The Benefits of Pilates Cross Training for Dancers

Being a dancer and practicing Pilates is a match made in heaven. Pilates is a low impact exercise, while strengthening, stretching, and elongating muscles.  A key element of Pilates is cultivating a mind-body connection to maximize the benefits of your movements. Dance requires all of these things to be successful but through the nature of the craft, an outside form of cross training is needed to target the muscles that allow you to move effortlessly. I had a ballet teacher that would say, “you have to be strong to do ballet, but ballet doesn’t make you strong.” Any form of dance requires effort outside of the studio to keep improving and prevent injuries along the way. When you are a young dancer preparing to go on pointe, this is a crucial time for strength. 

Julie Davis, a former dancer with the Richmond Ballet, recalls her first introduction to Pilates was when she was preparing to go on pointe. Julie’s physical therapist told her she needed more strength to hold herself on pointe and Pilates was the answer. Julie danced professionally with Cincinnati Ballet for one year and Richmond Ballet for 3 and a half years, and afterwards she enrolled in Niche’s Instructor Training to become a certified Pilates Instructor herself after seeing the benefits firsthand. For myself, my experience and understanding of Pilates, was specifically Reformer Pilates to help with my strength and turn out. I was shocked by how little strength I had and was immediately hooked by how much it helped my ballet technique. After years of dancing professionally and practicing Pilates myself, I decided to look into starting instructor training to help others. In the summer of 2021, I discovered Niche’s training program in Richmond, Virginia and was fascinated by how much more I could learn. Now that I have retired after 12 years at the Richmond Ballet, I work full-time for Niche and am inspired by Niche’s team of Pilates instructors that have a wealth of knowledge to learn from. 

As dancers, you are constantly testing your end range, holding insane positions for long periods of time, and forcing your body into positions it may not want to be in or even have the strength to do. Once you are on the Reformer, then you understand the muscles needed to hold those positions, not gripping anything you can, and truly meeting yourself where you are at that day. It is important to note that not only Reformer Pilates achieves these benefits but Mat Pilates has been shown to improve ballet technique. An article from the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association references a study that notes, “The dancers participated in Mat Pilates daily for seven weeks and researchers found a significant increase in the shoulder, hip, and knee flexion and extension strength, and a significant improvement in pelvic alignment during static posture at the end of the study” (NESTA, 2021).

Oftentimes dancers will be forcing their turn out from their feet, not knowing that it needs to come from their glute strength. Pilates incorporates breath cues to improve your strength by timing your exhale with exertion to achieve maximum results.There can be so much pressure in dance classes amongst peers that sometimes we need to step back and work on our own body and not try to be the dancer next to us. If you are sparked by getting into the Pilates studio and checking it out for yourself to improve your ballet technique, you will not regret it. Below are a few Mat Pilates exercises you can do at home before trying a class with us at our studio in Richmond. Afterwards, you may want to check out our blog on 10 At-home foam roller moves for full-body release to roll out those sore muscles and increase mobility.  

The Hundred: This is a classical Pilates exercise that warms up the core and breath.

-Lay on your back with your legs straight to the ceiling and arms to your side hovering the ground. 

-Lower your legs as far as they can go while still maintaining your neutral spine, head, neck and shoulders lift off the floor. 

-Pump your arms while you inhale for 5 and exhale for 5 -10x

Bicycle: 

-Lay on your back with one leg long hovering the floor and the other is bent and pulled in towards your chest. 

-Pulse the leg while holding one hand on the outside of the shin, one hand on the inside of the shin and then switch legs continuously for 10-12 reps.

Bridging: 

-Lay on your back with your feet parallel and flat on the floor. Bend your knees at a 90 degree angle.

- Hips tilt forward as you come into bridge and lower down one vertebrae at a time x10

- Hold at the top of the bridge, keeping hips in one straight line, draw one knee to the chest at a time x12

In addition to private and group Mat and Reformer Pilates classes at Niche, we are hosting a Conditioning for Dancers workshop on August 10th at Niche from 10:30am-12:30pm. This workshop will dive deeper into the benefits of Pilates and dance, we hope to see you there.

Sources:

​​NESTA. (2021, May 6). Benefits of pilates for athletes and dancers: Nesta. Personal Trainer Certification, Nutrition Courses, Fitness Education. https://www.nestacertified.com/benefits-of-pilates-for-athletes-and-dancers/