Are My Legs Straight?

I personally struggle with a very specific problem... I swear my back leg is straight in my leaps and arabesques when it in fact not straight. If your dancers are experiencing this, there might actually be a medical reason. According to the editor of Dance Teacher Magazine, Deborah Vogel, meniscal tears, swelling, trauma, or arthritis might all be the culprit. There is also the possibility your dancer is not properly working their turnout. If your dancer's kneecap of their leg is dropped towards the ground in arabesque, the leg will appear bent if it is in fact straight. Lastly, your student's body type may be the reason. If the student has a naturally knobby knee that protrudes forward, it could appear bent while they are trying to straighten it.

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Are you properly teaching the "Frog"?

While attending Velocity Nationals in 2014, a workshop was provided for the individuals at Nationals with a director or instructor pass. This workshop was taught by Shannon Mather. With more than a plethora of experience and a resume as long as an encyclopedia, Shannon Mather is more than qualified to speak to dance instructors and share her experiences and knowledge. One go-to that many of us use after sliding through our middle splits during warm-up is the "frog" stretch. By laying on your belly, slapping your feet together behind you, and letting gravity do the work on your feet (like pictured above), many of us may think that we are stretching out hips. However, as Shannon Mather noted, this stretch is actually just twisting your knees into an unnatural turned in position. However, the correct way to do this stretch is to ensure your students' knees are in 90 degree angles. With their feet right below their knees, they will sink their hips as low as possi...

Ballet Music

If typical ballet barre music puts you to sleep, there is a CD with a variety of music that may be a bit more your speed. This article highlights an album for ballet barre and center music that is engaging for the listener, with a variety of moods and arrangements from different ballet scores. Also, the selections for barre run two times consecutively so your students can do both right and left side without you having to restart the music. This CD is definitely a huge asset for every ballet teacher who'd like to mix up their music selection!

The Physics Behind Ballet

This is an extremely interesting video from Ted Ed, which explains the physics of doing fouetté turns on pointe! I highly recommend showing this video to your dancers. There are extremely important elements in which reinforce their training with actual facts, like why your spot and your relevé are important.

The Instructor's Dance Floor

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