July 26, 2013

Interview with Cassandra Yasko of Cloud 9 Supplements

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A few weeks ago, Cassandra Yasko approached me about sharing her Indiegogo Campaign about her new supplements, Cloud 9 Supplements, for dancers. As someone who is constantly trying to find supplements and vitamins that work well with my body, I decided to ask her a few questions about her future supplement line (releasing in September) made specifically for dancers:

What is your background as a dancer?

Cassandra Yasko: I began dancing as a child in a small town dance studio in Maine where I grew up. By high school I was traveling over three hours daily to dance after school in both private and group classes at the Portland School of Ballet. Afterwards I went to college out in Montana to study dance further, where I was exposed to several different aspects of dance that my mind had been sheltered from for many years (such as jazz, African, modern, performance with spoken words, and so forth). Soon after I transferred to the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC, joining the trainee program of Classical Ballet. I stayed on with the Joffrey as part of their Jazz and Contemporary program and then finished my schooling at Dean College, partnered with Alvin Ailey, where I received my associates degree in Dance Performance. Other dance experiences include summer intensives at ABT, Boston Conservatory, and Boston Ballet among others.

Where did the idea for Cloud 9 come from?

Cassandra Yasko: The idea for Cloud Nine came about when I realized many of my friends and fellow dancers weren’t aware of the benefits of natural supplementation. My mother is a doctor and has a holistic healthcare practice, so ever since I was a child I was aware of the importance of proper supplementation. Through my schooling as a dancer I realized my peers didn’t benefit from the same knowledge and, in fact, there was a lot of confusion about vitamins. I also struggled to find the right vitamins to support my lifestyle and the physical demands of my practice. As a result, I started mixing and matching supplements for my own needs. I founded Cloud Nine so that fellow dancers could benefit from supplements tailored to their needs and to raise awareness on the importance of proper supplementation and health throughout the dance community.

What products do you hope to offer, and how do these specifically help dancers?

Cassandra Yasko: We use vegan OXYlock capsules and have formulated unique compounded supplements that are designed to support a dancers lifestyle; for example, our line includes products such as ‘Centered Mood’, to help promote healthy serotonin levels if you’re feeling stressed about a big performance, or ‘Revive’, which supports a healthy balance of memory and focus to get you through rehearsal. We have four products offered through our Indiegogo campaign, but have over 30 currently in formulation. These include vitamins that support bone integrity, help to limit bruising, aid in muscle strength and flexibility, as well as help to prevent muscle fatigue. Our goal is to help dancers’ bodies reach their maximum potential but also mitigate against common injuries.

What are some of the perks for donating to your campaign?

Cassandra Yasko: We have several great perks for those who donate to the campaign! Of course we are offering the very first of our supplements to our contributors, we also have other items to help support a healthy lifestyle such as Cloud Nine Nalgene bottles and custom Cloud Nine GAIA yoga mats. We’re also offering packs at an extremely discounted rate for small studio owners and dancer supply stores who want to help in fostering Cloud Nine’s mission to create a better standard in health and wellness amongst dancers.

When will the products be released?

Cassandra Yasko: The products will be released in September, and we are hoping to have the full e-commerce site launching in September as well!

Anything else you’d like to add?

Cassandra Yasko: Just a thank you to all those who are interested in Cloud Nine and support our mission! It’s an extremely competitive and difficult lifestyle for those who dance professionally, but I hope that Cloud Nine will help maintain health and positivity for those who do.

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Follow Cloud 9 on Facebook and Pinterest for updates, and don’t forget to support their Indiegogo Campaign!

