Cape Town City Ballet warm-up class. Photo by Michael Groenewald courtesy of CTCB.

Do you ever have those days where you know there is so much more you can do in ballet class, but your body stubbornly refuses to cooperate? Of course you do, silly question, pushing the body beyond its boundaries is basically the definition of ballet, right?

After all, there is no such thing as too many pirouette turns or too much elevation in jumps – dancers are always striving for more.

Dramatic moment with Elizabeth Nienaber. Photo by Michael Groenewald courtesy of CTCB.

But while relentlessly pushing yourself in ballet can certainly give you results, it can also give you injuries. A better approach is to find a happy balance, where you can identify your weak areas and safely strengthen them out of class, enabling you to work harder and with more control in the class.

This is where cross-training for ballet is so valuable.

So when you’re panting after that first allegro exercise and when your feet should be doing hummingbird beats but start to resemble flopping fish instead, it’s time to add some cardio fitness workouts.

And when you’re fighting to hold (or lift) that arabesque, perhaps it’s time to include some core strength conditioning.

Following the recent cross-training article on BodyMindBallet (Best out-the-class ideas for in-the-class performance), I asked a few South African professional ballet dancers to tell us what type of ballet cross-training they do and what works best for them.

Here are some of their ideas that you can try for yourself.

[Although remember that what works for one dancer doesn’t necessarily work for another, so it’s always best to chat to your ballet teacher and physical therapist before starting any new training schedules.]

Ballet cross-training that works:

Michael Revie from South African Mzansi Ballet stretching during rehearsals. Photo by Jurgen Badenhorst courtesy of SAMB.

Michael Revie, principal dancer at South African Mzansi Ballet says, “when I perform, it is normally for 1 and a half to 2 hours and it is a mix of everything, so training many different ways is very, very important for me.”

Michael does circuit training three times a week, mixing upper body and leg workouts, and he aims to do weight training twice a week too. However, he doesn’t stop there.

“Being a dancer, we move every day in different ways,” says Michael. “I feel if I stick to one type of training, I will be neglecting some parts of my body. I need to be fit to run long distance and do sprints, long jump, high jump, weight lifting, flexibility and strength.”

Thomas Thorne of Cape Town City Ballet (CTCB) takes a similar approach with cross-training.  He says “I don’t believe that just a ballet class is enough to keep strong. Ballet has become more athletic and bodies are more toned, so going to the pilates class or the gym is needed.”

Thomas recommends trying many different forms of exercise and he emphasizes that “male dancers also must be strong to partner a girl and get through a solo”.

Kirstel Jensen and Daniel Szybkowski during rehearsals at Cape Town City Ballet’s studios. Photo by Michael Groenewald courtesy of CTCB.

However, even though the physical demands and cross-training needs are different for ballet men and women, that doesn’t mean gym is only for the boys.

Kirstel Jensen, a CTCB dancer, says that gym makes her stronger too, especially helping with upper body strength and also strengthening her legs for jumping and landing. She says working out at the gym also improves her stamina and “it makes muscles not usually used stronger, which in turn improves my ballet technique”.

But when it comes to increasing core body strength, pilates pops up on almost all dancers’ cross-training schedules. Claire Spector (from Cape Town City Ballet) says pilates helps her build strong core muscles, while it’s good for preventing injuries and for general body conditioning.

Elizabeth Nienaber (CTCB) says she does pilates, yoga and gym, listing several benefits including increasing flexibility, relieving stress and she says it provides a “better understanding of the body/mind connection”.

Angela Hansford during rehearsals. Photo by Michael Groenewald courtsy of CTCB.

Angela Hansford (CTCB) believes that yoga works best for her. In particular Angela says that because she’s tall, she needs a very strong core. “This helps me to move faster and be more coordinated,” she says.

Angela adds that yoga stretches are very beneficial, and “heated yoga is also great because you feel more flexible in the heat and can really push your stretches.”

But if you prefer fresh air to hot, stuffy studios, Daniel Szybkowski (CTCB) says he goes jogging and hiking, which he claims strengthens his ankles and legs and also improves his stamina.

But what about cross-training for injury rehabilitation?

Michael Revie has dealt with his fair share of injuries over his career and has developed his own injury prevention/recovery techniques. But as a starting point he says, “if I have an injury, I wait until the physio says I am allowed to train, then I train the injured area by itself (pilates, swimming, biokinetics). As soon as I feel the strength coming back, I start to lift more and train longer.”

See them in action…

Now that you have some insight into these dancers’ off-stage workouts, why don’t you see for yourself how it translates into their on-stage performance?

You can still catch the Cape Town City Ballet dancers on stage this week with their production of The Sleeping Beauty at Artscape until 18 August (tickets through Computicket here); and you can see Michael Revie and the South African Mzansi Ballet dancers in their upcoming production of Cinderella at the Joburg Theatre in September (book those tickets here).

Tips to find your best cross-training balance. Photo by Lululemon Athletica via Flickr.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but if you want to improve your ballet performance, you may need to step outside the ballet class to do it.

Cross-training is the new must-do for professional and aspiring dancers, helping you improve fitness, flexibility, strength, injury recovery, musicality and more.

Now don’t get me wrong, the only way to master pirouettes is to practice them and no amount of cross-training can replace your ballet classes. But with the right combination of training, you’ll have such increased strength and control that you could suddenly find your fouettés start flying and your improvements should be increasingly noticeable from class to class.

However, some exercises are definitely better for ballet than others and you wouldn’t want to build bulky muscles or put yourself at risk for more injuries. So let’s take a look at the best forms of ballet cross-training and what it can do for you.

What’s so important about cross-training for ballet?

