Blog - Portside Physiotherapy

Posture and Dance

We all know that there is an “ideal” posture that we all strive to achieve while we are in dance class, but what is it and why is it so important? Well balance alignment is essential for dancers to develop good dance technique and prevent injury. Dancers need to learn to control this placement not only whilst standing in class, but also as they move through space. Controlling alignment is an ongoing challenge and something dancers strive to achieve throughout their career.

BE CALM & Don’t Ice!

In 1978 the term RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) was devised by Dr. Gabe Mirkin for the treatment of athletic injuries. 40 years later, a lot more research has been done and it has shown that ice is actually harming, rather than healing our bodies! Even Dr Mirkin has recently publicly stated that his recommendations are out-dated! Instead; the BE CALM protocol is preferred – more on that later!

Core Stability versus Core Strength

Everyone is talking about the importance of “core stability”. It is a hot topic both in and out of the dance studio among dancers and teachers alike. When true core stability is seen in a dancer, they develop dynamic control of their body. The ease of movement achieved allows the dancer complete freedom to accomplish their technical requirements with efficient muscle recruitment and co-ordination.

Using Imagery in Dance

Images are powerful. Television advertisers, magazine editors and even your favourite social media identities use imagery every day. Images can make us feel something, they can inspire us and they can help us understand things.

So what is Imagery?

Hypermobility versus Flexibility

Here’s the deal: the term ‘flexibility’ refers to muscles while the term ‘hypermobility’ refers to ligaments. Muscles and ligaments are two distinct types of tissues which perform very different functions in the body. Here’s a quick anatomy primer:

Muscles are contractile tissues that cross over one or more joints in your body. When a muscle contracts, it causes movement of the joint it crosses.
Ligaments, on the other hand, are short bands of fibrous connective tissue that connect bone-to-bone and effectively “fasten” our joints together. Ligaments do not contract or create movement in the body. Instead, ligaments serve as the “seat belts” of our joints. They are our back-up system to stabilise our joints if our body moves in a way that would otherwise take a joint beyond its normal range of motion.