How a professional ballerina uses heat therapy to support recovery and overall wellbeing.

How a professional ballerina uses heat therapy to support recovery and overall wellbeing.

 

Professional dancers can have some of the most grueling training schedules, sometimes involving up to 6 hours of dancing a day, 5 or 6 days a week - and that doesn’t even include performances! When they’re not dancing, they often cross-train to maintain strength and flexibility. In short, they ask a lot of their bodies, and it’s important they focus on recovery to prevent or manage injuries, and to ensure they can keep doing what they love for longer.

 

 

Chyrstyn Fentroy began dancing at the age of 3, and today is a Principal Dancer with the Boston Ballet, which she joined in 2017. Chyrstyn also performed as a leading dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem for five years and where she danced in Austria, Honduras, Italy, Israel, and Turkey. 

Here Chyrstyn gives us a glimpse into her life and career as a professional ballerina, including how she incorporates heat therapy into her recovery and wellness routine…

 

I grew up at the dance studio. I started “baby ballet” classes at the age of 3. My mom was a professional ballerina turned teacher and for as long as I can remember, a lot of my free time was spent in dance classes and keeping myself busy while my mom would teach.

 

As a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet, I typically am in the studio for around 8 hours a day. Our daily rehearsal schedule starts with a company class at 9:45, where I usually arrive early to warm up and prepare myself for the day. That class goes until 11:15 and our rehearsal span runs from 11:30-6:30 with an hour lunch break either 5 or 6 days a week. During performance periods we start a bit later since our shows generally run late into the evening. When I have off-time, I cross-train by going to the local YMCA and using the gym equipment and swimming pool as well as taking Pilates, yoga and strength training classes.

 

After a tough rehearsal or performance I use a number of active recovery methods to support my body’s recovery. For example, I wear special shoes around my house, like OOFOS, that help take the impact off of my joints and tendons. And I find ways to allow my body to wind down and feel better for the next day. This includes icing, eating a good meal, getting plenty of rest and my newest method is using my Heat Healer Infrared Sauna Blanket  - I alternate the days I use this with taking a hot bath with Epsom salt.

I love to listen to podcasts whilst relaxing in my Heat Healer. I love to hear conversations because it really takes me out of my own active thoughts and is a nice distraction from the rest of the day.

 

Mental health can be really challenging in any physical sport or art form, because you’re constantly competing with yourself, and demanding more. This can leave you feeling not good enough, and emotionally exhausted. I’m a huge supporter of going to therapy, so between that, and giving myself grace to feel how I need to for however long I need to process things, I am able to get by. I try to find humor in the harder things so that I can learn from them instead of holding on to the negative and allowing myself to spiral.

 

I’m recovering from a pretty severe disc herniation in my neck which caused nerve problems and a loss of feeling in my right arm. I needed surgery, which I had in January, and am just now preparing for my first run of shows since then. It’s been a really challenging and long recovery period but I’m happy to be working my way through the thick of it. Slow and steady.

 

At the end of May, I’m traveling to Paris with the Boston Ballet. Over summer I will perform in New York, Aspen and Santa Fe. I also have plans to teach ballet classes in Georgia and Miami.

I have never seen a future for myself in which dancing was not involved! Since birth, dance has been part of my whole identity. It has made every day an adventure for me, and has given me a beautiful life. I am looking forward to learning more about myself and experiencing every moment of what I have left in this artform. 

Thank you to Chyrstyn for taking time out of her busy schedule to speak with Heat Healer.