Back To Ballet
[in Tellietubbie voice] Eh-oh! I hope you all are doing well. I’ve had a little setback with my recovery from HyproCure surgery, but I am still working on fixing it.
For someone like me, going back to ballet after a serious injury/surgery or a long hiatus like mine means many things for your body. If you haven’t maintained some form of physical shape, you will likely struggle during class, and it will take a lot of time to regain what you’ve lost. I hope this post will give you ideas on how long it will take to get “back to” what your dancing was like before you left.
Here is a rough timeline of how long it will take to get back to ballet after a break.
Three Weeks
If you’ve been out of dance for three weeks, you don’t have much to do. Your muscles start degenerating after two weeks, but it’s easy to build up what you’ve lost. Even if you’ve done yoga or pilates over break, your body hasn’t felt the jumps of a grande allegro in a while, so you’re susceptible to injury if you go back to dance full force. Kay Sandel, assistant professor of ballet, anatomy, and dance pedagogy at Oklahoma City University, says, “If you’ve taken three weeks off, gradually increase your activity over the course of three weeks, and expect to be dancing full force in week four.”
Three Months+
If you’ve been out of dance for three months or more, your body has lost a lot of muscle. Everything is to a greater extent after going back to ballet after a long hiatus. The first class back might be embarrassing, and your technique, flexibility, and extensions might not be as good as it was. Being sore the next day is a given. The things to be careful when doing are jumps when cross-training. Dancers are known to constantly push through pain, but this is not the time to do that. You’ll risk serious injury if you do that, which could end all chances of returning to ballet. If your studio allows it, try taking a month’s worth of open ballet classes or at the level below yours before you return to classes at your correct level. This will allow your body to get back into shape without getting injured, and it’ll allow you to perfect the basics.
My cross-training tips
YouTube has a plethora of workouts for any sport. My favourite channels are: XHIT Daily, MadFit, and Chloe Ting. These channels aren’t ballet centric, but all of them work for things you need in ballet (strong core, strong inner/outer thighs/strong ankles, etc.).
Lazy Dancer Tips (Alessia has fantastic floor barre workouts which are great when injured. Not all of them are ballet centric, but all of them work for things you need in ballet (strong core, strong inner/outer thighs/strong ankles, etc.
Kathryn Morgan for ballet-specific videos. She’s got a million different ballet barres for all levels and ones focusing on specific things (i.e., balance, turnout, etc.). Kathryn’s ballet classes follow the Balanchine method, which is very different for me since I trained in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) ballet method.
When I was a dancer, my little cross-training rule was to not count the repetitions until I felt the first burn - it sounds weird, but it works. Once the burn is felt, then I count to 10. If you do 15 reps of a specific move and don’t feel any burn, is it really helping you?
I know you may feel hopeless after your first class but never give up. You are better than you think. Have faith in yourself. Breathe. Don’t think; just do!
As always, if you found this post helpful, make sure like, share, and comment on this post as well as follow me on my social media. Sending you all the light and love in this world.
