A few weeks ago my husband and I were driving to Montana, listening to music on his iPod.  “Tango Shoes” (July’s Song of the Month) came on, and in a sort of meditative passenger state,
I got pulled into the lyrics of the song while watching the scenery going by.

 The chorus is:
My new tango shoes,
They are my treasure. They are so cool!
My new tango shoes,
They are my ticket!  My tools!
New new tango shoes
Are going to help me dance away from you.
My new tango shoes!

The song is pretty simple really – dance empowers her to leave a situation that is not good for her, but that got me to think about the power of dance.  Yes, dance is fun, and as a society we may or may not put a whole lot of value on that, but it is also powerful.  As Vicki Baum says, dancing is a short-cut to
happiness, but perhaps it’s also a short-cut to good mental health?  Have you ever seen a child who didn’t just instinctively and ecstatically dance when music comes on? If to dance is an instinct, and the purpose of insticts is survival, then perhaps dance plays a really important part in our overall well-being and evolution?
What role does dance play in your life?

Written by Mellilah

Don’t forget to check out the dance flooring before taking dance classes or choosing a studio. Dancing on hard surfaces, like concrete, or dancing on flooring that is too soft, can lead to injury and can even end a dancer’s career!

Dancing on hard floors can produce serious return shock waves, causing premature wear on cartilage and damage to muscles and joints. Basically, there’s no decompression of the surface when your feet hit the floor, so all the force just pounds up into your legs, instead of having some of the force dissipating into a floor that moves a little. In contrast, dancing on a floor that is too soft can cause the muscles and tendons to work harder. A dance floor needs the right amount of energy absorption and flexibility, which will differ slightly according to the type of dance/activity.

Guidelines and Suggestions for Safe Dancing:
~Look for sprung (or semi-sprung) sub-floors, also known as floating floors
~Find out what’s under the surface? Just because you see wood, doesn’t mean it’s safe.
~Avoid dancing on concrete!!
~Avoid squishy surfaces
~Avoid uneven surfaces
~Look for floors that are clean, unpolished, and not waxed
~Ask the teacher or a staff member about the floor
~Carpeted area? Pull up a corner of the carpet and visibly see what is underneath
~Test the floor. Knock on the floor with your knuckles to see how much give it has. Jump on the floor and see if it seems to absorb some of the shock
~Consider the type of dance/exercise you will be doing. The more jumping, bouncing and/or propelling into the air, the better the floor must be. Higher Impact = Better Flooring
~How often will you be dancing on the floor? Increased Frequency = Better Flooring
~If you will be dancing barefoot, you’ll need to avoid abrasive or slippery surfaces
~If you must dance on a hard surface, wear dance sneakers, use good technique, limit duration, and stick with low impact movements

Some Effects of Dancing on Poor Dance Flooring:
Shin splints
Stress fractures
Inflamed ligaments and joints
Joint damage to ankles, knees, and hips
Damage to the spinal vertebrae
Premature wear of cartilage
Damage to muscles
Achilles tendonitis

Articles for Further Reading:
Flooring it: one key to dancing well–and long–is right beneath your feet.
The Facts About Sprung Floors for Dance
Flooring Ergonomics
Flooring for Dance, Theatre and Performing Arts (Read: What You Need to Know)
National Floor Standard
Wikipedia: Sprung Floor
Harlequin Floors: Considerations for Choosing a Dance Floor
Dancer’s Health A Medical Resource – Reflexology for Dancer’s Feet
How to Keep Feet From Hurting When Dancing
ANS E1 .26-2006 (Scroll down to find floor standard)

For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com

With rehearsal and performance season upon us, it’s important to remember small steps that can help in big ways.

Long hours of rehearsing are taxing for the body, so here are a few tips to prevent injury and illness, so that you will be in top shape when it’s time to perform. Remember to pack healthy snacks, like granola or fruit, and remember to bring water. When temperatures drop outside, take the time to cool down before leaving the warmth of the dance studio. Heading out into winter weather in a leotard you’ve just soaked with sweat can make you sick. Don’t neglect stretching before rehearsal, either; it’s just as easy to rush and cause injury before warming up as to rush out the door too quickly without cooling down. If large portions of your rehearsals are spent at the barre, on the floor or with a partner, make sure to wash or sanitize your hands to keep a handle on the germs you come in contact with.

