Along with strength and endurance, flexibility is very important for dancers.  My body used to be very inflexible.  Now I can feel it is getting more flexible after 3 years of more or less regular stretching exercises.  I don’t think I will be as flexible as Oksana Lebedewa (now dancing with Franco Formica) but I will keep up with it to feel good.

Here are two books I use for my daily stretch.
“Stretching” by Bob Anderson and Jean Anderson
This book does not have a section for Ballroom Dancing but it is an excellent introductory book for general stretching.  The first few sections are very useful for people who have not done any stretching, emphasizing the importance of warm-ups and safe stretches and introducing the distinction between easy stretch and developmental stretch.  Figures are simple and easy to follow.  The last section shows a series of stretching routines for different activities and sports.  I usually look at the section for aerobic exercise.

“The Whartons’ Stretch Book” by Jim and Phil Wharton
This book focuses on active-isolated stretching, which is quite different from static stretches shown in “Stretching” by Bob and Jean Anderson.  I have added some of the stretches shown in this book to my regular static stretch routine.  The presentation of each stretch is not as straight forward as in Bob Anderson’s book, and it takes to time to fully understand the proper procedure from the description and pictures.  Nonetheless, I think this book offers valuable information, which can improve your flexibility in a few months.