Description
This do along DVD will show you practical, easy to follow instructions on how to reduce muscular strain, increase flexibility, and develop greater ease with range of movement. Working slowly and carefully with one or two rubber balls pressing against various parts of your body, you will discover areas of tension or tightness that you can release or relax. These techniques are good for all ages and technique levels. Whether you work on your whole body, or do spot releasing (lying on the floor with both balls under the rotators will open the hips for maximum turnout) before class, these techniques are sure to give you more flexible and adaptable muscles which will translate into more fluid and graceful dance movements. *(any rubber ball 2 – 2 1/2 inches or a tennis ball, can be used with this DVD, 58 min.)
Diana –
I am a ballet teacher in San Diego and have been incorporating many of your stretches into my regular class syllabus – starting with very young dancers (ages 7 & all the way up my adult students. It’s never to early (or late) to start good stretching habits. The one exercise that has made a tremendous difference for me personally is using the pinkie ball on the ITB. Teaching (and standing) for many hours a day was taking its toll on my body and I would often go home at night and feel so stiff (not to mention feel like heck in the morning just afer getting out of bed). Now I make it a point to get in the studio at least 45 mins. before my first class and make sure I get a proper stretching warm up before teaching. I especially pay close attention to outside of the hip and work the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus and TFL area with a pinkie ball. The results have been amazing and in the last 6 months I have noticed a great improvement in my over all strength and flexibility. My students tease me – because they know I am never without my pinkie ball in my dance bag. In fact I also keep a tennis ball and small green Foot Rubz ball in my bag as well. They all think I must have a small puppy dog in my dance bag, since I have so many “doggie play toys”. Thanks for the wonderful work that you do, changing dancers lives and helping us live stronger and dance longer!
D.B. –
This testimonial is about something that has made a tremendous difference for me personally in my own work. It has to do with releasing tension in my tibial muscles (a la ‘shin splints’). Firstly, I can hardly believe I spent so many years dancing without a pinkie ball! I think I first had a shin splint problem in the second year of my full time professional training. I had massages, which helped a little. I had wonderful teachers, yet not one came up with any solution as to technical correction, or stretching, that helped. I understand now exactly what happened. My already non-hypermobile ankles seemed to get tighter, not looser, with the years of dancing in pointe shoes. I had no clue until about a year ago when I read some archives from thebodyseries.com and started to understand the issues of relaxing the muscles properly. I got a ball immediately, and after exercising, used it on my tibial muscles. Ouch! Yet, after working it down the front of each calf, and then using it to stretch my insteps, what an incredible difference! The flexibility and ease of movement in my ankles was completely different! I look back rather nostalgically at how much easier my dancing in pointe shoes could have been. And I am so happy to bring up with this subject any chance I get with current ballet students.
Linda –
My older students and I followed along with your ballwork dvd and at the time, I think they all thought it was all a little “weird” although there were a lot of ooohs and ahhhs when they hit those tense spots. I think they figured if nothing else, it felt good. The next day I asked if they noticed a difference with anything, and one girl said her splits were better in dance team practice, and another noticed her kicks were higher! YAY, immediate gratification! I definitely felt a difference in my hips, I hold a lot of tension there. I do ballwork with my students 12 ish and older, and now they even request it!