Helpful hints for dancers

Some dancers, or people who want to dance don't actually know too much about what is good or not good for dancers. I learned some throughout my 11 years of dance and for any dancers who are curious, here are some random hints/facts!

• If you ever get cramps in your feet, eat more bananas! Potassium helps reduce muscle cramps, and are very healthy for you.
• Whenever you are doing any kind of jump while dancing, make sure your heels fully touch the ground. If your heel does not touch the ground, this could risk your Achilles tendon snapping. If your achillies snaps, then your foot will just hang! So be very careful. If this does happen to any of you dancers out there, don't worry it is fixable. This happened to my dance teacher when she did gymnastics and she's been fully healed for a while.
• If anyone is curious about point shoe buying, you should always  get your point shoes fitted. You may think your feet haven't grown at all, but point shoes need to be fitted perfectly to your feet. Do not buy someone else's, don't buy some random pair, get your point shoes fitted and it will be so much better for your feet and for your dance performance.
• I'm sure many dancer's teachers/instructors have told you to spot while doing turns. If, for any reason your wonder why they tell you that, it's because that's how you can nail your turns! If you have a solid spot when turning, then there is a high chance of getting your turns down faster. If any of you haven't heard of the term "spot" or "spotting", it is when your are going into some kind of turn and you need a focal point toward the direction you're turning in. Once you have a focal point and constantly look at it while turning, besides when you have to spin around, this can help you get solid turns. If my definition of those terms isn't clear, just look them up on Google and I'm almost 100% positive you'll find a better description, or even a video to help you learn how to spot.

Well, these are some of the main hints/facts I learned throughout my dance career. I hope these help!

Want Splits for Dance?

Some dancers may not know how valuable your splits are for dance. I never really had my splits down, and I know that they are extremely important to get certain dance moves accomplished. Here are some links that I feel would help dancers out a lot on getting their splits fast:

http://dance.about.com/od/stepsandmoves/ss/Splits.htm

http://www.danceadvantage.net/2009/11/19/stretching-splits/

http://www.ehow.com/video_12238369_splits-using-wall.html

Also, just google search how to do the splits and something should come up to whatever works best for you! Don't rush trying to do the splits and cause an injury, just stretch and practice them everyday and they should come along.

About a week or two ago, I watched this movie called First Position. I had no clue what it was about, but I decided to watch it because it had to do with dance. What I saw of it was a documentary about young dancers, can't remember the exact age, competing in dance competitions around the world. There were different aged dancers interviewed, and showed their back stories. The back stories mostly included their families. These dancers based their lives off of dance and nothing else. Every day they dance for hours and hours, ate healthy, had to get plenty of rest. I can understand this because for dance you need a lot of stamina, experience, energy, and dedication if you really want to pursue this art.

I thought this movie was interesting because it's crazy to imagine people at such a young age, know exactly what they want to do with their entire lives. Even before they're teenagers they know that dancing is going to be their dream career, and base their whole lives of this one talented art. I love dancing, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I could dedicate my whole life to an art where that's all you do. I like trying new things, but I will always want to dance.

If any of you have a Netflix account, this movie is on instant watch. If you don't have a Netflix account, I believe you can get just instant watch for free, but I would double check before making an account. Again, this movie is called First Position. If anyone wants to know what it takes to dedicate yourself to dance and travel the world, I think this movie could help.

Are you afraid to dance?

I know for a fact that everyone gets scared of trying new things. I remember talking about dance in my creative writing class in my last semester of high school, and a few people said, "Dancing is something I wish I continued, or wish that they had tried." If this is a problem for anyone, then I have a story for you.

I had to switch dance schools when I was headed into 7th grade because my first dance teacher decided to retire. I went to this new dance school, and those girls had so much more experience than me. I made some friends at first, and I knew some people, but as I got placed into the more advanced groups, the people I was friends with drifted away toward the other girls, or some of them quit. I felt like I was my own outcast with all these talented dancers around me. They were friends with everyone, and joked around with the teacher and each other. But whenever I talked, it felt awkward. I was the quietest girl out of any of them. I remember one day, my dance teacher said, "Nora, you're being too loud!" Joking around because I never had anything to say, so I wasn't actually being loud. I felt so much pressure to fit in, so I wanted out. Didn't want to be there anymore. I pushed through it though.

All of that happened in my Sophomore year of high school. I graduated from that dance school as a senior, with great relationships with my dance teachers, and the girls got a better sense of who I was I think. I felt like giving up something that's my passion because I felt like I didn't belong. I'm more than happy and proud of myself for getting through that horrible patch of my dance life, and finishing it up and not regretting a thing.

If any of you want to dance, go for it because chances are you'll either love it or hate it. And even if it's not with dance, push through any rough patch of life if you love what you're doing because it will only make you stronger.

Core positions in ballet

Ballet is the art I have been doing out of the four different dance techniques I have learned. (Ballet, jazz, pointe, and hip hop).

If someone wanted to learn how to do ballet, there are some core foot positions that a dancer would need to learn. Here they are:

Position number one:

In this position, you would be standing up straight with your legs together. As you can see in this picture, you will place your heels against each other with your toes pointed outward. Another term for that would be called a "turn out".

Position number two:

This position is very similar to position number one. The only difference is your heels are apart from each other (at about a shoulder's width length). Your feet are still in the same position, just farther apart from each other, and you still want to maintain a turn out.

Position number three:

I never used this position throughout the eleven years I have danced, so I consider it an uncommon one. Some dance schools might use it though. The way this position works is you still keep your turn out, but you have one heel in front (or in back) of the other heel, and your heels are right up against each other.

Position number four:

You can't fully tell how this position works in the picture. The way it works is, you have one foot in front of the other by about 4-6 inches, and you line up your toes on one foot with the heel of the other foot. Again, maintain a turnout!

Position number 5:

This position is similar to position number four, except instead of your feet being about 4-6 inches apart, they are right up against each other, maintaining that turn out.

Points to remember: 

- This positions are actually called First position, Second position, Third position, Fourth position, and Fifth position.

- Your legs stay straight in all of these positions.

- If you don't have a turn out, then the positions will not be right.

The beginning to a dancer's journey

The way I began dancing was a couple of ways.

One way that I was inspired to start dancing was when I saw my sister and one of her friends dance. I was young, not exactly sure what age, but I saw them dancing and it looked like so much fun.
The second reason I decided to start dancing was actually because my mom asked if I would like to start dancing where my sister and her friend. I agreed to right away!

I don't fully remember my first thoughts of my first time at dance class, but I know I loved it because I continued it. I do remember my sister being annoying when we were doing kicks at the bar. She would kick my butt and I got so frustrated. I even told my ballet instructor to ask her to stop.

My first recital was absolutely incredible. I wore a pink and black ballet dress, and I believe I had my hair in a cute little bun. It felt like a pinwheel of butterflies swarming around in my stomach, and once I got on stage, I could not stop smiling.

I will always remember my first dance recital.

Dance and me

Dance is constantly on my mind. That is one of the main reasons why I decided to share my experience with dance, with all of you. Dancing grew on me once I knew I had capability of dancing fairly well. There's more to that story, but I'm just going to go bit by bit every week to explain my journey of dancing.