Return to performance after pregnancy

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RETURN TO PERFORMANCE

with Giulia Tonelli

Author: Anita Zwahlen Picture: Markus Kehl Giulia Tonelli was born in Italy and began her career as a professional dancer at the Vienna State Opera at the age of 19. Since 2009, she has been the principal dancer at the Zurich Opera House. In December 2018 she became a mother when her son Jacopo was born. A short while later she performed again on stage at the Zurich Opera House. Sportfisio had the opportunity to interview her about sport and pregnancy, and her return to performance.

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SPORTFISI@: Giulia, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about pregnancy and your comeback to the stage. Are there many professional dancers who have children?

Giulia Tonelli: In the ballet world it starts to become more and more common that women at some point during their career decide to become mothers. I think that’s fantastic because this was unthinkable for dancers of previous generations.

During pregnancy, the risk of injury is increased due to hormone-induced increased joint mobility. Did you have any struggles with this problem?

I personally didn’t have problems with the increase in elasticity gained by the pregnancy hormone. Though by the fourth month into the pregnancy I stopped using pointe shoes because of the danger to the ankles that all that elasticity could have easily damaged.

How long were you able to continue your profession as a ballet dancer during your pregnancy?

During my pregnancy I danced on stage (performing) until halfway through the fourth month. Then I stopped the performances but I continued to train until 3 weeks before the birth of my son (of course avoiding jumps and pointe shoes). What were your exercise workouts like during pregnancy?

During pregnancy I continued exercising at the barre and with elastic that could keep my foot work strong. I stopped doing abdominal exercises quite soon into the pregnancy because of the risk of diastasis recti. The doctor told me how important it was for an athlete like me to let the belly grow and as a dancer our core muscles are so strong that at the beginning the belly would not show itself for a long time causing me lots of digestion problems.

How long did you have to stop training completely?

I stopped 3 weeks before birth and started light training again 2 months after birth, so in total I stopped completely for nearly 3 months.

When and how did you start training again after the birth?

After birth I was not allowed to do anything for 6 weeks which was fundamental to let the abdominal wall get back together. Then I could slowly train at home with a specific professional sent by my obstetrician who told me she would give me light exercises that would help me strengthen my abdomen and the pelvic floor which were heavily suffering after birth (I had a big boy of 4 kg so quite a traumatic birth). After a month I slowly went back into training but not at the Opera; I chose a ballet school where I could feel free to slowly feel

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job obliges me to have those moments to simply focus on myself which I think gives me a good balance to then be a better mum when I come home because the joy of seeing him again makes me be present with him 100 percent. In the moment I am with him I can simply forget about the difficulties or the frustrations that sometimes are part of my job and that’s a very healthy thing.

My dancing became even more real and empathetic because a child is a huge reflection of yourself for the positive and the negative aspect of it, and if you put that into dance you can be more of a real artist.

my body without the pressure of being in shape. Meanwhile I also combined pilates because it felt important to be able to train my legs without the gravity of my weight and the pilates machines allowed this important training.

After 2 months and 10 days I was back in the Opera for full training

How long after the birth were you able to demand a full performance from your body again?

I was able to perform on stage again 4 months after birth.

Do you notice a difference in your body compared to before pregnancy? Positive or negative?

I must admit that before feeling completely strong again, I had to wait a few months because the pelvic floor only felt good again a year after birth. That meant that the jumps were weaker than before pregnancy, until 8 months after pregnancy. However what feels better after pregnancy is the complete consciousness of my body and its muscles, and that gives me a new strength that I didn’t know before because I had to build up muscles that before I simply gave for granted. How has your life and your relationship with dancing changed because of your child?

My child gives me a strength that I didn’t know before; there is a different way of enjoying my job because every minute away from him is time for myself that as a mother I rarely allow myself to take. My