Know any good back stretchs? Anybody????

[royalprincessdog]

Hey. Does anybody know any good back stretchs? When I do arabesque, my leg doesn't go high enough!

[Victoria Leigh]

Hello royalprincessdog, welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers

 

A flexible back is helpful for arabesque, but there are a lot of other things that contribute to being able to get the leg higher. The stretches you would learn in a normal class, like cambré back, are very good. Also splits, keeping your legs turned out, will work your arabesque. One of my favorite exercises is to do a penché facing the barre, not too close to the barre so that you can go forward without having to duck your head under the barre, then leave your leg up as high as it will go in the penché and bring your back up as far as you can without letting the leg go down. Warning, do not do this when not fully warmed up! I also do not like to see other students helping you by holding your leg up, unless they have been taught how to do it.

 

I have a question for you. I'm just curiious, because you listed yourself as a fan of ballet, but not as a student. But you are a student too, right?

[royalprincessdog]

Yes! I am a student. By the way, thanks for the great advices! They helped a whole lot!!!

Edited November 25, 2007 by royalprincessdog

[Victoria Leigh]

You might want to add that into your profile

[royalprincessdog]

May I ask how I can do that?

[Victoria Leigh]

Go to My Controls at the top of the page, click on that, and on the left side of that screen scroll down to Edit my profile.

[Mel Johnson]

Look at the top of this page. You will find a link there that says, "My Controls". Click on that, then look to the left-hand frame and scroll down to "Edit Profile". Follow the instructions from there.

[katie3793]

a stretch that has helped my back is to lie on the floor on your stomach and then lift up your back and one of your legs and hold this position for a little... your back will be sore the next day but it;s a pretty good stretch

[the cat's in my tutu]

One that we do in class often right now is kind of like doing the spilts but up the wall instead of on the floor. Two notes: you have to be warmed up and it doesn't work unless the barre is very sturdy and attaced to a wall. It's a little hard to explain but I'll try the best I can. 1: Go to the barre and face away from the barre, holding on with both hands. 2: Put one leg in attitude on the barre. 3: You can cambre back if you want, looking up to the ceiling. A plie will also make this cambre stretch more. 4: You can also slid the leg that is in attitude up the wall, trying to hold your back up as much as possible. From there you can cambre forward and bring your back up again. This also stretches your shoulders some and possibly your hamstring of the supporting leg if you cambre forward.

[DancingIsMyLife]

Hmm, we do this thing where someone holds down your ankles and you lift up off the floor and hold 5th for however long you want. You do this a few times. Then the person grips your ankles together with their knees and you stretch your hands out behind your back and they gently pull you up off the floor It works a treat (but hurts after) Good Luck xx