During one of my travels, I met Asya Zlatina, a professional Russian dancer specialized in modern dance. She explained how dancers warm-up before a technical rehearsal or a performance in order not to get hurt. She mixed some stretching exercises with floor routines and came out with a powerful recipe against injuries.
Unexpected practice arena
When me and Asya scheduled our appointment for the video shoot, I imagined she would have met me in a typical ball room. You know, solid wood flooring, mirrors everywhere, the usual place for princesses.
Every dancer hides a princess side, so they are like Cinderella, Snow White, Belle…but others, I would dare to say, fit better with another genre of princesses. More warrior-like ones. Asya is like Xena and decided to train in the hall of the Suzanne Roberts Theatre.
It means no wood floor, no mirrors, no ballet barre, but rough floor, sweat and tears!
Nevertheless, like every warrior, she hides a sweet demeanor inside.
How a dancer should warm-up
Asya’s warm-up is very fast, but effective. It is designed for all types of dance and prepares the neck, back, legs and feet.
Of course, other muscle groups, like arms, are included, but they are secondary and this article will focus on the four primary groups quoted above.
She started with flat-backs, a series of movements focused on warming-up the back. It is an exercise which derives from the technique of the American dancer, choreographer and teacher, Lester Horton.
He believed in getting the body warmed-up and blood flowing quickly.
The second exercise is a tendu. This technique allows to warm-up all the leg muscles down to the feet, so it’s important to complete the movement perfectly. Particularly, tendu also includes the inner-thighs, soles of the feet, as well as the metatarsals.
A third easy, but powerful exercise is represented by neck circles. You have to rotate your head, watching on the left, right, up, front and the deal is done.
Asya started this sequence with flat-backs, but she suggests that also starting with a plie is a good strategy. Plie, which can be called just a squat, makes you bend at the hip and knee, it creates an outward and inward motion that uses your piriformis.
The last exercise with which Asya finished and jumped onto the stage is a releve. A releve is specifically for lower-legs and you have to get up onto your feet.
Avenue of the Arts
The venue we shot the video in is the prestigious Suzanne Roberts Theatre dedicated to the actress, playwright and director, Suzanne Roberts.
Opened in 2007 in the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia (PA, U.S.A.), it is home to the Philadelphia Theatre Company.
Come Together Dance Festival
Asya is very active in the Philadelphia community and participates in many projects, such as the yearly Come Together Dance Festival: an event conceived to promote social inclusion that celebrates the diversity, creativity and technical excellence of Philadelphia’s dance community.
She was preparing for the fourth Festival which united dance innovators, audience favorites and emerging artists.
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