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Wednesday; December 8, 1976
University Daily Kansan
Ballet makes athletes jump for perfection
RICK BRYANT
Sports Writer
One. Two. Three. And four. A human form moves gracefully across the dance floor, leaps into the air and completes a full spin before landing. Then it takes a deep bow, arms gently pointing outward and toes extended in precise form.
A couple of hours later that same person is sweating, grunting and straining to reach
What do ballet and athletics have in common? Plenty.
Several University of Kansas athletes have taken the beginning ballet course offered at KU and agree it has helped their performance in sports.
All-America spinner Cliff Wiley had with minor muscle pulls before he enlisted in the Army.
"I DIDN'T it think it was going to be that hard when I first started but I learned it was a lot tougher. You really find out how limited your flexibility is by going through the moves and stretches." Wiley said last week.
Because he was ineligible to compete most of last season, Wiley said, he couldn't see the benefits he got from ballet. He said, however, that he didn't have to stretch as much as before to warm up and was less prone to muscle pulls.
"Ballet is such a concise thing. People would giggle at me first but later they would take a serious interest in how I was doing. You don't need to know, but it isn't. It's a lot of work." he said.
GYMNASTS LES KERR and Sue Spangler also are enrolled in beginning ballet. Kerr said his former high school coach put the idea in his head.
"Coach (Robert) Manning at Lawrence High told me that ballet would help a lot in gymnastics. In ballet, the positioning is the key of gymnastics for tumbling and apparatus work."
beaches learning the basic positions, it
beached them my legs and given me
mice flicks.
The purpose of the beginning class is to teach the strict techniques of ballet, according to Paula Frank, instructor of ballet. She said that students were inexperienced and needed online course in ballet that teaches basics, including, leaps, poses and turns.
"IT MAKES people aware of their muscles and strengthens the leg muscles. In the cases of Sue and Les, she would it to improve her coordination and Les will improve on his dance movements for her routines." she said.
Patsy Eysar, assistant women's gymnastics coach, said she had noticed an improvement in Spangler's routines on the balance beam.
she is more fluid in her arm movements now. The arms are soft looking and float through her routine, naturally and not forced." she said.
The muscles in the stomach are the key in ballet and gymnastics, according to Ken Snow, head women's gymnastics coach. Those muscles will help improve body control and posture, important to scoring points in gymnastics, he said.
Ballet would, for instance, help avoid
what Snow calls a shock-absorber effect in gymnastics. Strengthened muscles in the stomach and buttocks won't absorb the impact of jumps or flips, as "musly" muscles will, Snow said.
Jerry Daugherty, Shawnee Mission graduate student and former KU gymnasium who is now teaching gymnastics, said he could tell the difference between those who had bad ballet or dance and those who didn't.
“IT REALLY helps your pose, balance and makes you aware of different parts of your body,” Daugherty said, “like learning to turn your leg out and keep the knee over your toes, which relieves pressure on the knees.
"Ballet really benefits women because of all the dance steps required but men also benefit because they have more leaps and turnes than women."
Sean Williams, Lawrence sophomore, said he had been encouraged by people outside of school to take the beginning ballet class. Although he later had to drop the course because of a class conflict, Williams said, it did help him.
"Strength and balance are the two main requirements for gymnastics, and ballet helped me build that strength to a fine level. The lower stomach muscles are the key and from there one can hold any position in the entire body.
*With its certain element of dance, it helped also to develop my balance and coordination.*
HANK HETTWER, academic counselor for the football team, said that although no football players were involved in any dance classes, the coaches wouldn't oppose the
"Anything that will help the player would be fine with the coaching staff," Hettwer said. "Any agility course would be a plus on our standpoint and the player's."
"The people involved in gymnastics here didn't bother me about it but I got a ribbed lot in high school." Hettwert said. " I'd recommend you try it, because it increased flexibility and it would be good for your health even if you're not involved with athletics."
Arm wrestler to have arm set
Scott Holman, an arm wrestler who broke his arm at the national championships Nov. 27, was flown to Houston during the games and be set by a Boston orthropic surgeon.
Holman, Houston freshman, broke his right arm during competition in the tournament in Los Angeles. The break is between his elbow and shoulder.
A decision was made last late week not to operate on the arm because the Houston physician had disagreed with the decision of a medical physician John Wertberger to operate.
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