Ballet Stretching
The Secrets To Why It's So Important

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Ballet Stretching is something every dancer needs to do before and after class.

Why? It's important to stretch out the muscles to release any tight limbs. By stretching often, it will lengthen out the muscles and let you gradually become more flexible.

Photo sourced from dance.about.com

There are many different factors that can affect a dancer to improve their flexibility:

Type of joint - Some joints are not designed to be flexible. It's important to understand what your own body is capable of.

Body Temperature - You're more flexible when the body is warm. That's why, whenever stretching, it's necessary that you're well warmed up.

Age - Younger people are generally more flexible than adults.

This might not make sense because all professional dancers who are adults are flexible. However, they have worked to be flexible all their life so it's now a natural part of how their body functions.

Gender - It isn't always the case, but females are often more flexible than males.

Time of day - Most dancers are more flexible in the afternoon than the morning.

Temperature - A warmer place to work in is more beneficial to increased flexibility.

Injuries - Injured muscles offer less flexibility than healthy ones.

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Ballet stretching should relax the muscles. Whenever stretching, it needs to be a gentle process which you ease in to.

No stretch should make you feel like your in agony; the whole point to stretching is to relax and loosen the muscles.

The main stretches dancers use to relax the muscles are the hamstring stretch, calf stretch and quad stretch.

Dancers stretch for several important reasons. It lengthens out the limbs which loosens any tight muscles. It also increases flexibility which is vital to any dancer.

Every dancer needs to have flexibilty. This would mean to have loose limbs and to have the strength to maintain high legs whilst dancing.

The more dance training you do, the more flexible you will become. For example. by doing Grand Battement and Adage regularly will improve your flexibility.

Not every dancer is naturally incredibly flexible. The majority of dancers have to work to get their muscles more supple.

Flexibility comes along with a lot of strength. It is something that will come in time with the combination of hard work, stretching and training. So keep practicing!

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