February 2023 News

Style Spotlights

There are so many styles of dance that each build the skills of the dancer! We’ve created a short spotlight on the styles we offer in our adaptive dance lessons.

Ballet

Jazz

Tap

Lyrical/Contemporary

Improvisation

Creative Movement

Read even more about ADEPT’s offered styles.

July 2020 Newsletter

July 2020 ADEPT Newsletter. If you want to sign up for our newsletter contact us.

How to Choose an Adaptive Dance Class

Here’s a list of things to consider when choosing what dance studio or program is a good fit for your child with special needs

Getting Back to Dance Class

As studios and classes start to re-open after Covid-19 shutdowns, you might be wondering if you can jump back in where you left off with your dance practice. We’ve all missed our classes, but easing back into dance carefully will be important for every dancer.

1. Take it slow

Some dancers have been lucky enough to take online class just as much or even more than before shutdown. Others have not danced since the doors of their studio closed. No matter how much you’ve kept dancing over the break, you should take it slow during your first week back to classes. After your first week you can start to build back up to the pace you remember, focusing on flexibility, strength, and fitness. However, if you haven’t been dancing as much as you were used to, this process could take awhile.

2. Listen to your body

Over your time off, your body likely changed. This could be from many things, including growing or loosing some of your muscle conditioning. As always, if you feel pain, it’s not a good idea to keep pushing. One of the biggest risks of returning to dance after taking a break is injuring yourself because of pushing too hard. Your brain may remember how to do the steps, but that doesn’t mean your body is still able to do them safely. Listen to the signals your body gives you, and make a plan to safely build back to where you were.

3. Stay healthy

It’s always a good idea to take care of your body as a dancer. After all it is your instrument. This is especially true while you are asking your body to re-build the skills you’ve fallen behind on during your break. Ways to stay healthy include eating well, sleeping well, and staying hydrated.

4. Be kind

It will be tempting to compare yourself to your classmates as you get back to dance classes. While some dancers will be struggling to get back to normal, others might seem to have no trouble jumping back in. Be kind to yourself, and to them, during this transition! Everyone’s body is different and everyone’s dance experience while classes were closed was different. Just because one dancer needs more time and has to work harder to get back to where they were, does not mean they are a worse dancer or don’t care about dance. Online learning works well for some, but not for everyone, and that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about your fall backs and losses. Keep encouraging yourself and your classmates as you transition back to regular classes.

5. Celebrate your progress

As you work hard to re-build your dance skills and re-adjust to dance classes, don’t forget to celebrate the victories. Yeah you might have been able to do your splits before, but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate when you get them back! Dance is all about progress, and every goal should at least earn you an inner “GO ME!” when you reach it. Coming back after a break is hard, especially when we didn’t have much control over how long the break would be. Great job at taking the steps to get back to dancing safely!

By: Chelsea Rayna, Director and Founder of ADEPT

Resources:

• Dance Spirit, “Coming Back from a Break” - https://www.dancespirit.com/coming-back-from-a-break-2326280044.html

• Dance Informa, “Returning to dance after a break” - https://www.danceinforma.com/2013/07/01/returning-to-dance-after-a-break/

Safe, Effective Stretching 101

1. Get warm.

You’ll stretch best when your muscles are a little warm. Do some easy, simple movements to raise your body temperature. Keep in mind, this isn’t a workout, just a warm up!

2. Hold for at least 30 seconds. (But not too long.)

Static stretching is best for dancers. If you hold for shorter than 30 seconds, (by bouncing, fidgeting, or coming in and out of the stretch) you will lose the effectiveness. You might get some temporary increase in flexibility, but for long term results you have to hold it.

The same is true for holding the stretch for too long. Although doctors may subscribe prolonged stretches, it’s best to avoid doing this yourself. Two minutes is the maximum suggested by professionals, but really you can get great results by holding for 30 seconds to a minute and repeating, as discussed in Tip #5.

3. Push until you feel it. Stop before it's painful.

Your ideal stretch is at the point where you feel your muscle stretch, and it may be uncomfortable, but it isn’t sharply painful. More pain isn’t more gain. In fact, stretching past pain can cause injuries.

4. Breathe and relax.

Breathe while you stretch. You’d be surprised how often dance teachers have to remind dancers of this! For some reason, our bodies like to forget to breathe when we are focused on stretching, so it takes some mental focus to remember to breathe. In fact, if you can breathe and relax while you stretch you will reduce the resistance your body is giving and increase your results.

5. Repeat

It’s best to stretch for short intervals but repeat each stretch three or four times a session. In a dance class, there is not always the opportunity to repeat a stretch multiple times, so you need to be doing this at home for long-term flexibility. The more often you stretch, the faster your flexibility will develop, so aim to stretch every day!

By: Chelsea Rayna, Director and Founder of ADEPT

Resource: IADMS, Resource Paper: Stretching for Dancers - https://www.iadms.org/page/353

Remote Dance Tips

Taking class in a new format can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be difficult! Check out these tips for a successful online dance class: