Smelly Feet Prevention

“Dancing is like dreaming with your feet.”

 -Constanze

As a dancer your feet and dance bag can become extreme smelly, and can start to leave a distinctly foul odor. Getting rid of this problem is actually much easier than you would think. The issue is most easily solved when you first begin to smell it, but can be addressed at any time.

One way to reduce stench in your dance shoes is by putting a dryer sheet in them when they are not in use. It gives them a fresher scent that is more tolerable. You could also use a few spurts of Febreeze, but you have to be careful because it may ruin the dance shoe if you use an excessive amount.

A way to take away odor in your dance bag is by simply switching it out and finding one that is washable. You could also use air fresheners that keep it a pleasant scent. This has proven to work extremely effective for myself.

Take charge and help give your dance bag and shoes the fresh smell they deserve. Yes, it is a way of showing pride in the hard work you put your feet through, but save someone the trouble of passing out from walking by your bag or leap.

~Julia

Getting Your Splits Down with Perfection

“People are most impressed by the splits than the tricks requiring actual strength.”

- Author Unknown

Getting your right and left splits all the way down with perfect alignment is one of the most difficult tasks to do by dancers in regards to their flexibility. Stretching and accomplishing the splits is the base of your flexibility, and how you will get better at conditioning and applying to all other flexibility tricks, extensions, leaps and much more.

To get your right and left splits you should practice by stretching every day, for a reasonable amount of time. The splits should not just be done without any prior stretching. Stretch the hips, legs and all muscles that feel tight before sliding right into it. Dancers find it easier to end their stretch by resting in the splits after they have completed their warm up stretch to prepare themselves. As splits are the base of flexibility, you will only become more flexible if you stretch out your muscles to prevent any unwanted straining, tightening or pulling.

Now the most difficult part of executing the right and left splits properly is the process of squaring of your hips. This means getting both your hips in a straight line forward. Most hips want to shift towards the inside, to get into your middle split, but you can’t do that. You have to think of it as a box, you are inside of a small box only meant for you with no wiggle room, and there are two hard board on each side of you all the way down. This make it impossible to shift your hips without moving the boards. You have to keep the board in a perfect line facing them forward, without altering the box, never coming unattached from shifting the body and what direction. It is extremely hard to completely square off your hips. It is something I have been working for, for years and still am nowhere near perfection.

Another major point to think about when doing the right and left splits is the turnout of your leg and the point of your ankle. Of course when doing anything with regards to flexibility you want to turn out from your hip, not forced turnout from the knee, this will also help create the boxed hips I mentioned previously. As a suggestion you cannot only think about the front leg, the back leg is equally as important in all flexibility tasks. Point your ankle my extending the heel up and forward, also point the back ankle.

To intensify the challenge of your right and left splits you can practice stretching over split. This is accomplished by building up height either under your front foot, back foot, or both feet. This action brings more stretch to the area under your leg. It will eventually extend your leg higher, and allow more flexibility, by opening up your hips. It’s a great way to keep working your splits after you have them all the way down. You just have to remember to turn out, point and square your hips.

To get better at all flexibility concepts it is important you stretch all the time and get your right and left splits down, and work towards an over split. This will build up your muscles to perform flexibility in the air on the ground or anywhere in all scenarios.

~Julia

Bobby Pins

“No matter how many you buy… they always disappear.”

-Anonymous

Bobby pins are a dancer’s best friend. Bobby pins are a hair tool that make securing, tightening and smoothing of the hair 100% easier. They can be used to smooth out fly aways around the frame of your face, tighten excess around a bun or secure back a poof, braid or intricate hairstyle. I don’t know a single dancer who doesn’t use, love and appreciate them. As long as the color of bobby pin matches the shade color of the hair, they are a great tool for dancers to use.

One time, my dance friend Emily was at my house and asked me for a bobby pin, but then about five seconds later she picked something up from my floor and said, “I found one!” She also made the comment that she shouldn’t have even asked, because dancers are full of them all over their rooms. Hashtag dancer probs, right?

Bobby pins are extremely important in smoothing away your fly aways. No hairspray around right before you take the stage? I bet if you look on the ground you can find at least five bobby pins on the floor. Typically when putting your hair up it’s not completely smooth. You tend to get a few bumpies or an accidental snag that results in a random piece flying up on the center of your head. Girls with bangs also have the problem of several hairs flying around in their face, it become distracting and irritating. To fix the problem it is an absolute necessity to use bobby pins. You wouldn’t want hair in your face while you’re dancing, so many people pin them back with bobby pins. Bobby pins assist in getting the hair flat to the head, all while blending into the hair color, making it unnoticeable from a distance.

The easiest way to secure a bun to your head is by the use of bobby pins. Buns can have tendencies to become loose quickly, especially if you use the twisting method. The twist bun method relies on bobby pins to secure it the head, giving the look a professional, unmovable finish. On the other hand if you use a snap bracelet bun maker, it helps to secure it, but more so helps with fly aways that appear from between the crease endings. Hairs stick up with the snap bracelet bun maker, to tighten the bun to your head one must place the hair inside the bobby pin, pull down and tuck it under the bun maker. Finally the use of a donut bun maker requires a more sophisticated bobby pin, which is the butterfly pin. A butterfly pin is open at the ends instead or clasping, allowing it to grab more, but requires a higher forced push into the bun.

Bobby pins also help to make poofs, braids and other complex hairstyles. Bobby pins in this instance are used to secure back any imperfections made when completing the look.

