It is constantly a challenge to motivate today's students to really jump in classes. They absolutely love to come flying across the floor doing grand jetes or leaps in second and I certainly understand why, I too used to love the sensation of propelling myself through the air, it was an almost magical feeling, as if I was actually flying. It is the flash and dash of jumping and many dancers today really don't want to go through the drudgery or pain of having to do numerous small or medium sized jumps. They just want to get right to the big effect. It is, in a way a reflection of the thought process of today's youth. So getting them to understand the importance of really working on those smaller and very precise jumps sometimes takes quite a lot of patience and persistence on the teacher's part.
When I work with very young dancers they always scream with delight when it comes time in class to practice jumps. We practice sautés and I walk around the room with my hand held high over each dancer's head as I ask them to touch the top of their head to my hand. Those little dancers push off the ground with such exuberance that it is really a joy to see them and it is all I can do to get them to stop jumping. As the dancers get a little older and the jumps become more complex they often start to resist. The first thing you notice is when you set a center exercise that involves a few jumps and the dancers do it once on each side and then stop. I just think that sometimes they don't want to work that hard, because it is difficult and sometimes you do feel that you want to give up but what I try to impress on my dancers is that if they can just push through that initial feeling of tiredness and pain that all of a sudden they will get their second wind and will have more energy to keep going. If they never push themselves beyond what they think is their limit they will never become stronger or have more stamina.
I find that the best way to keep my dancers doing more jumps is to try to bring the element of fun into it. I also like to put them into a couple of groups so that one group can go against the other with some friendly competition. The dancers love to try and outdo each other and even they surprise themselves with what they are capable of. Finding ways to help your dancers increase their small and large jumps helps their bodies to keep healthy. It has been proven in scientific studies that jumping increases bone density and helps prevent against some dance related injuries. It also greatly increases their capacity to keep going for longer periods of time and to have better performance energy.
When dancers jump the most important thing for them to remember is that they need to use their demi plie and push off the floor in order to get good elevation. Getting them in the habit of pushing their heels into the ground to get that good explosive quality when they jump is paramount and keeping the core muscles activated will help to keep the dancer's in a great position to succeed in their elevation steps.
