Strong, Not Stiff: The Difference Between True Stability and Tension in Dance
- Bryn MacNichol
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
When I watch dancers in the studio, one thing always stands out: the difference between strength and stiffness. It’s subtle, but it changes everything, the fluidity of a turn, the height of a leap, the effortless control in balances.
Many dancers think they need to be tighter, stronger, or more rigid to “hold themselves together.” They grip their core, lock their knees, or squeeze through the hips because it feels like control. But here’s the thing: true stability doesn’t feel stiff. It’s grounded, coordinated, and responsive, not rigid.
Why Does Stiffness Feel Like Strength?
There’s a common misconception in dance that tightness equals power. When dancers are anxious about balance or trying to push through fatigue, the body naturally recruits muscles in a co-contracted pattern, basically turning on everything at once. It feels strong, and sometimes it works temporarily, but it comes at a cost.
Gripping too much creates:
Limited range of motion
Increased fatigue
Compensatory movement patterns
A higher risk of injury
Stiffness can mask weakness rather than solve it. It tricks both the dancer and the teacher into thinking everything is under control.
What Real Stability Looks Like in Dance
True stability is about precision, timing, and muscular coordination. It comes from your body learning to activate the right muscles at the right time, through the right range of motion.
This means:
The deep core muscles fire to support your spine without gripping
The hips, glutes, and back muscles coordinate to support your legs and pelvis
Small stabilizers work dynamically, letting you move freely while staying balanced
Strength in dance isn’t about holding yourself rigidly. It’s about moving with controlled freedom.
Why Dancers Struggle With This
Most dancers develop strength in a very “linear” way: core crunches, planks, isolated leg lifts. That’s useful, but it only covers part of the story. In the studio, your body is constantly juggling multiple planes of motion, balance, and timing. If the strength you’ve trained isn’t integrated, your body will naturally “grip” to compensate.
I’ve seen dancers with strong-looking muscles still struggle with stability in turns, balances, or jumps. It’s not weakness. It’s a mismatch between strength and coordination. Your body knows it can’t rely on isolated strength alone, so it braces, and that’s what creates stiffness.
How Dancers Get Strong Without Being Stiff
The key is movement integration. Strength training for dancers should teach your body how to:
Fire stabilizing muscles at the right time
Transfer force efficiently through joints
Maintain control without over-gripping
Recover and reset between repetitions
When you do this, the body learns to move with precision and ease, not rigidity. You can hit higher extensions, faster turns, and more powerful jumps, all while reducing fatigue and minimizing risk of injury.
Why 1:1 Training Matters
This is where individualized training makes all the difference. In 1:1 sessions, we assess how your body moves under load, where stiffness shows up, and how strength can be integrated into your dance patterns.
Doing this on your own can be tough. Knowing what to activate and when is one thing, but training your body to do it consistently is another. That’s why guided coaching makes such a difference. Together, we identify what’s compensating, what’s under active, and how to retrain coordination so that stability feels effortless.
It’s not about doing more exercises; it’s about training smarter, using what your body already has and teaching it to work more efficiently.
Ready to Dance Strong Without Gripping?
If you want to finally move with the kind of stability that feels effortless in the studio, 1:1 sessions are designed to help dancers like you rebuild strength with control. You’ll learn how to activate the right muscles at the right time, improve coordination, and move without tension.