Filed Under: Ballet, Interviews, Professional Ballerinas Tagged With: , , Leave a Comment
July 24, 2013

National Dance Day, July 28th: Philadelphia Dance Day

This Saturday, July 27th, is National Dance Day and Philadelphia Dance Day. Here in Philadelphia, Philly Dance Fitness (as well as other studios and dance organizations) is sponsoring a day of free dance classes as well as a $5 dance party afterwards. While you won’t find me at the social dance party afterwards (I’ve got a huge day of moving on Sunday)–I’ll be checking out many of the workshops throughout the day, including modern dance, jazz, and maybe even some tango.  Check out the full schedule for a full list of workshops and classes throughout the day (as well as their locations), but here’s some of my favorites from the list:

10 am: Kids Ballet at Major Moment

I wish I could crash this class because my ordinary Saturday ballet class has been cancelled so that the rest of the this fabulous dance day could happen. But if you have kids between the ages of 5-7, make sure you take them to this awesome, free taste of ballet! Beverly is an awesome ballet instructor.

11 am: Advanced Beginner Modern Dance

Although this class would probably clash with the rest of my day’s schedule, I definitely would recommend it if you’ve wanted to try out modern dance or are looking for a free class to take on a Saturday. They’re located in Old City too, a great area to grab some lunch afterwards.

1 pm: Co-Ed Pole Dance Fitness

Pole dancing isn’t just for strippers–it can be a great way to increase your flexibility and strength. Not sure what you need? Check out this recent guest post I wrote: What You Need to Start Pole Dancing Classes. Make sure you grab your yoga mat for ab work for this class if you’ve got one.

2 pm: JazzTech

Another class taught by my wonderful instructor, Beverly. While I haven’t gotten a chance to check out this jazz technique class, I hear it’s going really well!

3 pm: BalletEXTREME

This class combines ballet moves with upbeat pop music to help you sculpt a ballerina’s body outside of the normal structure of ballet class. No experience is required!

4:15 Argentine Tango

I’ve been dying to try out Argentine Tango, but I haven’t gotten a chance yet because the classes are either too late (I’m an early sleeper!) or not at a convenient location. This class is perfect if you’re looking for a great introduction to tango–no partner needed!

What are your plans for National Dance Day?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , Leave a Comment
July 17, 2013

Stretching Series: Stretching Tips and The Back

In my previous posts, as well as on the Adult Ballerina Project Facebook,  I mentioned that I would be doing a post on stretching. I got some good requests and feedback on what type of stretches you’d like to see and I decided that rather than squeeze it all into a horrible 5 page long post or a short one without pictures that I’d do a series instead. So this will be the first of my stretching series and I’m starting with my favorite part of the body to stretch: The back!

83eb6bb7f3e5113d03859d2cf0cfcc79Before we begin with that, I’d like to give some of my general tips on stretching.

1. Bundle up. Ok, this may sound really unpleasant. Especially because it’s summer. But this has been a huge help in increasing my flexibility. When I stretch I typically wear tights, legwarmers, shorts, sweatpants, a leotard, and a sweater. As I heat up, I strip layers but I tend to leave my legwarmers and shorts on to keep my legs and hips nice and toasty. One word of caution if you do decide that this tip is something you’d like to try… don’t overdo it. Make sure you’re hydrated and that you’re not pouring sweat. It should serve to help get and keep your muscles warm, not to make you pass out from heat stroke.

2. Warm up for your warm up. This may sound silly but when I stretch I like to walk around the room fast for a few minutes, do a few jumping jacks, or something similar. Getting your blood flowing just a little bit will help your muscles warm up and be more flexible.

3. Use Therabands to help add some resistance or to help you grab your leg when your arms cant quite reach yet.

4. Make good use of fences, counters, doorways, couches. I love to stretch my legs out by just resting one on my counter like its a barre. When I’m at hotels I use the door frame to help me stretch my back out. Be creative and use whatever is safe that you can use to help aid you in stretching.

5. Don’t push yourself too far. Stretch just enough for a little discomfort and hold for 15 seconds. Then next time hold for 20, then 30 and so on. When it becomes “easy”, then push yourself a little farther and repeat the process. This will keep you from torn muscles.

6. If you’re having a stiff day, stretch after a warm bath.

7. You might not look like the hot babes in the yoga pictures you found online- and that’s ok! I get annoyed with this all the time. I imagine myself doing a stretch I see online and when I do it it looks TOTALLY different (and much less cute) than the pictures I saw. But lets get real- that’s what the person in the picture does for a living and they usually have also sat through hair and makeup (and get touched up) and are taking a full day to take like five pictures. Stretching isn’t about the visual product as much as it is making sure that your body is flexible and ready for dancin’.