Throughout the rehearsal season, be sure to pace yourself so that you don’t become exhausted. As your level of physical
activity increases, so should the amount of rest you get. Even if rehearsals run late, it’s important to get enough sleep and down time to recuperate. Muscles and joints rebuild themselves during sleep; without enough of it, you’re courting extra problems. Make sure to take time to keep your mind from becoming exhausted, too—busy days mean stress, and taking the time to unwind can stop the entire season from becoming too taxing.

As a dancer, your body is your instrument, so you want it to be in great shape for your performances. Taking these precautions can go a long way in ensuring a healthy and successful performance season.

Many of you may be heading off to an intensive Summer Program, and if this is your first time, you might want to check out an article that we sent out last year about getting prepared. You can find it here:
Preparing for Summer Programs
However, some of you might also be taking a break for the summer. Sometimes it is good to take off short periods of time to recharge. As they say, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” While a break from your regular dance schedule can reinspire you, it’s important to not take a break from all physical activity, as this can cause you to lose strength and flexibility and undo some of the strides you made during the year. Shannon, a dance instructor and employee here at Centerstage, warns that flexibility is one of the first things to go and can make getting back into dance more challenging and even result in injury. Therefore, maintaining flexibility during your break is a smart and healthy thing to do.
Taking yoga or pilates classes is an excellent alternative during your time off. Or if you play sports or are involved in
other athletic activities, you could follow those up with some stretching after you are done.
Stretching is important for a few reasons. When you work a muscle, the muscle fibers shorten. Stretching after you have worked a muscle will lengthen those muscle fibers so that they are ready to work again. This gives you flexibility and range of motion, which will help to prevent injuries. Stretching also helps blood flow and releases chemicals that build up in a muscle when you work it.
That said, it is important to know that if stretching isn’t done properly or at the right time, it can also cause injury. I may be preaching to the choir, but this next point is so important that it is worth repeating. People used to stretch as a way to warm up, but now we know that it is better to gently warm the body up first and then go into stretching because stretching a cold muscle can result in tiny micro tears that form scar tissue, which gradually leads to a loss in flexibility.
So here are a few tips about stretching properly:
1) Warm up first and then stretch.
2) Stretch big muscle groups first and smaller muscle groups second.
3) Don’t bounce when you stretch. Hold your stretch in a static position for at least 10-30 seconds.
4) Don’t stretch until it hurts. Stretching should never hurt. You want to just stretch past your normal flexibility. “Baby
Steps” is a good motto because aggressive stretching can cause muscle strain or tears.
So, no matter what you are doing for the summer, don’t forget to stretch!

As dancers, taking care of our feet is important. There is a great resource here in Seattle that you may not be aware of. Dr Woodle works with the dancers from the Pacific Northwest Ballet, so he understands the issues that dancers have with their feet, particularly ballet dancers. If you are having some issues that you think a doctor should take a look at, he is the one to call.
Dr Alan S Woodle D.P.M.
8111 Greenwood Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103
Phone: (206) 784-3144

There are a couple myths that I think a lot of people have about dance, whether they realize it or not. When I first took over Centerstage, I was surprised when people asked if I “used to” dance. As a 32 year-old and a Middle Eastern dancer, my dance career was far from being over. However, this question made me realize that many people believe that dancing is only for the very young. When I was in college, my grandmother asked me what I wanted to do with my life, and so I told her that I wanted to be a professional dancer. She exclaimed, “But, Dearie, you wouldn’t be using your mind!” And here we have Myth #2 – that dance is good for the body but not so much for the mind. Or put even more harshly, dancers are oftentimes dumb. As a society that values higher education and intellect, I think dance is often devalued as a sort of fluffy pastime.
The truth of the matter is that dance isn’t just for kids, and it doesn’t just benefit the body. According to a study done in
2003, dancing regularly (at least twice a week) can drastically reduce your chances of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Researchers have found that regular physical activity causes the brain to release extra chemicals that build nerve cells, and dancing in particular helps the brain maintain memory skills.
It seems to me that dancing, in any style, is the best form of exercise around, and it is something that we should do at all
stages of our life, whether professionally or socially.

Lisa Howell, author of The Perfect Pointe book, has written a companion manual for parents, and amazingly enough, she is
offering it to the world free of charge!

Here is what one parent has to say about it:

“Dear Lisa,

Thank you so very much for producing a wonderful tool for dancer and parents from your many years of working with dance students. Your insights and advice have proved to be invaluable to our family. Our teenage daughter has, more recently, been struggling with the many frustrations of ongoing injury coupled with the expectations of her dance school and the academic expectations of her parents. Your manual has proven to be, not only a fantastic resource, but an ally for me in bringing up the difficult subjects; Subjects such as the immense value of good nutrition & the struggle with not always being able to be perfect. Your manual has clearly and concisely explained how nutrition is so vital in the recovery of ongoing injury and given us guidelines to follow.

