Young dancers are often set on a specific career goal, whether it’s becoming a principal at their dream ballet company or performing backup for their favorite pop star. But are today’s students becoming laser-focused on one style too soon? In sports medicine, a growing body of research suggests that specializing in one form of training […]
As governments begin to loosen shelter-at-home restrictions, some dance studios in certain parts of the U.S. and around the world are slowly beginning to open up again. Of course, most dancers have been taking some form of class and cross-training a bit while social distancing. But getting your body ready for a full schedule of […]
In this period of social distancing, many dancers have taken up new forms of cross-training they can do at home. Workouts such as HIIT and yoga can help maintain your conditioning and will reduce the risks of injury once your regular training resumes. We know that inactivity for just two weeks results in significant muscle […]
Dancers are nothing if not disciplined. As soon as studios started shutting their doors, so many online classes began popping up that it became nearly impossible to keep track of them all. But is kitchen-counter barre really the best way to prepare your body to jump back into intensives and performances once we stop social […]
If dancing across a stage is the greatest way to break a sweat, pounding a treadmill under fluorescent lighting has to be among the worst. “A lot of people hate the gym,” says Lauren McIntyre, an athletic trainer and clinical specialist at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Health. Luckily, you don’t […]
Throughout the dance field, artists are proving that early retirement is no longer an inevitability. “The myth that you have to stop dancing once you hit your 30s is pretty much gone,” says Julia Iafrate, founder of the Columbia Dance Medicine clinic in New York City. However, staying healthy requires consistency and hard work. Caring […]
From barre classes to fitness influencers and athleisure outfits, the concept of “wellness” has fully taken over the cultural zeitgeist—and infiltrated the dance world. But wellness is more than just celery juice and healing crystals. It’s a multi-trillion-dollar industry that’s helping people live healthier lives, and putting dancers in a unique position to capitalize on […]
New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns wasn’t sure she was strong enough. A ballerina who has danced many demanding full-length and contemporary roles, she was about to push herself physically more than she thought was possible. “I said, ‘I can’t. My body won’t,’ ” she says. “He told me, ‘Yes, it will.’ ” She […]