Stretch and tone with ballet

CEBU, Philippines - Ballet is not necessarily for ballerinas. It is a great stretch and tone workout for muscle development and control, flexibility and gracefulness.

Age and gender do not matter in ballet. Don’t be carried away that it is for people who are thin and genteel. Ballet workout is for people who want to stay fit, trim and graceful and have a good posture. If you have had all the belly dancing and ballroom dancing or the high and low impact of aerobics, it may be time to switch to ballet where stamina and control are essential. It will also spare you of the heavy muscle impact that comes with heavy dancing. Yes, belly, ballroom and hip hop dancing are good for weight loss. But these do little to tone muscles and especially those mass of muscles on the tummy or on the upper arms. The usual gym aerobics dance programs do little to improve posture.

When I integrated ballet exercises to my stretch and tone regimen, I found a natural and more pleasant way of rehabilitating my scoliosis. Ballet has movements that align with the natural contours and lines of the body from head to foot that I discovered in ballet a healing workout rather than exercise. For instance, in trimming the inner and outer thighs, you can execute deep lunges and squats using weights and machines in the gym. But in ballet, you use the barre or the ballet bar to help stretch the legs and thighs.

In a movement called “plie” pronounced “plee-YAY,” the knees are bended, the heels remain on the floor while the torso remains erect and the tailbone tucked downward. These bending of the knees work on the inner and outer thighs without going through the strain of machines. Instead of the strain, ballet stretches, elongates and tones muscles especially from the shoulders going down because you need to balance with the head, arms, torso and legs. Raising of the arms in alignment with the neck, helps to stretch those stubborn muscles in the upper arms.

There are also back exercises in ballet that are done on the floor and on the ballet bar which I have found more pleasant for my scoliosis than having a personal trainer stretch me or using weights for the stretching. Other than that, those stubborn back muscles that often protrude when wearing brassieres can be contoured because back exercises in ballet stretch the back.

Spirituality in Dance

It is the controlled movements in ballet that helps one to be graceful. More than that, I have found some intimacy with God in ballet as a medium of spirituality and prayer. In most dances in the gym, I am seriously grieved and guilty that I have to exercise dancing to the music of the world. But in ballet, I use classical and spiritual music and because ballet is about expression and exploration of the human body, I discovered the many facets about God’s wonderful work in me.

When you are a journalist, you express God in words using a pen or a computer, as a pianist, in the touch of the fingers and in music with a piano. But in ballet, there is no instrument – just the muscles and tendons that God originally created you with. Ballet is about expression and while there are specific movements, these can be choreographed so these are not vulgar. That’s why I really hate belly dancing.

Other than the stretch and tone regimen in ballet, I have found ballet to be prayer in dance. One of the most expressive characters in the Old Testament was David who was known for playing the harp and for composing psalms. But he was also known to have danced. Could he have danced the ballet? Communicating to God in movement is not a popular Christian way of prayer. But if this is one way of doing away with the wicked dances of the world, then I would rather improve on it as a spiritual exercise and workout.

And also maybe you might ask how about the costumes. When I am in my ballet regimen I am in tights and leotards so I am safe in the execution of the movements but I wear a skirt. You don’t have to be immodest to dance ballet. Those who wear immodest clothing or choreograph ballet with immodest movements don’t have the heart of Christ in them. Ballet can also be corrupted as a dance for the wicked if the heart is wicked.

Ballet is said to be the mother of all dances. How you execute, choreograph and choose the music in ballet begins with the heart of the performer — one must have the right heart with God to be nourished of its spirituality. You may have stretched and toned muscles from a ballet workout but without spirituality, you won’t be able to maintain your desired shape nor be blessed with a gracefulness only God can give.