Spiral action!

A consistent problem I see in my classes, among all levels of students, is a gripping of muscles and shortening of the line, whether it's legs or arms that are being "stunted."

A great visual image is to imagine your limbs spiraling away from the center of your body (from your shoulders if it's the arms and from your hips if it's the legs) all the way to your fingers and toes.

source: Martialbody.com

Try a developpe devant at the barre first before you come to the center. Bring the leg from 5th to coup de pied devant up to passe and extend the leg in front of you; feel the femur in the hip socket rotating as you develop the leg out and imagine the muscles rotating outward like stripes on an old-fashioned barber shop pole. Your leg should feel like it's lengthening and your muscles should not feel like they are gripping to hold the leg off the floor.

Now try the same thing when you come to the center. Really hold onto your center as you bring the leg up and out and away from you.

Your arms too can be spirals; it's a great image to keep in your mind especially when you are holding them in second position. Too often people simply open their arms to the sides of their bodies, not noticing that they are drooping at the elbows. Sometimes when I ask people to engage their backs, instead they merely lift with their shoulders. If you think of your arms twisting en dehors as they reach away from your body, you can keep all the muscles engaged, out to the very tips of your fingers.

Once you get the visuals of spirals in your mind, it's easy to see them in other parts of your body:
--the connection between opposing shoulder and hip
--attitude devant and derriere
--your head and neck connection as you tilt it in ecarte
--your knees as you jump in changement
--your back foot as you push off the floor for a pirouette

And so many others! Don't think lines. Think spirals! Happy dancing~

A Trio of Tips for Thursday!

Not one but 3! No matter what level you are, I have a helpful dance tip for you!

1. Beginner:

Promenade - one of the biggest errors I see in students attempting promenade (which is a series of small heel lifts to turn in place and can be executed in arabesque, attitude, retire, etc.) is that they begin the movement with their hips, knees or shoulders. 

The very first thing you do to begin a promenade is to lift the heel. There should be no weight at the back of the foot during promenade or else you will find yourself rocking back and forth and eventually falling off your leg. Unless otherwise choreographed, you should keep a very straight support leg with knees pulled up by your quads and hamstrings. As you turn in place, do not allow the support leg to bend or the knee to go soft. Maintain the position you are turning in by lifting and lowering the heel by about 1/4" or 1/2" but not usually more than that.

2. Intermediate:

Pirouette arms - in my ongoing quest to dissect and diagnose pirouettes and to offer guidance to students who struggle, I would have to say the #1 problem I see is the arms are not held in front of the body for the entire turn. Whatever position you are taught (a classic first position, a higher first position, a portrait style low first position, crossed arms, etc.) you must keep them in front of you until you finish the turn and roll down.

Pirouette anxiety, whether you are working flat or en pointe, usually causes us to pull back with our upper body. We fear falling which often makes us collapse in our centers. Our shoulders slump or roll and our arms droop or get left behind during the turn. Some of us fling our arms open to second long before the turn is completed.

Instead, try to bring the arms very quickly to your first position as you push up to releve and hold them there! Don't let them open or drop until you have completed the turn and can see yourself in the mirror in retire before you open the arms and roll down. I can virtually guarantee you that your turns will improve if you do this.

3: Advanced:

Finishing the lines - some of the most beautiful things in ballet are the lines that are created on stage. For example, an arabesque does not need to be higher than ninety degrees to be gorgeous but it does need to be finished. Same with arms: they may swirl and swish through the air but when they are posed, they must be finished with fingers extended and elbows lifted. How many times have you been in the audience and gasped at the stunning lines of professional ballerinas? They know how to get very last inch out of their legs and arms.

You can too! But you must focus on arching the top and bottom of your foot, reaching through your back to the palms and fingers of your hands, lengthening the back of your neck and holding a strong core. When you practice these things at the barre (rather than simply flinging your arms and feet away from you), you will have beautiful lines in the center. Your movements will be complete and you will avoid that weird strobe effect that you see on stage. If you are in the corps, you absolutely must finish your lines or you will look out of sync with the other dancers.

Hope these tips help you! Happy dancing~

Turn tip Tuesday!

Okay, okay, it's not Tuesday but I didn't want to wait til next week.

When I do workshops and teach in class, I talk a lot about arms: how to engage the back muscles, avoid lifting with the shoulders, keep a shape to them, etc.

But placement is critical. If they are too low (i.e. at your waist), they drag you down and make you collapse in on yourself. If they move and if you can't maintain their placement as you turn, you lose the aerodynamics that comes from the centrifugal force of your body moving around a pivot point.

Typically, an unsuccessful turn looks like this: a dancer does a lovely demi-plie in 4th position, arms are stretched out and to the sides, and then when she goes to releve, they drop down. In other words, as she rises, the arms lower.

No. Don't do that.

Instead, bring your body up to meet your arms.

