Too much flexibility?

[danceintheblood]

My gorgeous DD has a very flexible body. She is 11 and a half and has just been accepted into a vocational program. After barre work, when the other students in her class are stretching, she has been directed to do strength exercises to "gain control over her flexible body". Can a young dancer be too flexible? Can they lose their flexibility if they stop stretching, or will they maintain this through regular class work?

[Mel Johnson]

Remember this - and this goes for all students reading as well: Flexibility without strength is almost useless. If you have to rely on gravity or grabbing it with a hand to bend or extend, it's not much good from a strength standpoint. If you have to toss something, uncontrolled, to make it go somewhere, that's downright hazardous! Ordinary ballet class will build strength and flexibility in parallel, but since your daughter's teacher says she needs more strengthening, then that's the word!

[danceintheblood]

Thanks for your comments Mel. Don't get me wrong - I trust my DDs teachers totally as does my daughter. I was just curious if a young dancer could be too flexible.

[BW]

There are a number of helpful threads that might be helpful for you to take a look at. I just did a search on pilates - the top two threads are within this forum and written by parents asking about the benefits of pilates - which strengthens "the core"...which in turn will help with your daughter's "excess" of flexibility. See what you think.

[danceintheblood]

Thanks for leading me to these BW - very informative and I now have a better understanding of core strength. My daughter's ballet school runs Pilates classes, so I will ask the ballet mistress whether this would be valuable.

[BW]

Glad you found it helpful!

[AsleepATheWheel]

My dd was also a very flexible younger dancer. Of course I was impressed by the extensions and her back whatevers and so when the teachers would mention she lacked strength I was confused. But, in the several years or so since then, the daily technique classes have strengthened her all over so that her flexibility has become enhanced in a really nice way. Since I really don't know too much about ballet, , it can be hard to understand corrections and comments at times. Now that dd is older, I have had literally no contact with teachers for a couple years, , I am in the dark and dd likes it this way.

 

But, it is true that strength is an important piece of the puzzle.

[msd]

In watching young dancers and learning more about ballet as I come along for the ride, it seems to me that, just like the girls w/straight hair wishing for curls, and vice versa, dancers often seem blessed with flexibility (mine has always received comments on her lovely turn out) OR strength -- these are the kids I see struggle to get into a good 5th position, but they are more solid in their cores. Dd and I have talked about the mixed blessings each have -- flexible dancers often need to build strength, "strong" dancers often struggle with flexibility. I guess the trick is to get the proper balance of both.

[Victoria Leigh]

Students with a great deal of natural flexibility are often those who are long and thin, and have a lot of growth of the legs. In other words, the type of body that goes through the "colt" stages when growin!!g. These bodies take longer to gain strength, but they do eventually get there! The teacher is right that working on strengthening is more important than flexibility, and no, the flexibility will not go away! I was one of these, so, been there, done that !

[danceintheblood]

Thanks Ms Leigh. Yes, she is indeed 'colt-like' - legs that go on forever and arms that reach from one side of the room to the other (okay, a slight exaggerration, but you know what I mean!) We are on Summer break in Australia, so she is doing V-sits each day to strengthen her stomach muscles and very slow rises on one foot at a time to strengthen her feet, ankles and calves (she also has a naturally high instep and needs to develop some strength in preparedness for pointe work).

 

Thank-you for the good advice and sharing of opinions that this site offers. While dd's teachers are very approachable, they are also very busy and I'd like to be as well informed as possible about ever-growing part of her life.

[lilac07]

Thanks Ms Leigh. Yes, she is indeed 'colt-like' - legs that go on forever and arms that reach from one side of the room to the other (okay, a slight exaggerration, but you know what I mean!) We are on Summer break in Australia, so she is doing V-sits each day to strengthen her stomach muscles and very slow rises on one foot at a time to strengthen her feet, ankles and calves (she also has a naturally high instep and needs to develop some strength in preparedness for pointe work).

 

Thank-you for the good advice and sharing of opinions that this site offers. While dd's teachers are very approachable, they are also very busy and I'd like to be as well informed as possible about ever-growing part of her life.

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My dd at 15 is also "coltlike"; very slender with long arms and legs, who has alwys had a "gumby-like" flexibility. She has what her physical therapist calls "hypermobile" hips and feet. This enabled her to naturally do things in ballet well before she was technically ready to do so and eventually led to injury.

 

We have learned much from this experience. An orthpopedic surgeon (sports medicine/dance specialist) once told us that the very qualities that enable her to dance so beautifully also leave her prone to injury without proper technique and strength training. Her physical therapists have stressed the need for control. We have learned that even though it develops slowly, it is essential that she continues to develop her core strength to maintain correct alignment and to do various exercises to strengthen her inner thighs, quadrecepts, ankles and feet. It takes a great deal of discipline and patience to do this, but it does pay off!

 

It's good to hear that your dd is doing all of this before going onto pointe! She will be so much better off.

[Tiffany]

Knock, knock, I'm an adult student, not a parent...

My friend has this issue as well. She was always told not to stretch before center exercises (after barre) because then she would loosen up what our teacher had just helped tighten up! Of course, since I am a strong dancer, not a loose/flexible dancer, I would love to have the flexibility, but it is probably like wanting curly hair instead of straight as somebody said! I can do jumps easily that she struggles with though, but I'm still working to get the flexibility that she was born with. It is amazing the unique challenges that each individual body brings to ballet training.

[greyhound]

Yep...My DD is going through the same thing. She is very flexible, has long long legs and is not strong. She has been given exercises to do at home to help with strength. She can stand on one foot and put her other leg straight up in the air and than behind her head. She can turn her legs beyond the 180 degree turn out but is told by her teacher not to do that.

 

opps , I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong topics. Just noticed this is for parents of dancers 13+. Mine is under 13.

Edited October 21, 2005 by greyhound

[vicarious]

Mine's a gumby girl too. She's really been focusing on core strength. Her torso is quite flexible so that a year and a half ago she seemed to bob and weave above the hips. She's focused on the "wings" in her back muscles and lifting herself with her abdominal and glute muscles. Her teachers also emphasize using the inner arm and leg muscles. I find kinesiology fascinating.