Cardio for Dancers

"It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer." - anonymous
      It is very important for dancers to be fit because while doing this art form you contract and release every single muscle in your body. One struggle of many dancers is what cardio to do, obviously do core workouts and stuff like that but specifically what for cardio is a big debate.
       Many professionals believe that running is terrible for dancers. This is because running uses muscles in different ways than dancers do and this creates a great amount of muscle in your quadriceps group. However muscle is great and dancers need a lot of it, it is not good when your quadriceps over power your hamstrings. This is because the hamstrings help straighten your legs and those are the muscles you are supposed to use to lift your legs in a dance to make it look more effortless and cause less strain. Another issue with dancers running and overdeveloped quadriceps is that it makes it look as if the dancers legs are not fully straightened because of how the muscle builds and looks. This is a problem, and I would know since I am a dancer who also runs a lot. Judges mistake your runners legs for softened knees and will doc you points, this seems unfair but while you are dancing they are unable to tell if your legs aren't straightening because of your muscle curvature or just out of pure laziness.
        Don't worry there are many other ways to get in your cardio, my favorite way by far is definitely Zumba. Not only is this type of cardio fun but it is perfect for dancers because it is dancing. You can make up your own routines to hit songs, go to a Zumba class, watch a video and follow along, or there is even Xbox and Wii Zumba games so you can play and compete with friends for points while also getting a cardio work out in. While this isn't the only cardio workout to get you to stay away from running it is a great alternative.
        Also don't be discouraged if you love to run, you can still continue to do that and be a phenomenal dancer just make sure to stretch out your hamstrings really good after you run, this will keep your ability to straighten your legs. The worst thing that you could do though is not do any cardio at all.