Working Out With Elena d'Amario

December 28, 2016

Elena d’Amario approaches every chance to perform as though a judge on a TV show were urging her to “dance for your life.” Her movement explodes past the expanse of her skin, her face alive and passionate with every fearless battement, breathy swing and fluid undulation. So it was little surprise when the lively native of Pescara, Italy, landed a job with Parsons Dance through a popular Italian TV talent competition in 2010.

But it turns out that the secret behind her extraordinary power onstage is thoughtful, simple work on her body. During daily company class—a Parsons-style ballet warm-up—d’Amario starts barre by focusing closely on her back and core. In the center, she shifts her attention to energetic intention. “Each shape should be a statement of energy,” she says. “Then, in jumps, which we do so much of, I work toward that lovely silent landing.”


To handle all the jumps in Parsons’ rep, d’Amario keeps her core strong and her IT bands loose. PC Lois Greenfield, Courtesy Parsons.

Whenever she has downtime throughout the rehearsal day, d’Amario performs crunches in various positions to keep her core ready to control her long limbs. She also uses a ball to roll out the tense spots of her hips or hamstrings, since healthy IT bands keep her knees safe for the deluge of jumping.

D’Amario finds this preventative and proactive approach keeps her body healthy. “Throughout the second season, I had pain in my knee, but I made a huge mistake and ignored it,” she says. “I would roll out my IT band and leave it at that. But on the last day of work, I went to jump in class, and I felt something ‘flip.’ It was my meniscus.”

She was fortunate to recover relatively quickly by working carefully with her physical therapist. “At first, she would just bend and straighten my knee, which was so painful,” d’Amario remembers. “Two weeks later, we started flexing my foot and just lifting my leg 15 times.” Soon, she added a Thera-Band for resistance, and, eventually, small ankle weights. Now, even though she’s recovered, d’Amario continues to practice the same exercises every morning, making sure to fortify all the muscles around her knees. “It’s elementary, but sometimes to gain muscle back, you have to just go slowly and carefully.”