<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Getting the chance to see a production of Swan Lake isn&amp;#39;t something that&amp;#39;s only available to large cities, thanks to Fathom Events, Anthony Dowell, Arts Alliance Media, and the Royal Opera House, who are bringing the Royal Opera House&amp;#39;s performance to cinemas nationwide tomorrow, Thursday, February 20, at 7 P.M. Growing up (and, OK, still today), I&amp;#39;ve always dreamed of being a ballerina, so I was curious to know the behind-the-scenes on how a dancer prepares for such an event. We chatted with French principal ballet dancer Zenaida Yanowsky, who dances the lead roles of Odette/Odile in the production, to get her fitness and nutrition routines. Listen in:\nPinterestFacebookWhat&amp;#39;s a typical daily fitness routine for you?\nZenaida: My day starts early with the sound of small feet tiptoeing towards my bed...I&amp;#39;ve got two kids, and I need to get them dressed and fed before taking them to school. If it&amp;#39;s a nice day, we go on the bicycles&amp;#8212;it&amp;#39;s around a 15- to 20-minute ride, but unfortunately it&amp;#39;s uphill all the way. My girl is only three years old, so she sits on the bike with me while my son (five) cycles madly and without any fear. He&amp;#39;s been doing that from the age of three, so I have to keep up!\nI can realistically say that is the beginning of my fitness day. I then start my journey to work. I&amp;#39;ve never been early enough to have a proper warm-up, so I&amp;#39;m used to a quick 5- to 10-minute stretch before I start class. Class takes an hour and a quarter, and it&amp;#39;s the most important warm-up for a dancer. It&amp;#39;s a series of repetitive steps that will help you to warm every muscle and joint you will need for the rest of the long day of rehearsing. Then it&amp;#39;s a 15-minute break after class to get ready for the start of a rehearsal day.\nOfficially, my day finishes at 6:30 P.M. By then your body and brain are just about holding on&amp;#8212;but some days, if you&amp;#39;re lucky, you might finish early. When I get home, I&amp;#39;m pretty shattered, I must admit, but I still have to put the kids to bed. Luckily it doesn&amp;#39;t involve much exercising apart from picking them up and playing, which they both like. Kind of hard when you have an important performance the next day!\nDoes your fitness routine differ leading up to a performance?\nZenaida: Not really. Maybe the day before, I try to rehearse a little less if possible, only so I can have more energy for the show.\nWhat&amp;#39;s a typical day&amp;#39;s nutrition plan? What types of food are best to eat for a dancer?\nZenaida: I&amp;#39;m not knowledgeable at all when it comes to diet plans. Nevertheless, I come from a Spanish family with very healthy eating habits, and that has helped me to secure a healthy and balanced nutritional working life. Something I&amp;#39;ve noticed though is that I don&amp;#39;t eat pasta often and never before the show. I find it too heavy to digest.\nPinterestFacebookAny favorite meals or food you like to have before a performance?\nZenaida: Over the years I&amp;#39;ve realized that my stomach won&amp;#39;t tolerate much food before a performance, so I pretty much stop eating six hours before the show. I just eat protein bars and little bits and bobs but nothing that I will have to heavily digest.\nAre there any post-performance fitness or health routines that you have?\nZenaida: We are lucky to have a nutritionist working at the opera house, so we can always ask her what&amp;#39;s best for us. She advised me to have magnesium and protein within 20 minutes of the end of the performance to make for better recovery for the next day. So I try to have my recovery shake ready for the end of the show. At my age, the recovery just takes a little longer, and our job doesn&amp;#39;t allow us to have a lie in the next day. A good 20-minute stretch after the show would be ideal, but all I want to do is leave the building and go home. Total abstinence from alcohol will help too, but a man cannot live from ballet alone...\nHow did you prepare for the performance in Swan Lake?\nZenaida: The same way as for any other show, really. This is not a one-off thing but a way of life. We rehearse and perform with equal intensity every day. Swan Lake is a tough ballet both physically and psychologically&amp;#8212;and like most classical ballets, the precise execution of the technical steps need to look effortless and elegant.\nCatch Swan Lake at a theater near you on Thursday, February 20, at 7 P.M. For tickets, visit Fathom Events."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/story/how-a-dancer-prepares-for-swan>