Anna Gassett

Ballet II
Ch. 1 Summary

The Dancer in Motion

 Motion: any physical movement or change in position

Bones, Joints, and Skeletal Muscles

Bones:
 206 bones in the body
 Five different types:
o Flat
o Long
o Short
o Sesamoid
o Irregular shaped
 Bones are made up of calcium – feeds your bones and helps create contractions
 Our joints serve as levers
 Tendon – fibrous cords of dense connective tissue
 Ligaments – connect bones

Joints:
 Cartilage – soft material located on the ends of bones
 Cartilage breaks down over time
 Types of joints:
o Ball-and-socket – hip and shoulder joints
o Gliding – where rib meets spine
o Hinge – knee

Skeletal Muscles:
 Skeletal movement is initiated by skeletal muscles, which are composed of connective
tissue partitions containing muscle cells, fibers, and numerous nerves
 Each muscle contains two basic types of fibers:
o Slow twitch – high resistance to fatigue (placement and posture)
o Fast twitch – low resistance to fatigue (petit allegro)
 Divided into four distinct categories:
o Agonists – Contract to produce movement (movers)
o Antagonists – Relax and lengthen what the agonists are working
o Synergists – Promote and neutralize movement
o Stabilizers – Anchor a joint firm during movement
Body Composition
 Body’s ratio of fat to lean muscle
 Healthy body fat should range from 17% -25% for women

Movement Planes
 Planes of the body:
o Frontal – front and back
o Transverse – upper and lower
o Sagittal – right and left

Mindful Connection

Visualization:
 Creating a picture in your mind
 Seed imagery – planting an intuitive thought and letting that image grow in order to
enhance performance

Tension Relief:
 Dancers must maintain a healthy, positive internal conversation

Dance-Focused Exercise:
 Use visualization techniques in class and see how you improve

Cardiorespiratory Fitness
 Aerobic training improves blood circulation and oxygen supply to the cells

Conditioning Principles
 Functional training:
o Keys in on basic muscles in order to contract them to provide stabilization
 Principle of overload:
o Working your muscles past their normal load
 Principle of reversibility:
o To maintain your fitness, you must condition regularly
 Principle of specificity:
o Target and engage the muscles needed for dance when you condition
 Alignment:
o All repetitions must be executed without sacrificing alignment, core control, or
proper breathing
 Warm-up and cool-down:
o Each conditioning session should begin with a basic warm-up to increase blood
flow, accelerate your breathing, and slightly raise your body temeperature