Life is so much better when you have bobby pins around. Bobby pins are one of the most resourceful hair tools for a dancer. They may seem like a small part, but they help in finishing the look into a professional clean cut finish. It is very important to have many on supply, because they seem to frequently be lost, so if you’re headed into the dance community take your time in investing.

 

~Julia

 

The Misconception of “Pointing your Toes”

“Dancing is the poetry of the foot.”

-John Dryden

The sport of dance requires an immense amount of ballet technique to the feet. One of the single most important ballet techniques to apply while dancing is the pointe of the ankle and stretch of the feet. A common name misconception for the act of stretching ones feet is “pointing your toes.” Pointing your toes is not technically the correct phrase when training to stretch and extend through the ankle. Although commonly used by the dance world it is a serious no no in your simple, basic ballet technique.

The reason “pointing your toes” is not an acceptable term when correcting, is its literal definition. In translation it is the pointe of your toes, and only your toes. If you are just “pointing your toes” you may be teaching your feet incorrectly. The saying of pointing your toes is just the act of curling the toes, which may transform into a sickled foot and a bad arch. While in reality to demonstrate a correctly executed pointe one must; engage the leg, pointe with the ankle, extend through the arch, bringing the ankle forward to wing out the foot, making the toes face downward.

 

It’s important that you are executing your pointe correctly through the ankle and not your toes. If that means changing the phrase of words from, “pointe your toe” to “stretch the arch,” or “pointe through the ankle,” it is highly suggested you do so. Although the expression of pointing your toe is commonly used, accepted and known, it could be transformed into a more ballet technical translation. The changing of the phrase could dramatically improve the understanding of the term and bring more awareness to the importance of getting a stretched arch to pointe the ankle.

Always remember the significance of a properly performed pointed ankle as it will considerably transform the way you look, think and complete all ballet techniques and skills.

~Julia Brewer

Registering Children up for Dance Lessons

“Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music.”

 

–William Stafford

 

There are numerous reasons why a parent may want to register their child up for dance lessons.  Some parents want their children to become more creative and expressive. Others want their children to have a higher confidence level and get out of their shells of shyness. There are also many parents who want their kids to make new friends and learn to work together with their peers. However, several parents believe their children are destined to be ballerinas, because they dance around the house all day long.

 

Joining a dance studio is a great way to build up a young person’s confidence level, express creativity and to help in developing social skills that will lead out of the shy stage of childhood. On the other hand, several young children register for dance because parents recognize them dancing around the house. Just because kids enjoy dancing around does not directly mean they are destined to be a dancer, but also does not mean they will not become great dancers. It is truly dependent on the child’s likings. I have learned from experience that some of the “destined ballerinas” just like to dance around for pleasure in themselves, but once in a classroom lots of them become unwilling to learn, and would rather do their own thing instead of following direction.

 

Following directions is a challenge for many levels of dance, but especially in the discipline of very young children. Parents are looking for this direction to be provided to their child, hoping for them to gain a sense of knowledge in the areas of focus, respect and listening.

 

There are dance classes for every age group, but one of the most important levels of dance is the preschool to young elementary school age. These levels of dance usually consist of styles such as; tap, ballet, tumbling, jazz and hip hop. Having several classes to choose from to put a child in is very complimentary to both the dancer and parent. Parents can then have the opportunity to pick what style is best for their dancer based on their personality, likings and areas needing improvement.

 

I believe parents would benefit by enrolling their children into dance classes at a young age. It can indicate the future of the dancer, displaying whether dance is really what the child aspires to do or not. By putting children into just a few classes a week, parents can decide early on if it is something they and the dancer want to commit to for the future. It may save families a lot of money, or give parents a light of insight to the future dance career ahead of them. This can all be accomplished by simply registering children into dance classes early on in their life.

 

~Julia Brewer

 

 

 

Introduction To Julia

“Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance.”

― Oprah Winfrey

I have been dancing since the age of four. Dance for me has grown from a once a week after school activity, to my entire life. Dance has become my number one major time commitment, financial burden, love, joy and passion. I danced at Cherie’s Dance Studio my whole career until I recently switched to a new studio. This year I dance at Extensions Dance Academy, a local breakout studio in Cedar Rapids. At Extensions I dance three nights a week for nearly six and a half hours and I also dance for the Kennedy Varsity Dance Team roughly seven and a half hours each week. With that, I currently dance give or take fourteen hours out of a five day week, with the addition of solo practice, weekend rehearsals and performances.

I have gained an immense amount of knowledge about myself as a person and dancer, and the art of dance over the past few years. As a dancer I have come to know several things some people never have the opportunity to do, know or appreciate. I will dedicate many of those opportunities into my dance tips and tricks, observations, comparisons, ideas, opinions, styles and experiences for topics on my blog.

Dance plays a significant importance in my life and I am extremely passionate about sharing it. The excitement I get from talking about, acting out and carrying out dance is a feeling that makes me completely overfilled with joy. I can’t describe how I feel, so I just dance it out of me. I hope everyone can take a chance in their life to find their passion and fall head over heels with it, as greatly as I have with dancing.

 

I couldn’t imagine my life without dance, because I simply haven’t known a life without dance. Dance has taught me many important lessons, given me confidence to be myself, and showed me the art of using your body, face, lines and emotions to portray a story to an audience. Very importantly the ability to dance has helped me create the best friends I could ever ask for.

 

I am eager to spread the love I have for dance through topics in this blog. It’s very exciting because I feel that as I complete more blogs I will become more aware of all the little things dance offers and has given to me. I hope to learn more about myself as a dancer through this process, while also giving insight into the thrilling, exhausting, hectic, sentimental and emotion rollercoaster that comes along with being a high school dancer.

~ Julia Brewer