Ok so now I’ll start with my favorite back stretches. I do these almost daily, if not twice daily. I have found that my posture has totally changed with these stretches and that my arabesque and port de bras have also improved as well.

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1. (Left to right) I start with a cobra pose focusing on keeping my shoulders down and pushing up with my sternum rather than my lower back.

2. Once I’ve reached that pose and have held it for about 30 seconds or longer, I bring my feet up as close to my head as I can get them. It’s ok if you can’t get them to your head yet, just keep trying by bringing them up as high as you can.

3. I always like to reverse my stretches. When I stretch one muscle group, I stretch the opposing muscle group. I find that this helps me avoid soreness and keeps me from having any part of my body from being more flexible one way than the other. Soooo, to reverse these back stretches I do a cat pose, remembering to pull up from the back as well as pushing up from the core.

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4. From there I turn over and do a back bend, feet and hands flat on the floor. After holding as long as you’re able between 15 and 30 seconds.

5. Slowly go down onto your elbows one at a time. I like to put my hands together in the center but you can also put them parallel to each other on the ground. Start by staying on flat feet and holding for a few seconds, then go up on demi pointe. Hold.

6. Walk your feet outward as far as you can to see if you can straighten your legs. I’m still unable to straighten completely but I’m getting there. I find that the easiest way to get out of this pose is to just keep sliding until you’re laying on your back.

7. Last I like to lay on my back and sort of just wiggle around, loosening everything back up. It seems super counter intuitive that stretching would make you tight, right? But I’ve noticed that sometimes with back stretches, your back wants to revert back to it’s previous happy place right away after you’ve pushed it so I just roll out my back, twist around, and try to loosen it back up before I go about my business. 

This is also a great video that can be really helpful. Click here.

What stretches do you do to increase your back flexibility/strength? Also, what parts of the body do you want to see stretches for in this series? (I know that we got one request for knee stretching and I will be certain to get that done!)

Happy Stretching!

**Keep in mind, these are just MY favorite stretches and you definitely need to make sure are careful trying anything new.

Filed Under: Ballet, Info Tagged With: , , , , , 3 Comments
July 15, 2013

Ballet is (almost) like riding a bicycle

Ballet is (almost) like riding a bicycle

4093835537_170cc4a8a9As I’ve mentioned before, I unintentionally took 2 and half weeks off from ballet, starting with birthday plans and my WordPress class and extending all the way to the Fourth of July and bouts of the stomach flu (twice–I’m one lucky girl!). Fortunately, I finally got to go back this Saturday.

What Went Well in Class

The barre went really well. I didn’t have any trouble remembering combinations like I sometimes do when I first return after a break. Usually I’m miserable the first couple of classes back. I think it was a confidence boost that we had a relatively tiny class and the fact I was comfortably tucked in the middle of the barre, instead of my usual end space. My pirouettes seemed to be up to par with what they were (which isn’t necessarily the greatest). It was nice to know they hadn’t deteriorated.

What Didn’t

So I tried to find myself a nice spot in the middle of the floor, but everyone ended up gathering behind me (guess I wasn’t far back enough!) and I ended up being in the front row, and my brain ended up being slightly scattered. Although my balance seemed good during the barre portion, I couldn’t balance on my right leg to save my life. I just felt like I was watching myself struggle in the mirror. Once I left class, I had shooting pains in my lower right leg (it’s been having issues ever since something went wrong on the treadmill a few weeks ago). I have a feeling that’s what’s to blame for my lack of stability. Hopefully I’m able to make up with it with class on Monday (if my leg is up to it) and Saturday.

Future Plans

I probably won’t be updating as much this week, as it’s going to be super busy. I’ve got a few big articles to work on and I’m starting another Girl Develop It class on HTML/CSS that I’m super excited for. Hopefully I’ll be able to fit in some indoor runs this week too (heat wave all week in Philly) but we’ll see. I also stopped with my abs and legs challenge this week because the leg exercises were taking too much of a toll of my legs. But I did start getting back into stretching, which is a good sign.

