Rope Stretches

"I will find strength in pain." - anonymous
       Any dancer knows that stretching is a very important part of your warm up and something that can help improve your abilities. Now do not confuse being flexible with being a good dancer because there are some great dancers who are not flexible. However, increasing your flexibility can improve your lines and make them more beautiful while you dance.
      Many dancers do not realize that stretching normally does not improve your flexibility, it just warms up your muscles and stretches them to their full potential at the moment, but that is not making you more flexible than you were a week ago. To permanently improve your flexibility you must do deeper stretches. This is where the quote ties in, the stretches today that I am going to explain can be very painful and make you sore but in the end the improvement will be worth it. Also keep in mind this is something that must be done continuously for results.
Rope Stretches:
1. you must have a rope the length of your wing span
2. lay on your back with your hips square and legs bent with your knees facing the ceiling
3. put on leg straight up in the air the you foot fully flexed and your heel trying the go towards the wall behind your head.
4. put the rope around the sole of your foot with each end in your hand and pull as far as you can attempting to get your heal to the wall behind you head. Make sure your leg is completely straight.do this for 30 seconds.
5. using the rope bend your knee but leave the heel where it is and pull your leg closer to you. Do this for about 15 seconds.
6. Slowly extend leg all the way straight attempting to get the heel closer to the wall.
7. repeat steps 4-6 about five times and then switch legs.
Be aware that your legs and arms will shake and it will hurt but it will improve your flexibility if you tough out the pain.