Stretching?

[Anonymous]

I know there are plenty of workouts and classes and gyms. Some claim to be beginner-friendly. But what I really want is a stretching class. After years (decades) of dancing ballet, that is what I miss most - the stretching. Anything in the McLean area?

[Anonymous]

Maryland youth ballet has stretch class. Not close to McLean though. They are in silver spring.

[Anonymous]

BalletNova has stretch classes

[Anonymous]

How about yoga or bar method type classes? Or a good DVD?

[Anonymous]

OP - a little off topic but how is your body holding up after all that ballet? I ask because DD is a serious ballet dancer and I worry about her joints, especially hips (her dad had both hips replaced at a young age - although it may have been due to an infection in his joints as a teen). I wonder about back, hips, knees and feet. Also, did you keep a lot of the muscle that you developed after quitting ballet?

As far as stretching, you may really like yoga , for example, hatha yoga - it is great and covers a lot of muscle groups, large and small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - a little off topic but how is your body holding up after all that ballet? I ask because DD is a serious ballet dancer and I worry about her joints, especially hips (her dad had both hips replaced at a young age - although it may have been due to an infection in his joints as a teen). I wonder about back, hips, knees and feet. Also, did you keep a lot of the muscle that you developed after quitting ballet?

As far as stretching, you may really like yoga , for example, hatha yoga - it is great and covers a lot of muscle groups, large and small.

I'm not OP but can respond as a former serious semi-pro ballet dancer who "retired" at the age of 18. I'm now 40. Yes, I have hip/lower back problems. I think some of this is a result of my physiology and the rest probably could have been avoided if I didn't spend most of my life walking around with my feet turned out and doing all activities, workouts, etc. turned out. It has led to compression in my SI joints, over-development of leg muscles responsible for external rotation and under development of internal rotators. I am only realizing this in the last year or so, and am working very hard to correct it. Lots of yoga, cycling with my feet clipped in (forces me to keep my legs parallel) and very careful strength training. I have felt some improvement and believe I will get to a good place in another six months or so. Knees are ok. I can't tell if the creakiness is from age, ballet or other sports (tore my ACL, not from dancing). Feet and toes are a mess, but don't cause any pain (just look terrible). I did keep a lot of the muscle and my legs still look like a dancer's legs, even though it has been +20 years. As I add muscle now, my legs continue to develop like dancer's legs. Butt looks good too (for a 40 YO). Despite the back pain, I don't regret dancing and would not discourage my daughter from dancing if she showed any interest. Ballet is no different from other sports that carry risks. I would make sure she is getting good instruction and training properly, but otherwise wouldn't worry about the future.