LIMBER, STRETCH AND CONDITIONING CLASS Tanya Pearson is a highly regarded Sydney teacher. Many of her pupils have gone on to professional careers both here and overseas. One of her reasons for such success, she says is her limbering class, which she has developed over many years, The frequent requests from other teachers to learn this limbering class, Pearson says, gave her the idea to produce this video. It is something of an irony that ballet has become so physically demanding, especially of flexibility, that it has now virtually outstripped its own capacity as a training system. All dancers these days supplement basic technical class with extra training, whether borrowed from sport, Pilates, yoga or exercises they have invented. Warming up, as any teacher knows, is vital. Increasingly warm-up has become almost as important as the class, incorporating the extra stretching and conditioning needed for optimum performance. Pearson's Limber, Stretch & Conditioning Class is aimed at students from 11 upwards. She has drawn on old and new conventions as well as her own inventions, and blended them into an hour-long system. It begins with exercises at the barre, working on the legs and spine, then moves to the centre, where the exercises concentrate on the upper body, shoulder girdle and neck - releasing tension, loosening joints, in turn enhancing epaulement and port de bras. Next, the students move to the floor, where a type of reduced floor barre is performed, working on the legs, feet and hip rotation. The stomach, or 'the center', as it is more commonly referred to in dance, is one of Pearson's main emphases. She states that control of the abdominal muscles is the most important part of a dancers technique, not only for stabilizing and balancing, but also for the way they connect to all other movement. However, she gives only one simple abdominal exercise. The students then move back to the barre for further stretching, finishing with the less strenuous exercises designed 'not to isolate parts of the body', but to coordinate and condition for the class ahead. The class is a useful systemizing of exercising that by the end have routinely worked all of the body, concentrating on aspects of strength and stretching that daily classes can't always cover. It can be done all or in part every day, depending on the needs of the dancer. It is also handy for dancers when they are injured, on holidays or can't do class for any reason. Teachers who do not have access to the latest training techniques would also find it interesting. The exercises are demonstrated beautifully by Imogen Wearing, Olivia Bell, Jacqui ham and Alice Gahan. Karen Van Ulzen - Editor, Dance Australia October/November 1999 issue. 9 Berry Road, St. Leonards ~ NSW 2064. Australia ~ Tel: +61 (02) 9439 4424 ~ Fax: +61 (02) 9439 5352 Email: inquiries@classicalcoaching.com