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26 JULY 2011

Why cyclists should dance ballet

8 reasons why ballet is the perfect cross-training for cyclists:

  1. Ballet strengthens the core without having to do those boring crunches.
  2. It stretches the hip flexors, which tend to get tight in the forward-leaning position.
  3. It improves posture, correcting that rounded lumbar spine that cyclists often develop.
  4. It strengthens the
25 JULY 2011

Biker shows attitude

When not fine-tuning her braking technique down those devilishly steep bike trails in Marin, Sarah can be found tossing off triple pirouettes in the ballet studio.

Here she demonstrates one of the more difficult ballet poses – attitude croisée devant – difficult because you can’t simply lift the knee, you …

21 JULY 2011

Cambré on the streets of San Francisco

 

A streetwise ballerina like Vicki puts urban architecture to good use, supporting her cambré derrière (backward arch) on a stanchion.

Doing a supported stretch like this is a good reminder that when we stand up and do the cambré unsupported, we should feel as if we are draping our …

20 JULY 2011

Ecarté in Vegas

Christine takes a break from playing Texas Hold ‘Em and sunning herself poolside to demonstrate the écarté, one of the eight body positions in ballet.

The body faces one of the downstage corners and the leg is extended à la seconde, or to the side, in the direction …

20 JULY 2011

Jambe à la barre in Hong Kong

Allegra and Paloma demonstrate a classic ballet stretch on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, after walking the 3.5 km around Lugard Road.

In this position we work on rotating the lifted leg in the hip socket, engaging our maximum turnout. Our weight is centred over the standing leg, and we …