GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR DANCERS

This article is devoted to providing recommendations for how to train sensibly to prevent current or future deterioration or injury. It also includes what to look for in a teacher and what you need to do for yourself regardless of your teacher. Much of what is recommended here is based on common sense. It is all based upon personal experience and renewal.
  • Basically, as our dance career extends we have to train smarter. That is wonderful news! We can abandon the things that hurt us and adopt those that heal.
  • Warmup properly: When you are older it becomes even more important. The major areas often neglected are the feet, knees and lower spine. Of course other areas need attention, especially the neck and shoulders. That will be included in a future article.
  • Correct poor technique: The other tremendously important factor is identifying what about your training involves bad technique and correct it. That is one of the great blessings of injuries. They immediately tell you that you did something wrong. Try to identify the things you do incorrectly and change.
  • More in depth information regarding these issues is discussed further in the DANCER NEWS article on Recuperating From Injury.
Links to more thorough articles are included below.

Recommendations for warming up:

FEET:

The feet are more used and needed than any other part of a dancer's body. We tend to take them for granted. A long dance career is directly influenced by how well you take care of your feet. Don't assume your feet will warm up themselves. Paying attention to this should be your highest priority.

Seated foot care:
  • Circle your ankles in each direction. Great to do in bed before you get up in the morning.
  • Flex and point your feet. Also great in the AM.
  • Stretch the ball joint of each foot. Sitting, place one foot about 12 inches back with the heel down. You should feel a stretch in the back of your calf. Lift the heel up and down to stretch the ball of the foot.
  • Massage your feet. Great to do in the evening. Here is a fantastic 3 minute foot massage: Self Foot Massage.
  • Take epsom salt foot baths. Also great in the PM. 
Standing Foot Exercises: You can practice these exercises in both parallel position and in turned out position. In belly dance we dance primarily with our feet in parallel. However, turn out is necessary for turns and many traveling steps. A moderate turnout is suggested. Beware of turning out too far. Make sure that your knees are always over your feet. Also keep your knees soft when straightening. Avoid tension in the knee.

​You'll notice that these are ballet exercises. Ballet teaches excellent foot training (other than its unhealthy emphasis on increasing turnout). Use support as you build strength.
  • Plié, straighten, relève, straighten: The most basic of ballet exercises.
  • Plié, lift heels with knees bent, relève, heels down. Reverse: Relève, bend knees with heels lifted, heels down with knees bent (plié), straighten.
  • Relève on both feet. Drop the right heel down and then back up. Then the left. Alternate as you keep returning to a strong relève.
  • Balance on the ball of both feet (relève). Hold the balance for 30 seconds. 
Calves and hamstrings: There is another aspect of foot care that almost everyone neglects. Tight muscles on the back of the legs can cause foot problems. Make sure to stretch them after dancing. This is especially true if you practice and/or dance on the ball of the foot (in relève). It's also true for anyone who enjoys walking or hiking. Those who gets leg or foot cramps at night need the same stretches. Right before bedtime is a great time to do it. Exercises are described at the following link.

KNEES:

We abuse our knees during our lives more than any other part of our body. They are naturally vulnerable to all kinds of stresses. In belly dance there are also some common instruction styles that can put undue stress on the knees. Warming them up and loosening them up should become part of your daily routine.

I used to have a senior in my classes who had bone on bone arthritis in one knee. It would take her 40 seconds of excruciating pain to straighten that knee in the morning. She began doing the seated knee circle exercise described here before getting up in the morning. Immediately she had NO PAIN upon standing!

Here are two knee exercises that are fantastic! One standing and one sitting to use depending on your situation. Dancers will benefit especially from the standing version. Put them in your "go to" bag and practice them often.

  • Standing knee circles: A Tai Chi warmup. Stand with your feet fairly close together. Place your hands on your knees and circle your knees 8-20 times in each direction. This is the most valuable exercise of all time for your knees. It is great to do before dancing or at any time you feel knee stress (during class for instance).
  • Seated knee circles: Sitting in a sturdy chair or on the side of your bed, lift one leg up and clasp it underneath with both hands. Let the lifted lower leg completely relax. Keep the foot relaxed. Allow the entire lower leg to gently circle 8 times in both directions. This is an exercise in release. Do not let any part of the lower leg engage or tense. Instead think of the lower leg moving like a pendulum. This is wonderful to do if you have arthritis in your knee and an excellent way to begin your day.

LOWER BACK:

Improper use of the lower spine, especially in belly dance, can cause such painful inflammation with conditions like sciatica, stenosis, scoliosis and herniated disks. Releasing lower back strain is simple. Instructions are here. Learning how to use your lower back properly in dance is essential if you want a long career.

