This is How You Should Actually Warm Up for Dance Class

What does it actually mean when your dance teacher tells you to warm up before class starts? We are here to clear the air for you and give you some pointers.

As a teacher, we struggle with never having enough time to cover all the things we intend on doing in dance class.  If our students are warming up prior to class starting that helps us to be able to spend more time on technique and less time warming up.  It also screams to us that you are taking your craft seriously.  If we see a group of dancers just sitting on the floor talking before class, instead of going in the dance room early to stretch and warm up it lets us know where their heads are at.

If you want to impress your teacher and get the most out of your class then show up to class 10 minutes early to start warming up your body.  Save the splits for after class and instead use some of these exercises to raise your pulse and get blood flowing to your muscles:

• Jumping Jacks
• core exercises like plank or crunches
• lunges
• ballet barre (plie’s, tendu’s, ronde de jambes)
• joint mobility exercises (hip circles, arm circles etc)
• balancing in pirouette position
• light stretching to wake up your muscles

Don’t hesitate to ask your teacher for help on some additional exercises for pre-warm-up.  Your body will thank you and you will find you will be more successful in class!