Hi! My one weakness in dance is my flexibility. I dont have ANY flexibility in my legs, and even worse, hardly any muscle! lol. I am probably the weakest girl I know. But, I have a really hard kick in my routine, and no matter what I can't seem to get my leg high enough! I've tried doing stretches and stuff, but it doesn't seem to work! Please tell me if you have any advice on how to make my legs stronger and more flexible! Thanks so much!

Have you heard of an exercise system called Pilates? I highly recommend it. It first got known in the US in the 50's when Martha Graham used it to train her dancers. Dancers and skaters used it for years, and now it's become one of the biggest fitness fads around. Because so many people are doing it now, you need to be careful when you choose an instructor. There are a good number of Pilates instructors out there who are dancers or ex-dancers, so hook up with one of them to get the best help. I love Pilates, I've been doing it for a few years now.

you might also like to try capoeira and yoga. capoeira will definitely get your legs a lot more stretched as i have tested it myself. yoga is also quite well known for increasing stretching capacity.

hope this helps.

nayeem

I recommend pilates, too. It will help you with flexibility and posture, too. Don't expect immediate results; it takes consistency and doing it at home as well as in the classroom.

FYI - I read part of a book called Dance Kinesiology and it had some good insight into body types and who is flexible vs. who is muscular. It was interesting. If you're not muscular, it should be easier for you to gain flexibility.