Through years of studying slow-motion recordings of Baryshnikov and other greats jumping, Jhung has developed his own philosophy, called “ping, slam, bounce,” aimed at helping dancers train for bouncy, springy jumps. Tight or weak calves can also hinder jumps by limiting a dancer’s ankle flexion-just be sure to save any static stretches for after jumping, says Richardson, since they temporarily decrease the muscles’ power. Richardson says it’s especially important for them to warm up with dynamic stretches and massage or roll out the bottoms of their feet to keep them supple. Hutchinson emphasizes the preparation of the feet in her warm-ups, helping dancers find their heels in pliés and rolling through demi-pointe and full pointe and then pushing all five toes off the floor, “because that’s how we’ll pick up our feet eventually” in jumps.ĭancers with high arches may struggle with this. After all, he says, the feet are what allow dancers to bounce off the floor. He finds dancers often focus too much on muscling through jumps with their legs and not enough on pushing off their heels and rolling through their feet. “It all starts with the feet,” says Jhung. “So first, let’s get as high as we can, and then we’ll have all that time in the air where we can do those things.” “I can’t get my legs straight, turn them out, stretch my ankles, get my shoulders down, until I have height off the floor,” she says. “First, you’re learning to jump like a human and produce force like a human, then you can stylize it for dance,” she says.Ĭontemporary teacher Shelly Hutchinson takes a similar approach in her jumps and turns classes at Broadway Dance Center in New York City, encouraging dancers to aim for height first, then add everything else. As dancers master the basic mechanics, they slowly progress to “dancerly” jumps. When working with dancers on their jumps, athletic trainer Megan Richardson always starts with athletic jumps and postures-no turnout, only functional arms, and allowing the push-off and landing position to be more like a squat than an upright plié. Give your jumps a boost with these expert recommendations. But as New York City–based ballet teacher Finis Jhung puts it, “There are no wires to lift you up.” High jumps are a combination of functional strength, smart mechanics and a strategic mindset. Now that you're up to date on Leap Day, have some fun.There are few onstage moments more thrilling than watching a dancer jump so high that they’re able to seemingly hang in the air. Getting married in a leap year is considered bad luck in Greece, so one in five engaged couples try to avoid it.

Women often choose this day to propose marriage to men.

There will be 8 years between leap years 20.

Unless the year is also divisible by 400, then it is still a leap year.

But every year divisible by 100 is NOT a leap year.

Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year.

Quite a few famous people were born on February 29 th.

There is a one in 1,461 chance of being a leap day baby.

Leap day babies are called leapers or leaplings.4 million people in the world are leap day babies.There are all kinds of leap day traditions and fun facts around this special day that comes every four years. Some cultures didn't have leap year on Feb 29 th - instead February 24 th occurred twice.To correct this, Caesar instituted a Leap Year once every four years to ensure the man-made and solar calendars stayed aligned

This new calendar was fabulous for a few years but it was slowly realized that the earth actually has 365.24 days per year as opposed to 365.Caesar felt it was time to recognize that winter truly existed and created a 12 month 365 day calendar based off that of the Egyptians.Fast forward about 3,000 years and Julius Caesar, Ruler of the Roman Empire became the modern day Father of Leap Year.The goal of the Egyptians was to create a calendar that mimicked the Solar Calendar allowing them to keep their seasons on track The first traces of a 365 day calendar with a leap year was in the Egyptian Empire.To better understand the true origins of leap year we will need to turn back time, way, way back, a couple thousand years! Whether you are curious or explaining to your host child, below is some great information that will turn you into a leap year expert. While you may know that leap years occur once every four years, you may not be aware of the purpose behind this additional day and even less about its origins.

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