DYNAMIC STRETCHING!  Are you back at physie? If not, it must be time soon.  Before every class you should do some warming up and stretching – but not sitting down kind of stretching, you need DYNAMIC STRETCHING!  Dynamic stretches are ones that move, get the blood flowing and loosen your joints and ligaments ready for dance – here are some examples.

• swing your arm in a circle to warm up your shoulder
• trace a circle (the size of a grapefruit) with your chin to stretch your neck
• swing your leg forward to stretch your hamstrings and backwards (not turned out) to stretch your hip flexor (the front of your hip)
• swing your leg across your body then out sideways (knee on top) to stretch hip and inner thigh
• rotate your ankles (leave the ball of foot on floor and make a circle with your ankle in both directions)
• knee bends, feet together in parallel (Achilles tendon stretch)
• knee bends in 2nd to stretch inner thighs (knees out, back straight)
• lie on your back and grab your knees (in tuck position) then roll forwards and back over your spine – this really loosens up the back.
• on your back draw big circles with your leg both clockwise and anti-clockwise. Keep all parts of your back pressed into the floor.
• stand in second and twist from side to side, let your arms wrap around you and look as far behind you as you can.

Always keep breathing while you stretch, relax your body and do both arms or legs.