Dancing on the Strip
Editor’s Note: A few months ago I was photographing a veteran medal ceremony at a NAC, and one of the medalists received her award with such impressive grace, including a stage-worthy bow, it seemed to me she must have had experience in a significantly grander setting. It turned out Esperanza Alzona was indeed a world-class ballerina. When my father first introduced me to fencing when I was 10, I clearly remember him telling me he was cross-trained in dance as a competitive fencer in Paris in the 1940s, and that dance and fencing were intertwined in many ways. Esperanza demonstrates this today, applying her elegance and vast experience on the strip impressively, and here she shares her philosophy of “Dancing on the Strip.” — Serge Timacheff
A couple of decades after retiring from the stage, having danced professionally for a good part of my adult life, I started fencing in my mid-fifties. I always felt the need to be physically active, as well as feed the competitiveness cultivated by ballet. Fencing turned out to be the perfect sport for me. Some of the body positions and movements seemed very similar and, like ballet, many of the terms are in French.
Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries, around the time that modern fencing was developing with the usage of shorter, lighter weapons as a result of the wider use of gunpowder weapons and less reliance on the ancient, heavy broadswords in combat. Many of the dance movements were derived from swordplay, and mime and acting were added and set to music. Catherine de Medici brought ballet from Italy to France when she married Henry II in 1533, and it became widely popular entertainment for the nobility. Learning sword fighting technique was, of course, also de rigueur for royals. King Louis XIV of France (1643 - 1715) himself an avid dancer, studied fencing and integrated fencing footwork and exercises into his own practice of dance that evolved into modern ballet technique and training.
Devon Boorman, co-founder and director of the Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay in Vancouver, Canada, has written about the connections between ballet and fencing and says, “there is a lot to learn from dancing, particularly highly technical and physical dances like ballet. I have received my most-thorough lessons on efficiency of motion, power generation and structural stability from dance instructors.” (https://www.academieduello.com/news-blog/is-there-a-link-between-ballet-and-fencing/)
There have been famous fencers who also practiced ballet. Italian fencer Aldo Nadi, winner of multiple Olympic gold medals, was said to have been skilled in ballet. Nadi's ability to combine the grace and agility of ballet with the precision and skill of fencing made him a unique and influential figure in both.
In a July 2016 Self magazine article titled “How Miles Chamley-Watson Is Changing the Face of Fencing—Ballet is just part of his hardcore training program,” the world champion foilist and Olympian described his daily fitness routine that included some “ballet to up his footwork and flexibility.” (https://www.self.com/story/how-miles-chamley-watson-is-changing-the-face-of-fencing) “When it comes to fencing, footwork is all about balance,” said Chamley-Watson of mixing-in ballet to tighten his footwork in a workout for focusing on balance, stamina and flexibility. (https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/want-to-look-like-this-start-fencing-w465791 Men’s Journal, Dec 4, 2017)
Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan, four-time world champion and Olympic medalist, studied dance as a child and has said it helped her with coordination for fencing. Kharlan believes dancing made her become a better fencer and her coach even got her training group into dance classes. “When you're in the rhythm of music, it's similar to the rhythm of fencing – the rhythm of a partner to the rhythm of an opponent. Sometimes you can see some dancing moves in fencing, too.” (https://olympics.com/en/video/behind-the-mask-olga-kharlan)
Veteran epeeist Allen Evans recently related to me that in the early 1980s, his fencing coach at the University of Alaska, John L. Turner, required all his advanced fencers to take ballet classes. Evans said he found the couple of semesters of ballet “useful in terms of building strength and flexibility.”
While these days there is an abundance of cross-training opportunities, the idea of dance as cross training for athletes is not new. Early in my dance career, I remember Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann coming and taking ballet classes with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater company. He had studied ballet since he was in fourth grade before embarking on a successful football career, and he credited some of his greatest plays to his dance training. Many other successful football players besides Swann have studied dance to improve their skills—Herschel Walker, Barry Sanders and Willie Gault. Back in the days of Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls basketball team trained in the off-season with the Joffrey Ballet.
