Ballet dancers rely on their leg strength to maintain proper dance positions and carry them through difficult routines. A number of leg strength exercises are available for ballet dancers.
Squats
The quadriceps are the largest muscle in the leg, and as such, they do a great deal of work in ballet moves, according to Dance.net. Improve quadricep strength by doing squats.
Stand with feet shoulder width apart, arms at your sides, your head raised and forward and your shoulders relaxed. Engage your abdominal muscles by pulling your navel in towards your spine. Next, bend your knees and lower your body as if you were sitting in an invisible chair. Take care not to let your knees extend over the tips of your toes. Go down as far as you can without bending your back, then stand up again. Think about pushing with the thigh muscles throughout the exercise.
Ankles
Ballet dancers use their ankles and feet more than any other discipline, according to the New York Times. A simple exercise to improve ankle strength and flexibility is ankle circles.
Sitting in a chair, cross one leg over the other. Move the foot of the crossed leg in a circular motion ten times in one direction, followed by ten times in the other. Switch legs and repeat. You can also "write the alphabet" with each foot. This is a simple exercise that can be done in classes, at meetings, or on a bus or train as well as during your regular workout. This exercise engages the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the lower leg as well as the ankle.
Feet
Ballet places great demands on the small muscles of the foot, according to Dance.net. To improve foot strength, sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground in front of you. Place a small towel under your toes. Alternating feet, use your toes to grab the towel and drag it toward you. Continue until the entire towel is scrunched up behind your feet, then spread it back out and repeat. You can also practice using first one foot and then the other to grab and move the towel. This exercise works the muscles of the calf and ankle as well as the foot.
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