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Train Like a Ballerina Academy · Full online course
The Science of Flexibility
The complete flexibility education for professional dancers and dance teachers.
Taught by Louisa Paterson, former professional ballerina and EQF Level 4 certified personal trainer
One-time payment · Lifetime access · 30-day money-back guarantee
Filmed video educationChapter workbooksKnowledge assessmentsTeaching methodologyCertificate of completion
Course introduction
Watch the course introduction.
A short look at what you'll study, how the lessons are filmed and who the course is for.
Why it matters
Most dancers are taught what to stretch. Almost none are taught why.
This education is normally reserved for sports science degrees and elite institutions. It rarely reaches the studio, and almost never reaches the dancers and teachers who need it most.
The Science of Flexibility exists to change that – a complete, filmed, assessed education you can take into your own body and your own teaching.
WHO THIS IS FOR
For professional dancers and the teachers who train them.
Professional and pre-professional dancers
Who need to understand their own body at the level their career demands, not follow another stretching routine.
Dance teachers and studio owners
Who want a complete, defensible teaching method to integrate into their syllabus and class structure.
Coaches and répétiteurs
Responsible for the flexibility, safety and long-term development of the dancers in their care.
Serious dancers who want the full education
Who have outgrown plans and want to understand flexibility as a subject in its own right.
WHAT IS INSIDE
Filmed, written and assessed like a university course.
Filmed educational lessons
Professionally filmed video lessons taking you through each concept in depth, chapter by chapter.
A workbook for every chapter
Downloadable PDF workbooks to work through alongside each chapter and keep as a permanent reference.
Chapter quizzes and assessment
Knowledge checks after every chapter so you can prove you can apply the principles, not just recognise them.
The full teaching methodology
How to assess range, identify restriction, programme progressions and apply all of it with your own dancers.
The complete science
Biomechanics, connective tissue, fascia, proprioceptors, the stretch reflex, contraction types and injury prevention.
Lifetime access
Return to any lesson, workbook or assessment as your teaching and training develop.
Look inside the workbooks
A designed workbook for every chapter.
Work through each chapter alongside the lessons: self-assessments, a dedicated teacher section, knowledge checks and a chapter summary to keep as a permanent reference. Here's a look inside Chapter 2.
Swipe through the pages →
The curriculum
Five chapters. One complete subject.
Every chapter includes filmed lessons, a chapter quiz and a downloadable workbook. Start with a short introduction on how to use the course.
Chapter 1Mobility vs Flexibility3 lessons · Quiz · Workbook
Chapter overview
Why is mobility not flexibility?
Strength or flexibility deficits in dancers
Chapter quiz · Workbook 1
Chapter 2The Biomechanics of Stretching, Part One5 lessons · Quiz · Workbook
Chapter overview
The musculoskeletal system
Slow & fast twitch muscle fibres
Connective tissue
Fascia
Chapter quiz · Workbook 2
Chapter 3The Biomechanics of Stretching, Part Two5 lessons · Quiz · Workbook
Chapter overview
Proprioceptors
Types of muscle contractions
The stretch reflex
The lengthening reaction
Chapter quiz · Workbook 3
Chapter 4Methods of Improving Flexibility4 lessons · Quiz · Workbook
Chapter overview
Fascial release technique
PNF stretching
Consistency & frequency
Chapter quiz · Workbook 4
Chapter 5Injury Prevention & Management4 lessons · Quiz · Workbook
Overview
What is a stretch meant to feel like?
Common injuries associated with stretching
Safe flexibility practices
Chapter quiz · Workbook 5
Sample lesson
See how a lesson is taught.
Slow & fast twitch muscle fibres
Why the same stretch can help one dancer and hold another back, and how fibre type changes the way you prepare for adagio and allegro.
- Filmed and taught by Louisa
- Paired with the Chapter 2 workbook
- Followed by a chapter knowledge check
For dance teachers
Teach flexibility with confidence.
Every chapter ends with a dedicated teacher section that turns the science into what you do in the studio, with the dancers in front of you.
01
What to look for
Recognise whether a dancer's restriction is coming from structure, muscle fibres, fascia or the nervous system.
02
How to respond
Match what you observe to its likely source and the right teaching response, chapter by chapter.
03
Teacher reflections
Apply each chapter to a dancer you teach, and plan what you'll change in your next class.
04
A method you can integrate
A complete, defensible approach to bring into your syllabus and class structure.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Louisa Paterson
Former professional ballerina · Trained at the John Cranko School · EQF Level 4 certified personal trainer · Master trainer · Founder of Train Like a Ballerina
Louisa spent eleven years as a professional ballerina, dancing in Munich, Berlin and Magdeburg. Taught what to stretch but never why, she forced range she couldn’t control, which led to years of pain, injuries and multiple ankle operations.
“Throughout my career I looked for education that was written for dancers. I could never find it.”
After retiring, she qualified as a personal trainer and master trainer and built the education she had been missing. She now teaches it to dancers worldwide, from adult beginners to some of the world’s leading ballerinas, and this course is that education in full, developed with the Train Like a Ballerina health team.
In their words
From dancers and teachers who've taken the course.
Video
“This course gave me language and structure for things I had felt intuitively as a teacher but never properly understood. I now feel far more confident explaining flexibility and mobility to my students, rather than simply giving them stretches to do.”
“I’ve trained flexibility for years, but this was the first course that helped me understand why my body was responding the way it was. The sections on active flexibility, nervous system response and strength at range completely changed how I approach my training.”
“What impressed me most was the balance between science and application. The course doesn’t just explain flexibility theory; it shows you how to assess, programme and progress range in a way that actually makes sense for dancers.”
“I wish this education had existed when I was training. It brings together the science, the practical application and the realities of a dancer’s body in a way that is incredibly easy to understand and immediately useful in the studio.”
“I came into the course thinking I just needed to stretch more. Instead, I realised I needed better mobility, more strength and a much clearer understanding of my own restrictions. It changed the way I train completely.”
“I started ballet later in life and always assumed I was simply too stiff. This course helped me understand that flexibility is far more complex than forcing a stretch. I feel more informed, more confident and much more patient with my body.”
Enrolment
The Science of Flexibility
The complete flexibility education for professional dancers and dance teachers.
- Filmed video lessons across five chapters
- A designed workbook for every chapter
- Chapter quizzes and knowledge checks
- The full teaching methodology for dance teachers
- Lifetime access to every lesson and workbook
- Certificate of completion
$149USD
One-time payment · Lifetime access
Enrol in the course →30-day money-back guarantee. If the course is not right for you, email us for a full refund.
Questions
Before you enrol
Is this course right for me if I'm not a teacher?
Yes. The course is built for professional and pre-professional dancers as well as teachers, and for serious dancers who want to understand flexibility as a complete subject rather than follow another stretching routine.
Do I need a science background?
No. Every concept is explained from the ground up and connected to ballet examples you'll recognise from class. The workbooks and chapter quizzes help you consolidate each topic before moving on.
How long does the course take?
There are 21 filmed lessons across five chapters, each with a workbook and a chapter quiz. You work through it at your own pace.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. When you complete the course, you'll receive a certificate of completion inside the Train Like a Ballerina Academy.
How long do I have access?
For life. You can return to any lesson, workbook or assessment whenever you need it, as your training and teaching develop.
How is this different from the 30-Day Method?
The 30-Day Method is a practical plan you follow for your own body. The Science of Flexibility is the full education behind it: filmed lessons on the science, the methodology and how to teach it, with workbooks and assessments for every chapter.
What if it isn't right for me?
You're covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If the course isn't right for you, email us for a full refund.
