An important part of your examination is to show the examiner that you understand the importance of a correct warm-up.

It is essential that you not only talk about warm-up movements but also demonstrate examples. You may be asked by the examiner to describe routines suitable for different age groups or the ability of dancer. Prepare your answers in advance.

It is essential that we increase the temperature of the body before we dance or stretch or perform isolation movements of any kind. If we do not warm the body up properly, we are increasing the risk of injury to muscles, ligaments and tendons.

• When any of these become strained or torn, it will result in the dancer being unable to dance and this can be prolonged for quite some time until the injured area has had enough rest to allow for a complete recovery.

A warm-up routine should start with a simple method of increasing the body temperature, such as jogging on the spot and/or around the room plus grapevines, arm swings and jumping jacks, etc.

This can then be followed with isolation movements for different parts of the body which should ideally commence with the feet and ankles, then work up the body to finish with the neck and head.

It is important to develop the routine in this way and not to start with isolations of the neck and head so as to avoid spinal injuries, which can be brought about by the delicate tissues around the neck being vigorously moved about before the body is fully warmed up.

It is also very important to warm up for a longer period of time during winter months and to ensure that activity is kept to a sustainable level in order to maintain a warm body, in other words “not too much sitting around in class”.

• A full description of a warm-up can be found on pages 32 & 33 of Freestyle Dance, with further information on pages 44 & 45 of Advanced Freestyle which is required for Fellowship examinations and useful for teachers.