Strength & Technique are personalized sessions for dancers who are dedicated to a long, strong and healthy dance career.  S&T focuses on injury prevention, as well as understanding & implementing foundational dance technique. 

 

WHAT IS A PRIVATE S&T SESSION? The first session begins with an evaluation to determine the dancer's alignment, strength, flexibility, range of motion, foot capabilities, breathing techniques, and core control.  Each session is then tailored to the dancer's needs using a combination of targeted exercises for strength & neuromuscular activation.  Each session also focuses on understanding foundational dance technique such as use of plié, a proper tendu and degagé and then applying this to choreography, jumps and turns.  When a dancer can properly engage the correct muscles, they will begin to experience effortless developpés with higher extension, improved endurance and control for adagio (slow movements) , more precision & accuracy with allegro (fast movements), higher jumps and proper turning technique. ​

​

WHY IS S&T SO IMPORTANT?  The #1 reason is injury prevention.  Dancers work in extreme ranges of motion.  Muscle memory requires intense repetition.  These 2 factors, along with the current dance culture of "more more more", often lead to physical fatigue and breakdown as well as mental and emotional burn out. Having a strong technical foundation and strength to support the level of dance that is expected today is paramount to the long end game of a healthy and happy dance career. There is also an expectation tday of over stretching where a split jump is more than 180 degrees.  While studios focus on flexibility, there is often a gap of strengthening to support that level of hyper-flexiblity.  This is where S&T training come in to prevent injury from happening and/or decrease time off should an injury occur.

​

I UNDERSTAND THE STRENGTH PART, BUT WHY TECHNIQUE?  AREN'T I ALREADY PAYING FOR BALLET AND TECHNIQUE CLASES ALREADY?  Yes, you probably are.  I hope that technique is a strong part of you dancer's curriculum at their home studio.  But the reality is that the dance culture today, especially in the competitive world, is far more apt to focus on an acro move, getting their over-split, or repeated right-sided battements or turn than have a solid technical foundation.  Teachers are only able to give each student so much attention individually or to explain how to properly perform a tendu or plié. They simply do not have the time to physically get down on the floor and show your dancer how to 'use the floor'. This is where S&T comes in.  Investing in S&T is that piece of technique class that missing in larger classes.  And this information is the basis of every part of choreography that your dancer will perform.

​

THE GOAL is to work with dancers consistently & long term (at least 3+ months) to make long term changes to their developing technique and to promote a long and healthy career. 

As a mother to 2 musical theater girls, I understand that a long term commitment is a financial commitment as well as an energetic one.  So it is important that parents know the ROI of this investment:

​

• FUN: if it doesn't feel joyful, it is not worth it

• Hands on instruction from a former professional ballet/theater dancer, and current Doctor of Physical Therapy with almost 20 years of experience in neuro, ortho, vestibular/balance & pelvic floor/core therapy

• Personalized program tailored to your dancer's needs & goals

• Learning the HOW of technique, not just copying what the dancer sees in class

• Verbal and/or written feedback after sessions for parents

• Photo & video comparisons to show progress (subject to agreeing with the media clause)

• Working directly in dancer and parent goals

• Always keeping the dancer's physical-mental-emotional health in mind

• Direct text support from me

• Active clients receive a discount on physical therapy, should it be needed​​​