What are your plans for this week?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , , , Leave a Comment
July 11, 2013

Guest Post: Plus Sized Ballet

Plus Sized Ballet

When most people picture ballerinas in their head, this is what they see:

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It intimidates a lot of people.  Can you blame them?  Look at the strength, the balance, the grace.

But this is what I see when I think of ballerinas:

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picture courtesy of Festival School of Ballet

That’s me on the right. All 200+ pounds of me.  At my heaviest I was 260 pounds.  I never saw myself as that heavy but I also never thought of myself as ballerina material either.  Boy was I wrong.

When I first started my weight loss journey, I felt like I didn’t know my body anymore.  When I lost 30 pounds I knew I had to do something.  I felt like a clutz.  Not at all like the graceful person I knew I was.  So I started searching for an adult ballet class hoping to reclaim some of that grace. I just wanted to go through the basic positions, do some barre work and maybe, one day, try some floor combinations.  But please, don’t make me wear a leotard and tights.

Do you know how hard it can be to find an adult ballet class like this?  Well around me, it took me well over a year.  Every time I called a studio that had an adult class, I would ask the same two questions:

How advanced is your adult class? 

Most of the time they were full of former dancers.  I was told as a beginner I was welcome to try and keep up or I could take their little ones basic ballet.

Do you have a dress code for the adult class? 

The minute they said yes, leotard and tights, I said thank you very much and hung up the phone.  I wanted to try ballet and I was insecure enough about that.  But throw in my insecurities about being in a leotard and tights at my size and it was just too much to overcome.

I was lucky though and finally found a studio that said, come as you are! Yes, there are former dancers in the class but also people who have never danced before.  Come, try it!

I have never felt more at home than I did at that first class.  I wore my workout capris and a t-shirt.  I did invest in a pair of ballet shoes since I wanted to make the point, I wanted to work my way up to dance.  I didn’t just want the barre workout or a ballet booty class.  Those are great options, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted the grace of ballet to help me learn my now rapidly changing body.

I started with one 90 minute class a week.  Turns out floor combinations were always part of the class so I stumbled, tripped and slouched through my first weeks.  Slowly but surely, however, I got the hang of it.  I was doing floor combinations!  Already!  Next thing I knew it was two classes a week and hoping for more.

I found ballet was seeping into my everyday life.  I stood taller and in better alignment which in turn made lots of other things take on a whole different meaning.  My walk became more efficient since I was standing taller and using more of my lower core.  My biking became more challenging.  I had to add more tension to the stationary bike to accommodate my stronger legs.  And something very simple, but major happened – I don’t slouch anymore.  My core and back feel so much better.

Leaving class is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.  I spend 90 minutes stretching, lengthening, reaching.  I feel so tall and lean at the end of it all.  I feel so confident and self-assured.  And let me tell you, THAT feeling will change your life in ways you could never imagine.

Why should plus size people try ballet?  It’s a great way to build lean muscle mass.  The entire class focuses on your core and the large muscle groups of your legs.  So even at the barre, you will burn lots of calories.  It’s an excellent way to build your lung capacity and stamina.  It teaches you about your body and how it works.  So no matter how big or small you are, your body will work better for you.  If you think your weight makes you appear clumsy, ballet will teach you to control your body better.  Even if you never lose an ounce, you will naturally become more graceful and self-controlled.

And most importantly, it is empowering.  When you feel confident, graceful and in control, nothing can stop you.   Anyone can do ballet.  There is nothing special required.  But ballet can certainly make you feel special.  There is nothing holding you back from trying it except you!  So get thee to a ballet studio and start dancing!

PS:  I’ve been doing ballet now for almost two years and I’m still not wearing leotard and tights.  But I’m starting to consider tights, believe it or not.  And maybe a leotard under a big tshirt?  I think I might becoming confident enough to try.

Filed Under: Ballerina Profiles, Ballet Tagged With: , , , 13 Comments