Technique Tip: Raised eyebrow dancing!

Do a quick Google image search for "raised eyebrows." Now do one with the word "dancing" added.

See the difference?

I don't mean the sort of dancing that would raise eyebrows (like those images of pole dancing or sexy tango competitors). I mean dancing with your eyebrows raised, literally. Very literally.

Many times I see otherwise lovely and accomplished dancers turn or releve with their eyebrows lifted very high and their foreheads wrinkled.  This comes from a misplaced sense of "lift." They usually want to lift their shoulders but know enough not to do that so they end up lifting with their eyes.  Watch some fellow dancers the next time you're in class.  Inevitably this happens during pirouettes.

What's the solution? Exhale on the turn or the releve. You can't scrunch up your forehead if you're exhaling!  This serves double duty of allowing you to press down into the floor instead of feeling like you're hopping on top of it, all of which will aid you in a smooth press up (or spring up if you are en pointe) on a turn.

Happy dancing!