Category Archives: Adult Ballet

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Adults in Ballet: Dance to Save your Brain

The unique challenge that ballet, or dance in general, poses to the brain is two-fold: not only is it a mind-stimulating exercise (the need to remember complex patterns of steps), but it also provides beneficial physical exercise at the same time. For adults studying ballet, this can be helpful to remember (no pun intended!).

Pursuing the topic of the effects that dance has on the brain, I began doing an investigation on the web for studies that might address this. Among them,  I found an interesting article on http://www.jewishaustralia.com/benefitsofdancing.htm, in which the “Einstein Aging Study, summarized in the June 19, 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that dancing helps prevent dementia.

Dementia in the study refers to both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Vascular dementia is the 2nd most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s.

The study …included participants in 11 physical activities including team sports, swimming, bicycling and dance.

Dance was the only physical activity that benefited the brain. This was attributed to the cerebral rather than the physical aspect of dance.

Researchers found that the relationship between the mind-stimulating effects of dancing, as well as in the above six types of hobbies, and the lowered risk of dementia remained strong even after they allowed for variables such as age, sex and education.

Frequency of activity also was important! 63% lower than that among subjects in the lowest third. We believe this emphasizes the importance of engaging in a regular program of dancing.

The need to learn and remember numerous dance movements produces a constant and very beneficial challenge to the brain.”

And, to delve into how the brain synthesizes dance and how dance likely evolved, here is an excerpt from Scientific American:

  • “Dance is a fundamental form of human expression that likely evolved together with music as a way of generating rhythm.
  • It requires specialized mental skills. One brain area houses a representation of the body’s orientation, helping to direct our movements through space; another serves as a synchronizer of sorts, enabling us to pace our actions to music.
  • Unconscious entrainment—the process that causes us to absent­-mindedly tap our feet to a beat—reflects our instinct for dance. It occurs when certain subcortical brain regions converse, bypassing higher auditory areas.”

And, lastly, Richard Powers at www.socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm discusses intelligence and dance this way:

“The essence of intelligence is making decisions. And the concluding advice, when it comes to improving your mental acuity, is to involve yourself in activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making, as opposed to rote memory (retracing the same well-worn paths), or just working on your physical style.

One way to do that is to learn something new. Not just dancing, but anything new. Don’t worry about the probability that you’ll never use it in the future. Take a class to challenge your mind.  It will stimulate the connectivity of your brain by generating the need for new pathways.  Difficult and even frustrating classes are better for you, as they will create a greater need for new neural pathways.

Then take a dance class, which can be even better. Dancing integrates several brain functions at once, increasing your connectivity. Dancing simultaneously involves kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional processes.”

Richard, you’ve hit the sweet spot. Take a dance class!

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What makes Ballet look effortless?

Ballet, to me, is the telling of a story, the emotions of it through line of the body, the movements, the gestures set to music. The controlled and contained movements give it that effortless, ethereal quality that captivates. Ballet dancers study for years to master and attain the physical abilities necessary to achieve this look and feel.

Thinking back of who some of the great Ballet stars were at the time I was growing up:  names come to mind like Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov to name just a few. What was it about their dancing that lead them to fame – what were the qualities of the way they moved that gave them that effortless grace, that spontaneity of movement that also captured the emotion of the dance  – what were the physics of it in play that made it seem so effortless?

In her new book, “Apollo’s Angels:  A History of Ballet”, author Jennifer Homans describes ballet this way:  “At the origins of ballet lay two ideas:  the formal mathematical precision of the human body and the universality of human gesture”.

Perhaps one way this formal, mathematical precision of the body can be described – is that it’s the push pull movement between one end of a limb (or one end of the entire body) pushing or pulling in the opposite direction of the other end – so that the extension of this other end lengthens it into the illusion of infinity – the lengthening of that line into what’s called “extension”. And, all the while, the body is trained so that it’s strong enough to be held in place while the limbs accomplish these movements or are held still.

I asked one of my teachers, Sally Miramon, of The Alonzo King Lines Dance Center in San Francisco, to comment on this. Here’s what Sally had to say about this:

“There are many reasons for ballet dances to appear effortless and graceful. As a teacher, or choreographer, the dancer must have at least the following 5 elements:

1) Musicality – The ability to fit a dance to the music being played, by relating the dance to the music’s rhythm, melody, and mood.

2) Technical control/ training to execute movement with the proper timing and required spatial range

3) Core strength to hold the body in place from which the limbs move or are held

4) A sense of personal body lines that look best for your body type

5) Coordination within ones body and working with others.

All of the 5 comes from daily training and the ability to change and try something new. The body is constantly changing as a result of the type of training and rehearsals undertaken. Knowledge of how ones body reacts to fatigue, illness and etc., is important as it will determine what one needs to do to execute dance steps under different situations. This can only come with training and practice.”

This, I think, is a good, all-round explanation of why Ballet looks seemingly effortless. And, for those of us who’ve taken Ballet for any length of time all know — it takes time, focus, determination and dedication to achieve that look.

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Maintaining your Health to Keep Dancing

As an adult ballet dancer – considering myself at  an intermediate level – and a serious amateur at that, I think it’s worth saying that age should not be factor on whether you “feel” you should stop or get discouraged about dancing. In this blog, I am going to share with you my experiences on how I keep myself healthy to maintain limber joints and muscles so I can continue dancing.

Here is what I have found in my amateur ballet career – the  keyword is diet – keep it clean, as free of wheat, gluten and sugar as you can. Admittedly, I am human, so I occasionally have been known to “fall off the wagon” and indulge in a donut (or two)…  in general though, I focus on eating organic raw fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins and healthy fats. This helps keep the body free from inflammation – the precursor to degenerative disease – and in the long run will do a great deal toward keeping your joints and muscles young and flexible. I typically start out in the morning with a breakfast high in protein – and, as long as I do that, it keeps me going throughout my day.

Throughout the day I concentrate on smaller meals, oftentimes a snack is a handful of almonds, walnuts, filberts or a mixture of these or I might choose an apple, a cup of greek yogurt (yummy!) or raw or juiced vegetables. I also eat a full salad at some point in the day – the effect of raw vegetables really helps keep my skin feeling and looking its’ best, a definite plus and side benefit. Generally in the evening, I follow it with some protein, and again, raw fruit or vegetables. I eat very little or no bread – if I do, it’s gluten free.

I try to stay away from snacks before bed – unless I need something to help me unwind and sleep (and who doesn’t after those evening dance classes) – I have a great mixture of buttermilk powder that I mix in with hot water to make hot milk. I drink a cup of that and 30 – 60 minutes later, I’m asleep.  And, awake in the morning fresh and ready-to-go.

With these and other tips I’ll share in future blogs, are suggestions on ways to help keep your body healthy and ready for dance at any age.