YOGA AND DANCE: EFFECTS OF YOGIC PRACTICE ON PRE-PROFESSIONAL DANCE TRAINING

Abstract

Dance science is a relatively new field of research, but has priceless value to those aspiring to become professional dancers in the future. As a college student training to become a professional concert dancer, I wanted to find out the most effective way to use the last few years of my pre-professional training to benefit me most. I had professors who recommended cross training at the gym, physical therapists who recommended yoga, dance mentors who pushed me to look at other fitness training methods like Pilates, Ultra Barre, and Gyrotonics, and then some who claimed that my dancing was sufficient enough to stand alone. With all of the proPosed options, there was no way of knowing if any of these options were actually going to effect my dancing in a positive way. Modern dance science research has been looking at whether or not dancers should cross train to see maximum growth and strength in performing, auditioning, and technique training. After looking into literature and studies that were already published, countless professional dancers do incorporate some kind of fitness component in addition to their dancing. Of all the above methods mentioned, yoga classes were simple, realistic, and functional enough to benefit dancers of any background and training. / Is it beneficial for pre-professional dancers to cross train to achieve maximum fitness benefits that directly translate to dance abilities? More so, how can a regular yoga practice affect the dance training of a pre-professional level dancer? / Beyond literature review and fundamental yoga technique research, I decided to ask a few of my peers to incorporate a regular yoga practice into their training and journal about it. Using a local yoga studio, Purple Blossom Yoga, three dancers attended different Ashtanga classes and reflect about the experience. I have included some of the journaling prompts as an addendum for reference. This period lasted for fifteen weeks, September through November. With those journals I was able to compare how my own yoga practice and the university-level dancers that I danced with matched up to the literature I was reading. /