The best lower back exercises: There are three types of lower torso movements: spine, hip and movement that incorporates both. Almost all belly dance hip work is actually the 3rd type combining both hip and spinal joint movement. It is essential the we practice the delimitation of the first 2 in order to recuperate from lower back injury or pain. The following exercises are the most gentle, effective and easy way to clarify simple hip movement. The result is often a profound release in the lower back. These exercises are done seated. It is by far the best and safest way to bring health to your lower back. 
  • Sit on a sturdy chair so that your lower back is upright and your waist is away from the chair.
  • Have your legs apart with you knees over your feet.
  • Resting Position: Tilt forward and rest your elbows on your knees, head in line with your spine. Rest. Breathe into the lower back as you rest.
  • With your hands on your knees, tilt the lower back forward and upright multiple times, keeping the torso united. Rest.
  • Again keeping the torso intact, circle the entire torso as one piece several times in each direction. Do not move in your spinal joints. Keep the spine absolutely straight as you try small torso circles, large circles and pinwheel circles. Rest.
  • Pull the abdominals in and stretch the spine long while in the resting position.
  • You can stretch the spine in different directions from the resting position. See the link below for more info.
Proper standing lower back use: Drop the tailbone so that the sacrum is upright and held there by active abdominals.
Hyperextension of the lower back: This is a potent phenomena, particularly for belly dancers. Hyperextension of the lower spine takes place when the lower back is arched. The muscles around the sacrum shorten and shift the bottom backwards. The ideal balance of lower back/abdominal use is lost as the abs no longer have to work as hard, while lower back muscles take on too much. Hyperextension often results in awful spine problems later.

Unfortunately, many experienced and inexperienced dancers love hyperextending because it looks good. It looks sexy. It's also less abdominal effort. You will see it frequently with professional dancers in certain types of of turns. It is a position that is common in some dance styles. It is very common in ballroom competition or any dance using high heels. Tribal belly dancers often hyperextend as they arch backward. It is a type of move that the body can tolerate if there is substantial abdominal tone but dangerous to those less experienced.

Start noticing who hyperextends. Gymnasts for example. Try to determine how much you, your fellow dancers and your teachers hyperextend and under what conditions. Make sure to notice while dancing if you experience tension in your lower back. Determine why you feel that way. To correct it while dancing, drop your sacrum and pull in your lower abs. Stretch your lower back any time you sense tightness there, whether in class or not.

Choosing who you study with:

Great dancers are not always great teachers and vice versa. You may choose to take classes with someone whose dance style you love. Of course. However, beware! Several times I have taken classes with fantastic artists that turned out to be dangerous for me. A common trait of these teachers was to teach moves the students were not prepared for. One in particular taught a workshop I attended where the very first class exercise was deep lunges across the floor. I sat that one out and never took a class with her again. 

For Teachers: One common mistake some teachers make is to teach movements they do well, while forgetting that students are learning it for the first time. We make mistakes as we learn. Those mistakes can become high risk moves for our body. Instead of teaching a combination from scratch, a safer technique is to teach the skills needed for the combo before teaching the combo itself.

Don't expect your teachers and classes to provide everything you need. Supplement with what your own body needs. Be prepared to be the only one in class doing so.

What to look for in a teacher:
  • Notice if the feet and knees are included in the class warmup. If not, do it yourself ahead of class.
  • Watch out for risky moves in the early part of class. A teacher who wants you to prove your strength in lunges early on is not a safe teacher.
  • Don't take classes that include movements that are too challenging for your knees, your neck or your spine, unless you can adapt them so you do not get hurt. In any case take a hard look at those kind of classes and make sure the instructor is safe.
  • Beware of teachers who hyperextend their lower back. Do not study with teachers who include risky spinal moves without proper protection. I recently observed a combination being taught where a torso drop was early on. Spine movements like that which are practiced over and over can be really bad for you especially early in the class.
  • Look for classes that provide a substantial cool down. Again if class does not provide this then do it yourself. This is especially important for anyone who has chronic issues. You will be amazed at how much better you will feel the next day.

If your teacher does any of the things described here as risky and you still must study with them because you love the way they dance then counteract the risks by warming up sufficiently before class and taking care of yourself during class. Becoming disabled in years from now is not worth the beauty you may learn to express. Why not be beautiful and safe at the same time.

  • Take care of your body during class: If something needs attention during class, step to the side and stretch. For example, if your knee bothers you during a combo or during drills, tactfully find a moment where you can stop and circle your knees. Do it in a manner that does not affect the tempo of the class. This can be an embarrassing thing to do. We don't like to stand out in these conditions. But remember 2 things: 1) the health of your knee is more important than feeling awkward and 2) the teacher gets important feedback from her students and can therefore modify what she is teaching.
  • Stretch out at the end of classes: In the 1990s, as I was in my 50s, I studied intensely with Suhaila Salimpour. If I didn't stretch after her class and simply got in my car to drive home, I would barely be able to get out of my car when I got there. Those classes were intense. Little was done in the class itself to pay attention to cooling down. Not one other person in the 4 years I spent with Suhaila would stretch on their own, except me. If I included as little as 5 minutes of stretching after class then getting out of the car was no issue at all. Cooling down after class or rehearsal will help your body tremendously. Again, it's essential for areas of the body vulnerable. This is particularly important for the lower back.
  • Keep remembering to breathe: Most important for last. Fuller breathing triggers much better muscle use, especially when learning challenging moves.
Published March 17, 2021