1. Find the placement of the arms opposite the center of your breastbone (usually this is the ideal position but yours may vary slightly higher or lower) and hold them in a round 1st position or slightly crossed if you are doing Balanchine style turns.

2. Take your 4th position demi-plie or long lunge (again, if you are studying Balanchine or are doing an en dedans pirouette) and stretch your arms as usual.

3. When you go en releve, you bring your leg to its position (retire, attitude, etc.) and rise up to meet your arms. Do not drop the arms as you go up.

Easy-peasy, yes? Ha! Never. Turns are never easy but this small change in your arms will make a BIG difference in your turns. You will not collapse the abdomen or hips; you will not drag down your body, weighing it down so the turn won't be completed; and you will keep a long straight spine which aids tremendously in multiple turns.

Hope this helps! Happy dancing~

Pet peeve: Flyaways!

I'm not talking about those little wispy hairs that need to be gelled down before a performance.

I mean flyaway arms.

When I teach, especially students who are new to ballet, I emphasize clean lines and simple arms. But when I encounter more experienced dancers, even advanced dancers, they sometimes have flashy and ostentatious hands and arms which perform fancy little flourishes when they are at the barre.

Some examples:

--an arm that lifts far above the shoulder in second position and one that forms an undulating S-curve on a grand plie.

Flyaway arms in second

Proper arms in second

 --an arm that is raised high above the head in an arabesque, in which the hand is nearly straight up and down like a salute, rather than one that is placed in front of the nose, with eyes over the middle fingers.

--arms that cross as they are lifted from fifth en bas to fifth en haut, instead of keeping a circular arm.

--hands that break at the wrist when they are held in fifth en bas during small jumps.

 

Bad fifth en bas

Proper fifth en bas

Many dancers think flourishes such as these make them appear more delicate but instead, they look weak. Arms that are simple and clean emphasize the line of the body.

More important than the look, however, is how strong and simple arms help lift you during jumps, adagio, and turns. If your arms are weak, that usually means the back muscles are not engaged and if that is the case, you have that much more work to do with the rest of your body. Let your arms help you!

*Please note in the "bad" photos above that the young woman is not actually performing ballet but the photos are representative of the arm positions I am describing.

Leigh's pet peeves...arms!

...because I certainly do have pet peeves in other parts of the class.  Okay, here are a few to watch yourself for next time you're in class:

Egregious Error #1. "Flicking" the hands in an allonge line. Ooh, does this one bug me!  I will see a dancer fondu or pique to a lovely arabesque and then, rather than roll the shoulder back and stretch her arm, she merely flicks her wrist as if to say, "Voila!"

Why this happens: Typically, the hands are whisked back when a dancer is losing her balance. She may be at the barre or in the center and attempting to hold an arabesque but when she takes both hands off the barre or raises them over her head, she starts to fall.  She throws the hands up and away.

How to avoid this: Remember that allonge comes from the French meaning "to lengthen," so you want to start your line from the back.  Gather the impetus for the stretched line from behind the shoulder, under the blade, and then roll the shoulder down and back; the arm stretches behind the head from there and continues to the fingertips. Think 3-dimensionally with the arm so it does not skip fifth en haut. Do not break the line at the wrist and be sure to turn the head to follow the arm as it moves.

Egregious Error #2: "Magic arms" during grand jete developpe. More "Voila!" arms.  As a dancer throws her leg in front of her for a jete, she also throws the arms out in front of her, jutting them as a magician might when he gestures to a lady cut in half.

Why this happens: The dancer is concentrating so hard on the leg doing a grand battement developpe that she "develops" the arms as well. The arms and hands merely mimic what is happening with her front leg.

How to avoid this: Again, think 3-dimensionally with your arms and let the gesture begin with the middle of the back.  Gather the arms in fifth en bas as you plie before your jete, bring them through the 3rd position via 1st position so they take up more space.  This way the arms will not look like crocodile jaws either.

Egregious Error #3: "Magnet hands" in petit allegro.  Imagine your thighs have magnets and so do your hands and when you jump, they attach themselves to each other.  Not pretty and not efficient, either.

Why this happens: Well, you want to get high off the ground, don't you?  Contrary to popular belief, your shoulders do NOT help you jump higher.  I joke, of course, but it's true.  Many times, a dancer will push very hard off the floor with her feet but rather than use her plie to get a greater lift or spring her toes for more impetus, she uses her shoulders. Then the arms stiffen and the hands go straight down to her legs.

How to avoid this: When you do petit allegro steps like changements or entrechat quatres (or trois, etc.), remember to bend your knees and push your heels off the floor. Roll through your demi-pointe and spring with your toes.  As for your arms, when holding them in a low fifth, be sure to keep space between them and your legs - once more, think 3-dimensionally.  Leave some breath under your elbows and imagine a cloud of air lifting you under your elbows and upper arms.  And yes, engage your upper back!  There are muscles there too, remember, and they will help get you off the ground.

Happy dancing~