They say: “dance like no one is watching”. They’re wrong. Some folks shouldn’t dance at all. I (unfortunately) am one of these people. I dance like a drunk monkey with tetanus and its been pointed out to me on regular intervals, by people that I love, that my dancing is not improved with enthusiasm or repetition.
Thankfully, the dance world has significant skill and beauty brought to it by artists like Chloe*. Chloe was 16 and training at a local Lambton dance studio known for their excellence. She had started taking more classes recently and I met her in the middle of some aggressive hip, back and knee pain.
She (and her mum) were refreshingly aware of the demands of dance but had already seen two therapists without much luck in changing her pain. Her main concern was returning to dance as soon as possible to focus on a possible overseas move to a prestigious college. Her pain was severely limiting her grand allegro (big jumps) and tendu (stick the leg out).
The main thing was getting to the root cause
The main thing was getting to the root cause. She needed to strengthen specific muscles that were not the obvious ones + the work I did with her on getting the tight structures to move better helped her pain reduce.
Simple. But not easy. She started slow, gradually built up her strength and within 2 weeks she said ‘I can feel my pain reducing!’. It still took 6 weeks for her to go back to her big jumps and sticking the leg out but the joy on her face at the feeling of moving without pain was just wonderful. I’ve got the best job in the world.
I suggested that now she was feeling better she might like to take some dancing tips from my own style (called semi-affectionately: the 3 feet Bens). It didn’t seem to resonate immediately. I guess I’ll keep trying.
To start getting your body moving better and dance like no-one is watching, book an appointment today.