barre stretch

[Guest Mollieochie]

I have read that the sliding down the barre stretch is bad for you. I was just wondering why? We do this stretch a lot, instructed by my teachers. Should I tell them that it is harmful?

 

Thanks,

Mollie

[Mel Johnson]

Oh, a sliding down the bar stretch isn't bad for you, but maybe a little more expensive. If the bartender puts the drink too far away from you, or maybe puts it down in a place where the other customer has just gone to the restroom, just stretch and slide down the bar and nab it! Anything else?

 

(Well, maybe it would be bad for you if the other customer comes back and punches you in the nose for swiping his drink. And what are you doing hanging out in bars?)

[FlexNPointe123]

Mollieochie, I think that what Mr. Johnson means is that you should spell the ballet barre, B-A-R-R-E....instead of B-A-R! Am I correct in saying that Mr. Johnson, or did I misread?

 

~*Erica*~

[qtpiedanzer01]

haha good one mr. johnson.

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, Mollie, ballet uses a "barre", not a "bar"

 

Anyway, I strongly disagree with that exercise, and have said so many times here. It can be dangerous, especially for people with hyperextension of the knees. You are in an off-balance position, with weight in the achilles tendon (which is a very bad thing), and going into an over-stretch, which many people cannot do. It can over stretch the ligaments in the back of the knees, the supporting leg is usually rolling inward, and the achilles is taking too much weight. The same stretching can be done with splits, where there is not the gravity factor and you are in control with your arms. That stretch on the barre is just plain stupid, in my opinion of course. HOWEVER, I would not correct ones' teacher. Many, many teachers use this exercise, and obviously do not realize that it is not a good one. They do it because it has been done for years. Just fake it. Don't really slide Not a good idea to argue with your teachers! If they question you, just say it hurts your knees or tendon or something.

 

P.S. - I corrected the spelling for you in the title of this topic.

[Guest 2bORnot2b]

hey there!

thats soo good!

thanks for telling me that!

my teacher makes us do that excersies..

but i cant do it!

everytime i try..my knee feels like its going to break in half!

does that mean ive got hyperextended knees??

 

and thats funny!

i always fake it!

[Victoria Leigh]

No, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are hyperextended, although you might be. It can hurt knees which are not hyperextended too.

[Guest Mollieochie]

Okay, thanks! Because I have REALLY hyperextended knees. However, one of my teachers told me that it was good to have hyperextention, and told my to NEVER sacrifice my knees for my feet (bending knees slightly to make feet look better- and because I am hyperextended!), and that I don't want to lose my hyperextension in my knees? Can this be valuable to dancers?

[Victoria Leigh]

Hyperextension is very good for line, meaning that the extended leg will usually look very good, as long as you have the rotation and good feet, which often go along with hyperextension. The problems come in the standing leg. You must not push into that hyperextension when standing, or your weight will be back and your pelvis out of alignment.

[Guest cheeriodancer10]

Wow, I'm surprised that sliding down the barre is such a popular stretch if it's bad for you. Why do you think teachers aren't always aware of this??

[Mel Johnson]

It's a very old-fashioned stretch, and is leftover from the days before teachers were studying the engineering aspect of ballet. Nobody had a Ph.D. in Physics, but some wise teachers were perceptive enough to pick up on the idea that an unsupported joint which was supposed to bend back/front is in danger when faced with right/left stress!

[Guest lil_dancer]

My ballet teacher uses this strech, and I hate it very much, one, because while at a summer intenstive, this summer, I found out that one of the worst things I could do fo my knee( I have patelluar tendonitits, they are also hyper extended) was to plop my leg on a barre and strech it. so now when we do this strech I put my hand under my knee and support it and keep it from hyper extending, I also never strech all the way.

[Victoria Leigh]

That is very wise, lil dancer. With a knee problem and hyperextension, that stretch is definitely a bad idea!

[Guest limeymauve]

hang on, i'm confused--are you talking about the stretch where you sit your leg on the barre in a stable position (as if doing a heel stretch, except the barre is supporting your foot instead of your hand) and lean over it, or when you actually move your leg along the barre to get a kind of split in the air? Because I can see why the moving one would be bad, but we do the regular one all the time, and I don't want to hurt myself....

[Nycbdancer]

We're talking about the moving one limeymauve.