Reading “The Perfect Pointe Parents Manual” has also given me a valuable insight into the issues faced by all dancers that I had not considered. This again has enabled me to be conscious of the struggles young dancers face and has enabled both my daughter and I to have extremely proactive discussions. We are following a different pattern whereby we can discuss & resolve existing issues and be aware of others resulting in a harmonious outcome.”
(S.M)

Click here for your free copy.

For more information about the Perfect Pointe Book, click here.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day throughout the month of February….
Give someone you love the gift of Therapeutic Massage, AND
get one for yourself for free! That’s right – 2 people,
2 massages, for 1 price! It’s 2 for 1 SUNDAYS all through
February.
To make an appointment contact Cynthia Callison (ext. #10) or
Michelle Wallar (ext. #12) @ Seattle Advanced Bodywork
Associates:: 4033 Stone Way N:: Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 675-1740
Tell them Centerstage sent you!

A lot of girls (and their parents) are understandably scared of what pointe work will do to their feet, and are worried about it being painful. In the past, with badly fitting shoes and often poor strength in the feet, many dancers did get terrible pain and had problems with their feet.

But this is not the case any more!

The Perfect Pointe Book has a fantastic new program that teaches you how to strengthen your feet and body in the shortest space of time. Now that pointe shoes are available in so many different fittings, if your feet are very strong, and the shoes fit well, it is quite possible to dance with little or no pain at all! If you start off knowing what to feel, and how to get the most out of your shoe, you can have a long and happy career dancing on your toes.

Written by Dance Physiotherapist Lisa Howell, this one-of-a-kind book teaches you how to test yourself, and work out what any weaknesses may mean. It then guides you through four special exercise programs designed to really target those areas and improve your technique and strength as quickly as possible!

If you are planning on any form of career or continued practice in ballet, this book is an essential part of your ballet bag. Whether you are just beginning pointe, or have been en pointe for years, you will learn so much about your body and how it should work by going through this process.

“This is an excellent manual for both pre-pointe and advanced dancers. It is simple to use, and will be a great help to students who are serious about developing good pointe work. Lisa has written many helpful exercises, with clear photographs to demonstrate how to improve strength and prevent injury. This manual would also be very useful for teachers, and particularly student teachers, who want to learn how to safely prepare their pupils for pointe work. ”

- Lindsay Ellman-Brown LRAD ARAD
Grade Examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance
Junior School Head Teacher – Ecole Ballet Studios, Sydney, Australia

Click Here for more information about The Perfect Pointe Book

“Building A Strong Foundation Builds A Strong Future!”

The physical benefits of yoga are well known. Flexibility, increase in strength, better posture, to name a few. But did you know that yoga can help with stress, anxiety, stage fright and focus? As dancers we can experience all of these whether we are just training and preparing or are actually in a performance. The demands of being in a company or troop can also increase stress.
The physical postures of Yoga can help us to learn to communicate with our body, spirit and mind. They teach us to be present in the moment and feel what our bodies need. As we learn to listen to our bodies we find that it is easier to focus. It becomes easier to be the movement rather than thinking about the movement.
The breathing that is learned in yoga can also help relieve stress and improve focus. As we learn to control our breathing we increase the oxygen that our bodies receive. This allows our muscles to relax.
Stage fright can be a minor problem for some or a major hindrance for others. Learning to use our breath to decrease the feelings of adrenaline can help us to get through the pre-performance jitters. Try this exercise to help relieve stress, or for panic attacks and stage fright: Put one hand on your stomach and one hand on your chest, take a slow deep breath while counting to 6, as you inhale through your nose you should see your hand on your stomach rise first then the other hand as you fill your diaphragm with air and then your lungs. Exhale to the count of six, repeat and increase the count to the best of your ability up to 12 or more.
As dancers we learn to use our diaphragms to breathe while we are dancing but we often forget to do so when we are not dancing. This kind of breathing should be done all of the time. We are able to get much more air if we are filling our stomachs with air first. When we are tense or stressed we tend to breath very shallow and with only our lungs. This exercise will increase the amount of air your body is receiving and help to relax and rejuvenate you. Namaste

Brooke Murray is a registered Yoga instructor teaching private
and small group lessons.
For more information call 206-853-4997

Click Here for Part 1 of this series.