Although yoga can increase flexibility, balance and core strength, it does not provide the dynamic training of moving through space that dance classes offer because one is largely confined to the mat. With weight training, one typically remains in place and does not go running around the room. So, while there are many great cross-training options, each alone does not offer the complete wide range of benefits of ballet.
Here are ways in which dance training benefits athletes:
Flexibility and Mobility. Ballet enhances performance in one’s sport by increasing joint mobility and doing stretching exercises that strengthen abs and other core muscle groups. Working on flexibility with ballet also targets muscles many athletes might not otherwise stretch.
Balance. Dance training gives one balance and footwork that are beneficial in sports. By practicing balance outside of their natural routine, athletes can more easily understand and adapt to their footing. For a fencer, being easily able to change directions advancing and retreating requires having one’s weight well-centered and balanced.
Muscle Control, Rhythm and Coordination. Dancing improves coordination of limbs, movement timing, speed and agility. Executing ballet sequences works on controlling speed to be done correctly with music. Mastering efficient and precise footwork movements provide benefits for fencers on the strip.
Spatial Awareness in Movement. Dancers learn to use their visual and kinesthetic senses for physical awareness of where they are in space, helping with distance and timing. The body awareness, control and movement timing that one learns from dance provide an advantage over one’s opponent in fencing.
Strength. Ballet uses all the muscles in the body and the rigorous exercises develop an athlete’s speed and physical strength.
Finesse and Efficiency of Motion. Awareness and control of breath in movement enhances finesse in ballet for fluidity of motion while being confidently strong and in control, allowing efficient usage of muscles.
Focus, Concentration and Muscle Memory. Ballet provides mental training and concentration for athletes. Executing intricate sequences in ballet requires knowing and understanding movement patterns and committing them into muscle memory. Fencers also need to ingrain patterns and footwork, similar to learning choreography.
Injury prevention. Dance training teaches body awareness, correct posture and body alignment, and how to position one’s body more accurately to prevent injury.
Endurance and stamina. As a professional dancer, my body was physically in motion rehearsing and performing for several hours a day for five, six, sometimes seven days a week. A single dance work could be several minutes of sustained continuous movement and a full-length ballet performance could be two hours long. But a couple of hours of dance training two or three days a week can also help build up one’s endurance and stamina.
"The stamina to be able to do the kind of work that dancers do, they don't just sprint, they do things that are three to four minutes long so it's not a single play like in a football game," said Kansas City Ballet artistic director Devon Carney ahead of this year's Super Bowl.
Of course, not too many of us can work full-time as a dancer and be a competitive fencer at the same time. These days, my typical training regimen includes going to yoga class five or six times, swimming laps five times and fencing practice four times a week — all around a full-time job. I still integrate some dance exercises in my workout routine, and I still teach dance part-time, although in teaching my focus is on training my students, not myself. But you can never take the dancer out of me, and I know it has and continues to personally benefit my fencing.
Dance training is not going to guarantee you will make it to the Olympics, but it can definitely help your fencing. Whether or not you study dance, as you incorporate many of these aspects into your training for fencing, note the French word “piste” refers not only to the fencing strip but also to the dance floor.
Happy dancing on the strip!
Esperanza Alzona danced in the late 1970s with the American Dance Ensemble in Pittsburgh and the early to mid-1980s with the Baltimore Ballet, as well as having numerous appearances as a guest soloist throughout the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. She performed, taught dance and worked as a choreographer in northern Italy for several years. She holds a teaching diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance as well as a B.A. in psychology from George Washington University and an M.A. in public communication from American University. A member of the Capitol Division, she trains in saber at the Nazlymov Fencing Foundation and foil at Rockville Fencing Academy. She has been a member of team U.S.A. at the Pan American Veteran Fencing Championships nine times, most recently taking silver medals for both Veteran 50 and Veteran 60 Women’s Foil, and bronze in Veteran 60 Women’s Saber in Montevideo, Uruguay in August 2023.