The Best Cross-Training for Dancers, According to 12 of Your Faves

October 2, 2019

Today, dancers are cross-training more than ever. And though there are some recommendations about what types of cross-training might be best for dancers’ bodies, ultimately it comes down to what works for you.

We asked 13 pros about their go-to cross-training routines as part of our “Spotlight” series—and each one of them has a totally different approach:


Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Jamar Roberts

Roberts onstage in a spotlight. He wears shiny silver pants and an open red track jacket with no shirt underneath. He also wears a red cap. He crosses one leg in front of the other, and has his arms to the sides, one curved up and the other curved down.

Jamar Roberts in Talley Beatty’s Stack-Up.

Photo by Paul Kolnik, courtesy Ailey

“Yoga is a daily necessity for mind, body and spirit.”


San Francisco Ballet’s Sarah Van Patten

Van Patten in the party scene. She is in attitude, with one arm in fifth position above her head and the other in second to the side. She wears a pink long sleeved-dress. Other party guests meander around her.

Van Patten in Romeo and Juliet

Erik Tomasson, Courtesy SFB

“Gyrotonic all day, every day.”