342 Dance Anatomy and Kinesiology
this region are performed, particular care must be
taken with respect to developing balanced strength
between antagonist muscles. For example, move-
ments performed in class such as relevés and jumps
tend to develop the ankle-foot plantar flexors, and
an emphasis on supplemental strengthening of the
dorsiflexors is recommended for many dancers to
maintain a healthy ratio between these antagonists.
Similarly, many dancers exhibit weakness in the foot
everters relative to the foot invertors. When a known
imbalance is present, one approach is to repeat the
exercise in a second set of repetitions on the weaker
side (after 2-3 minutes of recovery) for a limited time
until a better balance in strength is achieved. For
some key movements, exercises are included that
use bands and weights. Bands offer a great advantage
in terms of convenience and can be easily carried
in a dance bag, and exercises can be performed
during a break. However, for dancers who find that
they have marked weakness in certain areas, weights
may better allow them to develop greater strength
throughout a wider range of motion and to easily
monitor progress.Plantar Flexor Strengthening
Adequate strength in the plantar flexors is important
for work on demi-pointe and pointe, and for a power-
ful push-off such as used for turns and jumps. The
ankle plantar flexors have also been found to play a
vital role in absorbing energy when landing from ajump (Devita and Skelly, 1992). Ballet dancers have
been shown to have plantar flexor strength markedly
greater than that of many other athletes (Hamilton
et al., 1992), reinforcing the importance of strength
in this area for dancers. Adequate strength in the
plantar flexors is also believed to be important for
prevention of Achilles tendinitis; a study of runners
showed lower strength levels of the plantar flexors
in runners with Achilles tendinitis when compared
to runners without tendinitis (McCrory et al.,
1999).
Calf raises (table 6.6A) provide a functional way to
work on building this strength and technique, while
sitting point (table 6.6B) is a convenient exercise
that can easily be performed with a band. Dancers
can also strengthen these muscles functionally by
performing repetitive jumps, starting with two feet
and progressing to single-leg jumps (table 6.6C). The
dancer must be thoroughly warmed up before per-
forming jumps and should perform them on a resil-
ient floor. Performing jumps on a Pilates Reformer
also offers an opportunity to work on technique with
increasing springs, height of jumps, or quickness
and complexity of jumps for progression. Jumps
are particularly useful for developing the explosive
power of the gastrocnemius needed for both high
and quick jumps used in dance choreography. In
contrast, performing ankle-foot plantar flexion with
the knees bent, as described in table 6.6A (variation
3), will emphasize greater use of the soleus.TABLE 6.5 Sample Pointe Preparation RoutineExercise Repetitions Purpose
*Demi to pointe (band) (table 6.6B, variation 2) 6 times (all toes) Strength to help rise from demi to pointe
Big toe flexion (figure 6.42C) 6 times (great toe only) Strength to help rise from demi to pointe
*Toe extensions (band) (figure 6.42A)
(figure 6.42B)6 times (great toe only)
6 times (all toes)Stability on pointe and to prevent
knuckling underSitting big toes up and away (band) (table 6.6F) 8-12 times Prevent rolling in
Sitting little toes up and away (band) (table 6.6H) 8-12 times Prevent rolling out
*Doming (table 6.6J) 8-12 times MTP joint stability and strength to keep
toes extended instead of curled (flexed)
Sitting dorsiflexion (band) (table 6.6E, variation 1) 8-12 times Muscle balance
*Sitting pointe stretch (table 6.8F) 3 times with 20-second
holdROM to allow ideal positioning of body
over toes
Toe wall climbs (figure 6.42D) 1-4 times up and down Strength to help rise from demi to pointe
Fondu forced arch (table 6.6A, variation 2) 6-12 times Stirrup muscles and positioning of
instep over toes(Text continues on p. 352.)