Stretching Tips for Dancers

To help your body perform its best, stretching will not only improve your flexibility and the ease at which you can move, but it will also help prevent injuries. Consider stretching as an element that is equally important as training for strength, balance and power. Learn how to make the most of every stretch.

Give your body the stretch of a lifetime by applying these stretching basics into every stretch:

POSTURE

Keep your neck long with your head facing forward, roll your shoulders back and down, lengthen your torso, keep your hips even and energize your legs. FACT: Proper alignment improves stretches and prevents injury. TIP: Try stretching in front of a mirror.

BREATHING

Stretches are better and you feel less stressed when you take deep regular breaths. As a general rule, inhale to prepare and exhale when you stretch or go deeper into the stretch. FACT: Pilates breathing can be used in all of your stretching to maximize your stretch and relaxation. TIP: Try inhaling through the

nose, pulling air into your diaphragm, not your chest and exhale through your mouth.

WARM MUSCLES

A cold muscle is not as elastic as a warm one, so stretching without a warm-up means that you will get less length and could possibly injure yourself. Just do a little dance in your cubicle, walk around the block or do a five minue slow ro on the treadmill to get your muscles warm enough before you stretch.

HEAD-TO-TOE APPROACH

You must pay attention to all muscles groups in your body when giving stretching TLC because it’s the only way to stay aligned and flexible. For example, leaving your neck or hips neglected can cause increased pain in the muscle, making it harder and harder to stretch. Next thing you know, surrounding muscle groups will start picking up on the strain.

TIPS to REMEMBER

Hip flexors and gluteus muscles need more stretching time than the average 15 to 30 seconds. Be sure to hold all of your stretches until you feel the tension in the muscle release. Once the tension has released, exhale to allow for a deeper stretch. A great way to stretch your muscles, and especially your gleuts!

At the Audition

It is good to not be the first or last person along the barre.

Why? If you're last, no one to follow if you forget the steps! The person who goes first may be given conservative scores or be forgotten by the end.

When they teach you a combination to perform try to do it exactly the way the choreographer moves. Don't "plus" it with your own interpretation. If they see you doing something different, they will assume that you can't remember the steps.

Judges want to see people who look like they are enjoying dancing....smile!

Remember, you don't necessarily have to be the best, but if you look like you're having a blast, you are going to look a lot better then the girl next to you who is doing the steps perfectly but is frowning so hard with concentration

Before the Audition

Learn as much as you can about your kind of dance.

Get a good night's sleep before the audition.

Get a good breakfast so you'll have energy.

Get psyched up to perform, don't panic.

Go over steps in your head and work on building up your confidence.

All you can do is your best, so there is no point in worrying too much.

Plan on just going in there, do your best and see if they like you.

Wearing a distinctive leotard will help your chances. That will single you out and you will appear to be more distinct.

Try to avoid "cattle-calls"...the best way to go is to get a private audition.

All About the Dance JIVE

The Jive is one the fastest dance of all five Latin dances, the Jive has a lively variation to the jitterbug and some basic patterns of the east coast swing, both the jive and the east coast swing consist of two steps and a rock step.

But the Jive starts in the count with the rock step first that's counted three and four and five and six. Jive is a up beat dance that uses at lot of knee bending, lifting and twirling of the woman, rocking of the hips and lots of kicks. The Jive doesn't move all over the dance floor even though it appears that way, the dancer's actually keep their feet tucked well under their body's with there knee's close together. Jive can be danced to variety of up beat music including the blues, swing Chart Hits, Disco, Latin, Rock'n'Roll, Rhythm'n'Blues, Swing, Boogie-Woogie, Salsa etc.. Whatever style you prefer to use.

In 1942, an American soldier brought back the dance the lindy hop and jitterbug to Europe the two dance's found a following among the younger generation. The term swing in the united states became the most common word used to describe the word dance. The UK techniques led to dance styles such as boogie-woogie and the swing. Then merging into the genetic term the Jive. English instructors developed the elegant and lively ballroom Jive, danced to slightly slower music. In 1968 the jive was adopted into the international Latin dance competitions.

The modern form of ballroom jive in the 1990s-present, is a very happy and boppy dance, the lifting of knees and the bending or rocking of the hips often occurs. The jive originated in the United States in the early 1930's by the African Americans. The dance the jive is a variation between the jitterbug and the swing dance.

In 1934 Cab Calloway presented the dance the jive to the public, In 1968 the Jive was adopted as the fifth Latin dance competition. A good thing about learning the dance jive it's fun especially if it's partner dancing, Dancing Jive is a fitness, learning, dance and social event all rolled into one. Jive is a wonderful form of cardiovascular exercise,half hour of DANCING Jive will burn as many as 200-400 calories. That's an equivalent amount to exercises like cycling, swimming or power walking. Jive increases your heart rate, helps you burn more calories, tones your muscles, and when your muscles are toned they help you lose weight.

The Jive is a dance style derived from many other dance like the swing, lindy hop and rock and roll and even salsa. The jive is one of the easiest of all five Latin dance's to learn, jive footwork is ultra simple, the basic steps of jive consist of six patterns counting steps the male is usually the leader. The count's are 1 and 2 chasse to the left 3 and 4 chasse to the right count 5 and 6 is the rock step ( left foot step back right foot step is mirrored by the woman). While dancing the jive the face's is emotionless and the feet is well controlled under the body. The jive does incorporate a lot bending and lifting, twirling across the floor.

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