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Aging And Exercise - Ballet
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Hello All,

https://www.nytimes.com/...ballet-new-york.html

Excerpts:



Abrera has spent her entire professional life at American Ballet Theater in New York. She joined the corps de ballet in 1996, when she was 17, and was promoted to soloist five years later.

Then, when she was about to turn 30, she suffered a major injury that involved her back and her sciatic nerve.

She could barely walk. “It took me 10 minutes to go a city block,” she recalled. It was not clear whether she would ever be able to dance again.

“Now I can see that time as finite,” she said. “I had to have faith in my body, that it would be able to heal itself.” After 18 months, she returned to the stage, then was reinjured, then returned to the stage again six months later.

“In some ways, I was a better dancer,” she said. “I had more life experience. I was more mature.” In 2015, at 37, she was named a principal dancer. She played the role of Juliet last year at 40.

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A typical rehearsal day for Abrera begins with a company or open class in the morning. She then has rehearsals from around noon until 7 p.m., sometimes with a break for lunch, sometimes not.
“If I have a longer break,” she said, “I’ll cross train for injury prevention or get physical therapy to help the tweaks feel better.”

To stay in form and also to avoid reinjury, she swims twice a week and does core-stability exercise sessions three times a week.
On Sundays, she gets a massage. If her workload is particularly heavy, she’ll try to find time for a second massage on a weekday.

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When I suggested to Abrera after watching a practice that it seemed there were no limitations on her body, she said: “Oh, no, no. There are roles that are behind me.
Jumps that are for a younger body.” She then added with a laugh: “I have taken so much Advil, I should own stock in the company. CBD oil also helps.”

Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster
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Re: Aging And Exercise - Ballet [nealhe] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for sharing. Seems like the moral of the story is "It's better to manage your decline than to throw in the towel".

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.
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