Dancers often only realise their weaknesses too late – like the lack of aerobic fitness when you’re panting and out of breath halfway through a stage performance. Or how about those nasty injuries that pop up just when you’re preparing for that big exam?

Dance biokineticist, Tanya Lourens, warns that “if dancers don’t allow sufficient time for their bodies to rest, the benefits of training will be diminished or even reversed, as the body will become over trained.”

Art of Motion’s Kirsten Johnson during a performance at the International Ballet Gala in homage to Alicia Alonso. You can see more Gala photos in the gallery here. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

So how do you increase your strength and fitness but also avoid injuries and ‘over-training’?

Tanya Lourens says that using cross-training correctly can still allow a dancer’s body to recover from a strenuous class, without the risk of developing overuse or repetitive strain injuries.

She suggests the best approach is to engage in a completely different physical activity in order to rest dance-specific muscles. “This will allow the body to adapt as it gives the nervous system a rest from the usual dance specific patterns,” she says.

Esmé Harris, director of Art of Motion, should also know a thing or two about cross-training considering her ballet students are collecting local (South African) and international awards, and not just in ballet, but in rhythmic gymnastics and Irish dancing too.

In fact, the school has purposely designed a cross-training methodology and exercise programme that seems to be giving their dancers an edge in stamina, strength and performance quality.

[You can judge this for yourself if you head over to the Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg on 10 August 2013, where Art of Motion will perform a production called White Noise. Tickets via Computicket.]

Getting the ingredients just right

Esmé Harris compares cross-training for ballet to preparing the precise ingredients for a recipe, warning that “should you omit one ingredient, your end product will either be a total flop or most certainly inferior”.

She says, “ballet dancers need intelligence, musicality, grace, performance quality, technique, flexibility, stamina, strength and a mutual respect for the many other dance genres that require equal skills,” while explaining that many of these qualities can only be acquired outside the ballet halls.

Finding your perfect mix of training ingredients may take some experimentation, but here are some ideas to get you cooking…

Top cross-training ideas

Rhythmic gymnastics:
Great for improving coordination and, according to Harris, “rhythmic gymnastics certainly is the answer to intelligence, flexibility, stamina and strength training,” although she recommends at least four classes should be attended weekly for the best impact.

Uh, no, that’s not quite what we meant by ‘swimming’. Photo by Tommy Wong via Flickr.

Swimming:
Swimming twice a week, all year round, will keep you fit and creates the long lean muscles dancers need. It also serves as an excellent non-weight-bearing recharger for sore muscles.

Harris recommends 80 lengths per session, but even a few laps to begin with could do wonders for your body and fitness.

As for the best strokes, try backstroke to strengthen your upper back, freestyle for a general workout and a bit of breaststroke to focus on your legs, hips and turnout.

Yoga:
Yoga is perfect for building core muscle and mental strength while improving flexibility too. Having to focus on your balance whilst barefoot also helps to awaken and strengthen the intrinsic foot muscles which are so important for strong pointe work. The Art of Motion students take yoga and pilates classes twice a week.

Kirsten de Klerk, pilates instructor from Innermotion Studio in Johannesburg, demonstrates exactly why pilates is known for building fantastic core strength.

Pilates:
While many dancers swear by pilates to improve their core strength, according to Heidi Wright, a ballet teacher and pilates/post-rehabilitation practitioner in Johannesburg, one of the best benefits of pilates for a dancer is learning to use and leverage the breath.

Just knowing when its best to inhale or exhale can either facilitate or debilitate a performance. She says, “a dancer often struggles with their breath when their bodies are pushed to their limits, so training the organs for breathing can give the dancer a greater breath capacity, which will enhance both their performance and stamina.”

Weight training:
For ballet boys, weight training is essential – a minimum of four times a week according to Harris – in order to better prepare for partnering. For ballet girls, you’d rather need to get specific advice on weight training, as you want to maintain long, lean muscles and not build bulk like a bodybuilder.

Oh so Irish. Photo by Rona Proudfoot via Flickr.

Irish, contemporary and other dance genres:
Irish dance can be used to train elevation and improve lower body strength, while contemporary and African dance helps to create expressive upper bodies.

Tap and Spanish dance are particularly good for musicality; and Latin American will certainly assist with rhythm and partnering expertise too.

Esmé Harris adds that “even hip hop has proven to be most challenging and demanding both stylistically and on a fitness front”.

Biokinetics:
A biokineticist can identify weaknesses and risk factors that could result in dance injuries and give you tailor-made physical training as well as education on conditioning principles, which could be applied directly to improve your dance technique.

Physio and other physical therapies:
While not being strictly ‘exercise’, if your budget and schedule allows, you’d be wise to make time for some additional therapies to improve your body’s recovery. And better yet, rather than only visiting a physiotherapist when you have a problem, consider a regular physio session for injury prevention instead. Sports massage, chiropractic and other healing therapies all have tremendous value too, depending on the specific needs of your body.

More trial, less error

Finding your personal recipe for ballet success might take some experimental research. Also keep in mind that, depending on your particular needs, there may be some forms of cross-training that could be great for you and not-so-great for others. So remember to always get the advice of your ballet teacher and physical therapist first before attempting any new training regimes – they’ll know your strengths and weaknesses best.

But if you’re having fun and loving what you’re doing, you’re probably on the right track anyway.

Hey, no judging, whatever makes you happy (and fit). Photo by Kevin Dooley via Flickr

P.S. We’ve asked a few South African professional ballet dancers about their favourite cross-training exercises. Look out for their thoughts on the subject here on BodyMindBallet soon. [UPDATE: Read the article on insider cross-training tips here.] In the meantime, what do you think? Are there any other ballet cross-training tips you can add (in the comments below)?