My beach blog!

Okay, I'm not on a beach but I do wish I was! This post is beach-themed. I had a few thoughts I wanted to send out to everyone and they all seemed to fall into a beachy sort of thing so...

Courtesy Kathryn Greenhill, creative commons lic

My beachy thoughts on this Friday afternoon?

1. A pirouette tip: Grab your beach ball with your inner thighs! When you're in your fourth position, preparing for an en dehors turn, imagine your upper thighs are wrapping and squeezing a giant plastic beach ball. When you releve for the turn, don't let go! Keep the inner thigh muscles activated to hold onto the ball and give you a spiraling action as you go upward. Release the ball as you lower down to your finish, gradually letting the ball go.

Courtesy Valentina powers, creative commons lic

 2. A pet peeve tip: Stick your toes in the sand! One of my biggest pet peeves are toes that leave the floor during battements tendus or temps lie. You lose the opportunity to lengthen your legs and feet when you allow the toes to lift off the floor, even briefly. Instead imagine your toes are stuck in the sand on the beach and the waves are lapping at your ankles and when the waves recede, your toes are sucked into the wet sand.

Courtesy Hilton Resort

 3. A port de bras tip: Do the backstroke to get your shoulders moving! When we do cambre back or a grand circular port de bras, we are trying to articulate all parts of our back: the upper back, the middle and the lower. The upper back is the hardest because we are usually pretty tight in the muscles at the front of our chest and in our shoulders (we do a lot of work at our computers and phones and we sit in our cars for hours). But an articulate upper back is one of the most beautiful parts of our ballet lines. As you bend backwards, imagine yourself doing the backstroke in the water. You don't twist your whole upper body as you do this but rather, you keep the back steady and sweep the arm up and behind you.

Natalie Coughlin courtesy Kinney Turtle, creative commons lic

Happy summer dancing, everyone! Stay cool~