Any dance teacher (or coach of any physically based activity) worth his or her salt knows that athletes need to warm-up. It’s heard over and over again, “make sure you warm up,” “let’s do a good warm up,” “did you guys warm up yet?” But what are the requirements of a “good” warm-up, and do your students know them too?
Several years ago, I found myself frustrated at how often students would be at an event or competition and completely fail to warm-up, or they’d do a quick set of half-hearted stretches and call it good to go... I warm up with them in class every single week and it goes nothing like that! How could they think that was sufficient?! Turns out, many students who don’t know the process of warming up think I’m just up there checking boxes and killing time. They know we do it, but they don’t know why and their brains are in “follow the leader” mode. No information is being retained and it will not be translated into a thoughtful process. It’s like when you get to science class and they ask you to use that set of math skills you learned a year ago… “you mean I was supposed to use that for something?!” Yes. We need to get students to make connections between what we are doing as teachers and why. They can be surprisingly interested in how the body works (especially if they see how it makes them better).
I waste no time at the beginning of the semester or summer intensives covering the main phases of a general warm-up. I ask them to list what types of activities are included in getting the body ready to dance - and as they blurt them out I dispel myths or explain why I’m going to adjust their answer before I write it on the dry erase board or mirror. We then put them in order and proceed using the crawl-walk-run method. Be warned, this may need to be done more than once throughout the year until they are used to being held responsible for bringing knowledge to the table. Classes newer to the concept get to run a pre-set warm-up with me most of the time and I ask them to tell me what phase will be next and what it might include. You don’t need to feel pressure to change it up every time, sometimes predictability is a nice way to start class. Some students even look forward to certain exercises or stretches so have a couple go-to routines and don’t feel guilty using them. Eventually, I set them free to do a self-warm up with the phases listed in sight and explain the ways it can be customized for each body with it’s own needs. For example, don’t spend a lot of time stretching an area of the body where you’re already quite flexible, rotate and roll out areas that tend to be tight or injury prone, if there’s something you’re purposely avoiding… you probably need to hit that for sure.
I still do a group warm-up in class most of the time, but once the students are educated in why and how to warm-up, they’re happy to customize it and get centered and focused for recital or competition. Sometimes, I give them to time to get started and then jump in and finish some phases together.
Numerous sites have posted recommended segments, phases and ways to organize a warm-up. There’s also a wealth of video demonstrating options you can adapt for your needs. Here are some of my favorites:
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