Safe Dance Practices Flashcards
What is safe dance practices
Ways in which to prevent injury or harm whilst practicing or performing dance
Environment
Clear environment with no obstacles that could be a dance
Sprung floor
Clothing
Clothing that allows for easy movement and doesnt restrain the dancer in any way
Leggings vs jeans
No socks as they could cause you to slip
No jewellery as it could hurt the dance and be a hazard
Warm up
Three stage warm up
Cardio strength and stretch
Cardio
Increases blood flow to vital muscles around the body
Warms up body to allow movement to be more fluid
Start slow and work way up to reduce injury
Jogging on spot to burpees
Strength
Strengthen key muscles groups to help movement become easier to perform
Stretch
Improve flexibility and reduce the incidence of injury
Through stretching, the muscles and tendons around our joints will be elongated helping to increase range of movement
If muscles and tendons aren’t stretched they may become shortened and the body adapts to the diminished range
Cardio before as it is more effective to stretch warm rather than cold muscles (less blood flow)
Help for reasonable amount of time
Alignment
Correct alignment of all body parts will reduce possibility of injury
Enables dancer to move with safety, efficiency, balance and strength by carrying the weight in the bones of the body as they are designed to do
Poor alignment - muscles forced to hold the body rather than bones causing strain due to overuse
Postural alignment
Three primary body weights - skull, thorax and pelvis - organised around a vertical plumb line
Plumb line drops from the top of the skull to your feet and should pass through the three body weights
Alternating curves of the spine are drawn around the primary body weights
Movement is possible through the opposite curves of spine - responsive not straight spine
Curved to allow for shock absorption and movement in the three anatomical planes
