Ballet Canada

Here are some more information for Ballet Canada:

It is the running and pivoting team sports that this study addresses. Sprinters and runners go in one direction, and do not have to risk knee rotation. This article from Science Daily also reports:

"The thought is, if you play jumping, turning, twisting sports, that you should be better prepared to protect your knee against rotational forces," Wojtys says.

That's why the measurements for the females involved in non-pivoting sports were surprising when compared to females in the pivoting sports. Females in non-pivoting sports had an increase in knee stiffness of 198 percent - 27 percent higher than the females in pivoting sports.

"Women who played jumping, turning, twisting sports actually had the poorest ability to protect themselves against rotational strains," Wojtys says. "

Please note that the above reference to "stiffness" means deliberate tension of the knee muscles, not the kind of stiffness resulting from strain or over training.

Ballet is a pivotal movement system. We do turn and pivot both in adage, jumps and on pointe. But we have turnout to protect our knees, especially, but also our all of our joints. We employ turnout to change direction smoothly.

And, of course, our movements are choreographed in advance, and well rehearsed.

The strength of our turnout and placement means we do not have to twist to turn or pivot. This takes years of training. Athletes also practise dodging and twisting movements for speed and reflex, but to date, do not generally understand how to protect their joints.

This study shows that female athletes are more likely to risk knee injuries. What a shame that so far, it is mainly football players who study ballet, to avoid the risk of injuries resulting from twisting and tearing joints.

In the field of Dance Medicine inspired authors like Deborah Vogel and Lisa Howell write about the finer details of functional anatomy, mostly in relationship to dance and working in pointe shoes. I recommend their works to any aspiring female athlete. They could learn some basic ballet exercises to build strength and avoid knee injuries.

Dianne M. Buxton trained at The National Ballet School of Canada, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and Toronto Dance Theater. Click here for free articles on how to get exactly the right fit in ballet shoes and pointe shoes, The Perfect Pointe Book, The Ballet Bible, details about ballet technique, dance books, and full body workouts.

Tips For The Ballet Summer Intensives Auditions And The Nerves

Many ballet summer intensives require auditions. Some will accept a DVD or VHS tape of you dancing, and they will specify what they want to see, to determine the level and accuracy of your ballet technique and ballet positions. If you search on the internet for summer intensives, there are pages and pages of results to view.

Some schools tour with audition classes. Another outreach is, for example, The Princeton University summer intensive can be auditioned for in Toronto, Canada, at the National Ballet School.

Look for details on every web site. Some summer intensives offer housing in dorms or "host family" homes. Many do not offer any housing. Parents, I'm sure, are concerned about the kind of environment where the summer intensive they choose is located.

Many parents and ballet students want an out-in-nature environment where a school may offer more than ballet classes.

And many serious ballet students know that, in order to be able to audition for the college dance department of their choice later, they need to focus on ballet and other dance styles now, to the exclusion of all else.

Spending a couple of summers away from home can be helpful for ballet students. Some may discover that they do not agree with the ballet lifestyle after all, even though they love dancing. The intensity, the competition, the sub-culture aspect of dance, is not a life that is meant for everyone.

If this is true for you, or if your real talent will come out best in some other performance venue such as acting, modern dance, singing, or in another field entirely, the sooner you discover this, the better.

Also bear in mind that smaller more local schools may offer better classes, even though they do not bear a famous ballet school name or have famous guest faculty. Depending on your age and level of training, it may be better to stay close to home, and continue to benefit from smaller classes and the familiarity that has nurtured you so far. You will know when you are ready for a bigger and strange environment. Even if you feel the audition nerves, you will want to go for a bigger challenge.

If you feel like the audition nerves are going to be overwhelming, take a look at "Train Your Brain" by dance medicine specialist Deborah Vogel. It is not written just for ballet dancers, but for all young people, to help understand how you can replace negative thoughts, and from there, better any situation that you choose to change.

Whatever summer ballet intensive you find, once you are accepted and registered, you have a grand adventure to look forward to!

About the Author

balletdancestudio.net

For more info and tips on Ballet just CLICK HERE and go to balletdancestudio.net

Is there any way I could take an online tour of The Natinal Ballet School of Canada (NBS)?

I'm going there this summer, and I have no idea what it looks like. Obviously, I won't go all the way to Toronto just to see it, so I was wondering if they have an online tour i can see (interactive or not, maybe a video, maybe point and click... whatever there is available.) ?

You should check their website to see if they have one. That's the only place I can think of that they would have one.

Coulbourn reviews Swan Lake
Toronto Sun critic John Coulbourn reviews The National Ballet of Canada's Swan Lake on from March 11-21.

Thanks for visiting!