Episode 93: Building Artistic Athletes with Samuel Downing

In this episode I'm joined by Samuel Downing, Dance Conditioning and Safe Stretch Coach, as we chat about the role dance conditioning plays in supporting dancers to reach their full potential. Samuel discusses his career as a professional dancer and how he discovered the world of strength and conditioning while training in NYC. Samuel is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to dancer fitness and conditioning, and we hear about how he now brings his innovative programs to dancer's worldwide with his online training programs.

  

About Samuel 

Samuel Downing is a Hybrid Dance Conditioning & Safe Stretch Coach with a background in professional dance and author of best sellers The Little Book of Stretches & The Little Book of Strength. Samuel is passionate about athleticism connected to artistry, with methods that are safe and proven to help create champion dancers with long careers in an encouraging way. As an ex-professional dancer, Samuel knows the demands that dance has on bodies and strives to educate and improve a dancer’s body awareness. Samuel trains some of the UK and Europe’s best young dancers promoting the #dancesmarter approach alongside his wife Master Dance educator and influencer Rosina Andrews. 

His approach is Education first, working on weaknesses second, then building up to a dancer’s goals. Samuel helps young dancers continue to grow and perform in a more optimum way whilst combining safe structured conditioning and stretch with biomechanical instruction of movement patterns. 

From having a multi faceted fitness career in the heart of London and with the ever growing demand for supplementary Cross training, one of the positives of Lockdown for Samuel was the exposure to online training and he’s fortunate enough to fully focus on online teaching of dancers and teachers across the globe.

Connect with Samuel:
Website: www.samueldowning.com
Instagram: @samueldowningpt
Email: samueldowningpt@gmail.com

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Episode 94: A Better Way to Teach Flexibility for Dancers

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Episode 92: Nervous System Hygiene with Jessica Patching-Bunch