How Ballet Helps Figure Skating

I am a figure skater, and ballet helps me significantly. Ballet is great for flexibility and for arm and body positions on the ice. Ballet helps figure skaters improve their spiral (arabesque) and increases their back flexibility. For a long time, my coach would tell me to take ballet and I wouldn't even know where to start.

Skating experts say that ballet helps figure skating and ballet pros say the same.

A skater needs a strong core body to connect the upper and lower body for controlled powerful movements. For example:
-He or she must be able to keep his or her shoulders over the hips throughout jumps, spins, footwork and edges.
-He or she must also be able to check his shoulders against his hips in Mohawks, 3-turns, brackets, rockers, counters, and Choctaws.

It is to the skater’s benefit to become aware of the feeling of twisting in the middle of the torso, and also the feeling of staying square. Ballet teachers spend hours teaching students correct ballet posture which is the same posture needed for skating. This correct posture is a neutral spine with the shoulders over the hips. The ballet student is taught to engage the lower abdominal muscles while maintaining a neutral spine. As the skater is working at the barre, he or she is training the body to maintain correct posture while moving isolated body parts. At the same time, the body is developing the ability to apply core strength by engaging the abdominal muscles, thus learning to connect the upper and lower body for strong, powerful movements. (The Relationship Between Ballet and Figure Skating)

(Spiral)

Figure skating is a lot like ballet on ice depending on what type of figure skating you do.

Ballet is great for conditioning or strengthening leg muscles to have more power for each push.

A lot of ballet moves are a lot like figure skating moves. For example, what may be an arabesque to a ballet dancers is actually a spiral to a skater.

Ballet also helps with core strength. Skaters must work up the muscles in their abs and legs to be able to lift their leg on its own and swing from the front of their body to the back and slowly lower it to the ice. This all must look controlled and is usually slow.

(Biellmann)

 Ballet can help in a lot of
different moves requiring
flexibility, for example:
a lay back spin, biellmann,
or a spiral.









Happy skating! 

 Written by Miss Bella, age 14

 aspiring figure skater and dancer

It's never too late to start dance!

I was out  with one of my best friends and she was telling me how she wished she could start dancing. She took lessons when she was very young, but really had a desire to take some dance lessons.

I highly encouraged her. It's never too late to start dancing again!

Actually... it's never too late to start anything!

For the most part, many of the talents that we have were developed from a seed planted in us at a very young age. Dance, piano, art, karate... the list goes on and on.

My childhood was no exception. My mother bought a piano when I was five years old and practically glued me to the seat until I was a teenager; however, a talent had blossomed nonetheless.

There are MANY professional and inspiring dancers out there that started rather "late" in life. Some overcame many odds in order to achieve their goals:

(Misty Copeland)

Misty Copeland is soloist 
with the American Ballet Theatre. 
She did not start formal ballet training 
until she was thirteen years old. 
After lots of hard work and 
determination, by the time she was 
fourteen, Misty was winning national 
ballet competitions. 
When she was sixteen, she was 
offered a contract with the ABT.

(Sabra Johnson)

Sabra Johnson is
the winner of So You Think 
You Can Dance season 3.
Prior to the competition,
Sabra had only been dancing
for four years.

 

 

 

(Rudolf Nureyev)

Rudolf Nureyev enrolled
in a ballet program at the age of
seventeen in the Soviet Union.
Although he started dancing
considerably late, he grew to
become one of the most iconic male
dancers in the history of dance.

(Mikhail Baryshnikov)

Mikhail Baryshnikov
tarted ballet at the age of twelve
when he started at the Vaganova School.
Like Nureyev, Baryshnikov is now a
dance icon and legend.













 Like anything we do in life, the outcome depends on how much heart and soul we put into it. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell examines how people are able to reach high levels of success. He introduces the "10,000 hour" rule, where the key to master your goal is spend 10,000 hours practicing it. Whether you really do need to spend exactly 10,000 hours on something is totally debatable, but the point is, reaching goals may takes time and patience, but if it's something that you love, it will seem like no time at all!

If you want to start dancing, then go ahead! There are so many dance programs designed for adults and older students who are just starting out in their dance career. It is a do-able and reachable goal, and dancers all around the world will applaud you for it!

Good luck, and happy dancing!

Miss Tess

tessc@balletpetite.com