year olds. The best thing to do is probably sit on the floor in a half split (only one leg out, the other bent towards crotch) and then stretch using your arms. Another thing to do is strech your legs on a barre every night and morning. This will limber you up for the day. Remember...its not gonna work unless it hurts!
Splits
Stand as if you are going to go down into the splits and take a deep breath and keep your head on your front leg. As you slide down into the splits let out your breath and keep your head on your leg! This works very good, but be sure to stretch good before doing it!!
Best Time to Stretch
It's best to start working on your spilts just after taking a hot shower.
Splits
I think with splits, it's different for everyone. For me it has been 3 years and I still haven't got them, someone else might have them in 3 weeks or months. *This I agree with! I just can't seem to get them perfect even after so long! -Charlotte*
Back and Spine Flexibility
To dance, your spine and back need to be flexible. A flexible back helps in arabesques, porte bras, and a lot of other stuff. There is a great yoga stretch to do that can help you acomplish this flexiblity. Lie on your stomach and place your hands underneath your shoulders. Slowly press up so that your upper body is up, but not your pelvis or lower body. This is called the snake stretch. Continue doing this until it is comfortable for your back to bend up into that position!
Splits Aren't THAT Hard Its not too hard, if you stretch a long time every morning and night you can get it in about 2 months. about a week if you're already quite flexible BUT dont push yourself into it you'll only strain yourself badly or injure yourself, good luck!
Turnout A good stretch to do is one where you sit in the butterfly on the floor and lift your heels, concentrating on turnout and keeping your back straight. You then take one heel and pull your leg out to the side until it is straight. DO NOT BEND YOUR BACK! This stretch helps with turnout as well as flexiblity.
Another Splits Tip I have this theory from a friend, that before you do the splits, you take a deep breath. After taking a deep breath, you hold it in for like 5-10 seconds and let out, then split and supposedly you go down farther. (I haven't tried it, it's just a theory, remember? ^^)
Some Great Splits Tips "Spilts just take a looooot of time. A lot a lot. It took me years to get it and one day it just clicks and you're usually consistant after that. One thing you can do is stand in parallel. Try something like one foot back (we'll use the right for now), so that your left knee is bent at a 90 degree angle and your right knee and shin and foot are all resting on the floor. This just stretches your hip joint/socket thing and helps your extention to the back. Then, you can bend your right leg and straighten the left one in front of you, sitting on your right foot and putting your head as close to your left knee as possible. That stretches your hamstring to the front. Repeat on both sides, and be careful at first. Its a veeery good stretch, so you dont have to push too hard in the beginning. And another one is to put your right leg back in attitude. Grab your right knee with your right hand and pull it upward. You can and will want to tilt your torso forward. It sort of stretches your hip and hamstring at the same time - careful with this one too. Repeat on the other side, yadda yadda yadda.
Then there is just the sit in the splits one, but its hard to hold your arms like that if you're very far off the floor. Someone told me once that they sat on a pile of books and once they had mastered, say, 6 books, they took one off the stack and sat on the 5 (still in the splits, mind u) till one day they didnt need the books anymore."
*This entry editted for grammar*
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