The Best Cross-Training for Dancers, According to 12 of Your Faves

Lauren Wingenroth

October 2, 2019

Today, dancers are cross-training more than ever. And though there are some recommendations about what types of cross-training might be best for dancers’ bodies, ultimately it comes down to what works for you.

We asked 13 pros about their go-to cross-training routines as part of our “Spotlight” series—and each one of them has a totally different approach:

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Leta Biasucci

Biasucci onstage in a long, flowy light purple dress and pointe shoes. She is in a wide fourth position, with one arm above her and one arm to the side, and an exaggerated head. The background is black.

Biasucci in Jerome Robbins’ In the Night.

Photo by Angela Sterling, Courtesy PNB.

“When my schedule is pretty busy, I stick to yoga and light free weights. When my schedule isn’t too heavy, I, like any good Pacific Northwesterner, love to hike. But after a long week, miles of elevation sounds like the last thing that I want to do! There is really no substitute for dancing to get in dancing shape.”

B-Girl and Choreographer Ephrat Asherie

“Dancing for hours to music by my favorite DJs. That really helps my stamina and breathing. In terms of something more regimented, I have a set of breaking drills that build technique in a way that has sustained me for years.”

Pennsylvania Ballet’s Sterling Baca

“Swimming, gym time (upper and lower body) and floor barre.”

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Jamar Roberts

Roberts onstage in a spotlight. He wears shiny silver pants and an open red track jacket with no shirt underneath. He also wears a red cap. He crosses one leg in front of the other, and has his arms to the sides, one curved up and the other curved down.

Jamar Roberts in Talley Beatty’s Stack-Up.

Photo by Paul Kolnik, courtesy Ailey

“Yoga is a daily necessity for mind, body and spirit.”

San Francisco Ballet’s Sarah Van Patten

Van Patten in the party scene. She is in attitude, with one arm in fifth position above her head and the other in second to the side. She wears a pink long sleeved-dress. Other party guests meander around her.