Profession or Pleasure

Whether you dance because it's your vocation or because you enjoy an evening class, massage therapy can be an important part of your wellness routine. Keeping yourself in top form will help prevent injury in class or rehearsal, before an important occasion like a show or audition you will be calmer and more focused and afterwards, more relaxed and with a better chance of a swifter recovery.

Reduce Muscle Pain

If after an intense session in class or rehearsal, or a performance, a burning pain in the muscles is experienced, this can be a result of build up of lactic acid or micro-trauma (microscopic tears to the muscle fibres) and local inflammation. Along with softening up the soft tissue, the body’s circulation is sped up with massage, which helps the removal of waste products, nourishing the muscle fibres with valuable nutrients and helping to restore range of motion, relieve pain and improve recovery time.

DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Stiffness) occurs when over-exertion of this type goes unchecked, where muscles become hard and stiff for a few days, bringing with it a slow recovery time and the effort required to overcome it, without putting yourself at risk of further injury.

Prevention

- is better than cure, as it is said, which is key.

Ease Muscle Restrictions

Massage is used to relieve fatigue, which can be caused from the muscles in the body being so tight that it uses extra energy to function. A relaxed muscle is a good way to prevent cramps, sprains and torn ligaments. Because massage relaxes the muscles, the entire body doesn't have to work so hard and what was once fatigue can now be energy directed elsewhere. Massage on a regular basis will promote an improvement in a dancer's overall performance as the muscles will be longer, leaner and nourished enabling them to perform better and delay the onset of muscle fatigue.

Improve Flexibility and Range of Motion

In all dance routines there will be an element of repetition and one-sided movements causing an imbalance in muscle strength and postural stability. Through the maintenance that a massage routine promotes, muscle tissue can be lengthened and returned to its optimal state. As a result, range of motion in the joint is increased and the dancer is able to produce greater power and stamina. The dancer may be unaware that there is a problem, as it has not reached the pain/injury stage yet.

Emotional and Mental Wellbeing

Massage therapy induces a relaxation response, which lowers the heart rate, respiratory rate and regulates blood pressure, stimulating circulation, which can help to calm nervous tension. It also improves your self-awareness so that you as a performer become more body-aware and can recognise and feel when there may be a problem starting to appear.