A range of floor exercises for muscle reinforcement

Dear children and parents!
As you are reading this site and my article – it probably means you’ve already decided or maybe just thinking about crossing the ballet class threshold. Great decision! My congratulations! We are happy to see one more dancer in the big army of ballet fans.:)
But first I want to ask you (and I must ask, because I’ve already made my way along this hard road to the beautiful art of dance) to persevere and be strong on your way to becoming a perfect dancer. The truth of life is for anything to be beautiful it requires a lot of time and hard work. Only after that will you be rewarded. Not everyone reaches the finish, but I deeply believe that all of you will keep this love of dancing for your whole life.
This range of exercises is intended for 6-7 year old children. Actually, we start at 3 in our group, and the “biggest” fans even lie to us about their age so that they can start dancing and come to us when they are only 2.:) And from time to time such dancers will learn to speak at the same time as they learn to dance.:)
In order to make the lesson more interesting for such small children, each exercise has its own name or is titled by the action of something.

The iron

Starting position – sit on the floor, straighten your legs, especially the knees and feet, straighten your back. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – contract the feet, curling the toes towards you and press the knees against the floor. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – extend the feet by straightening the toes and the instep. Repeat the exercise 8 times. A good sign that the leg is perfectly straight - the ankles will come off the floor.

The fold

Starting position – sit on the floor, raise your arms above, your shoulders and shoulder-blades, straighten your waist and neck. Bend forwards bringing your chest down to your knees, your nose is “pointing forwards”, arms are stretched out along your legs and parallel to the floor. Don’t forget to count to 8.:)

The frog

This exercise has been created to improve the backward movement of the hips. Sit on the mat, keeping the back straight, lean back with the hands on the floor for support, legs bent with the knees close to the chest and your feet pulled in to the body. Open your legs sideways and press your knees down to the floor. Keep your feet together and pulled in to the body. Count to 8, and then return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise 8 times.

The tower

This exercise will strengthen your back muscles. Take the starting position as in “the frog” exercise. Raise your arms, straighten them and using all your strength hold them behind your head, with your palms together. The nose “looking” forwards and up a little.:) For each count try to open hands (with straight elbows) turning them back to back, do so for 8 counts. Then for 4 counts lean forwards bringing your chest down over your feet (which should still be together and pulled in to the body), raise your back for the next 4 counts and straighten yourself. Do this exercise 2 times.

The doll

Sit on the mat and open your legs as wide as you can. Don’t forget to straighten your knees and insteps. Open your arms also. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – lie with your chest forwards over the right leg, at the same time keep stretching your legs and arms. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – return to the starting position. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – lie with your chest forwards over the left leg, at the same time keep stretching your legs and arms. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – return to the starting position. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – lie with your chest forwards onto the floor between your legs, at the same time keep stretching your legs and arms. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – just relax. Repeat the whole exercise 4 times.

The dolphin

Starting position - lie down on the mat on your tummy, with your arms and legs stretched out straight to make yourself as long as possible. The nose “looking” forwards. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – raise your legs and arms and hold this position. Lie down and relax. Repeat the exercise 4-6 times.

The spring

This exercise will strengthen your tummy muscles. Kneel on the mat, keep your legs together and your back straight, don’t forget about your instep. Arms straight by the side of the body. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – lean back keeping the torso straight. “One”, “two”, “three”, “four” – slowly and smoothly rise up to the starting position. Repeat the whole exercise 4 times.

A tunnel for the train.

This exercise is a continuation of the previous exercise – “the spring”. Kneel, bend back, take hold of your feet with your hands. Try to straighten your arms at the elbows. After that repeat the “the spring” exercise.
So, the lesson has finished and the children run to their mums, grandmothers, grandfathers and (unfortunately, this happens so rarely:) their dads.