Questions from students: Plateaus and proprioception

Plateaus

"I can't seem to get any better with these jumps/turns/choreography. Is this the best I'm going to be?"

My snarky reply: If you think you're done, you're done.

My teacherly reply: No. You aren't done until I say you're done and you'll never be done as long as you work hard.

The realistic reply is somewhere in between the two. Let's be honest about dancing: it's hard. And ballet is well, it's really hard. Whether you started as a kid and have danced for fifty years (ahem, milestone achieved!) or you started as an adult and have been studying for less than five years; whether you are or have been a professional at some point, or if you've never performed on stage ever in your life...we all ask ourselves the question: Is this the best I will be?

dance by antonella morrone, cc license

We all plateau at some point, whether it's in our personal life or our dance technique. Sometimes we won't even realize we're stuck until we've been there for a while.

That's when we need to make the extra push to get out of the rut. And a great way to do that is to consult your instructor or coach. But don't just come to them with a whiny complaint (oops, that was the snarky reply!), come armed with a specific issue so they can help you tackle it.

How to do that? Easy-peasy. With your phone's camera. Just set it up to record you doing something you're not happy with (it's not for public consumption and you can always delete it later) and make an appointment to talk to your instructor or coach. Show them the video of your turn or your jump or your port de bras and together you can figure out what is wrong.

Maybe you're not getting high enough in your releve and no matter how many times you try to apply a correction, you still aren't getting it.

Maybe you're not traveling far enough in your grand jete and you thinking you're using all the right muscles but you still barely move.

Maybe your arms look weak or stiff and you can't seem to find the fluidity in them.

There is always an answer. But you may not know what it is. You may have to, get ready for it, push harder.

Build more strength in your calves to hold your releve; build more core strength to jump higher; take more care and time in your port de bras.

You may need to add an extra class or two to push your technique or you might need a private session to tackle a very specific issue that can't be addressed in class. You might have to take a more challenging class - or conversely, a more basic class.

I don't believe you're done. I don't believe anyone is ever done. There is always a way around a problem if it can't be fixed head-on.

Proprioception

"Why is it so much harder to balance in the center but I can balance forever next to a barre?"

The phenomenon is called proprioception. (And don't bother to look up the Wikipedia definition; they call it a sixth sense when it's no such thing.)

Proprioception is the awareness of your body in space and in relation to other objects, fixed or moving. It is as important in dance class as it is when driving a car or walking down the sidewalk. Just as you find awareness of other people or objects without actually looking at them, so too do you "feel" other bodies in class. This awareness prevents us from crashing into other people (or cars!).

When you're in a ballet class, you are first aware of the presence of the barre next to you. You rarely look at it; you just feel it under your hand. You move your body forward and back, to and away from it; and you slide your hand down the barre as you work.

What you also do is find your balance. The barre is your invisible partner. This is why we try not to grab at the barre or grip it too tightly. You want to keep a nice loose grasp on it, as if you were holding onto another person for support. Think too about personal space with your barre: you don't want to crowd up against it or stand too far away from it.

Awareness of the barre beside you also gives you an object to balance against. Because it's not moving, it's easier to gauge your alignment to it, to maintain a parallel or perpendicular support. We feel it beside us and we can adjust accordingly.

Yay, balancing forever!

balance Yaletown Illuminate by m sew, cc license

But what happens when we get to center? We don't have the same stationary object to align ourselves against and thus it's harder to find our balance. We can still use our proprioceptors, though - we just need to find another object. That can be a mirror or another body (although be aware that they may be moving too) or, for the more advanced dancer, our own bodies. Find the center of your body and use your proprioception to notice the alignment of your arms and legs and head in relation to that center.

Generally speaking, we simply need to practice. When you're at the barre, close your eyes or take your hand off the barre. In the center, practice a balance on one foot flat before rising to demi-pointe.

Got a burning question? Shoot me an email. Happy dancing!

Ballet burnout

Burnout can happen to anyone at any level at any time. Even to me after (mumble, mumble) years of dancing!

As an instructor, I have seen burnout countless times, especially among students who begin ballet as adults.  As much as I love seeing passion in new students, the possibility of them flaming out quickly is very high.  This occurs for a number of reasons:

FRUSTRATION - Ballet is not easy.  I mean, not AT ALL. I know the general public thinks it's hard but it's even harder than that.  When a new student starts class, they often learn exponentially in the first couple of weeks and that's because they knew absolutely nothing so they improve monumentally (usually). But after a month or so, things start getting harder and that's when frustration and dropout happen.

PAIN - Ballet is a constant fight against what your body wants to do.  99% of the world's population does not have naturally-gifted turnout. Making your legs do things in a non-parallel position comes with certain discomfort and that discomfort is, well, uncomfortable.  Most people also don't rise up on their toes a lot (unless they wear high heels!) so calves get tight and sometimes painful. There is, admittedly, some pain involved in dance at all levels - and most people who have danced their whole lives have learned to live with it.  If you aren't prepared for that, any pain will send you to the couch instead of class.

LACK OF SUPPORT - Face it, ballet is of real interest to a very small number of people.  Although millions watch the dance shows on television, a fraction of a percentage point actually pursue it on their own and fewer still stick with it.  When you don't have friends who dance, it can be lonely.  You have to be the one to push yourself to get to class.  You have to be the one to pencil in the time.  You have to be the one to encourage yourself to keep going.  Of course I'm there too but I'm not at your house, urging you to dress and hurry to class. It's more likely than not that you don't have lots of friends who take ballet so that puts a lot of pressure on you to be disciplined and get to class, rather than join happy hour after work or a book club on Saturday mornings.

So if you feel yourself on the verge of burnout, what can you do?

1. Recognize that it's probably temporary. Often people reached plateaus in their technique and assume this is as far as they are going to get and that they won't improve at all.  Not true.  NEVER true.  At least not as far as I'm concerned.  A plateau is a temporary thing and if you push through and allow yourself to be patient and find the thing that will get you to the next level, you'll feel a true sense of accomplishment.

2. Create a goal for your dance technique and focus on that for a period of time. Burnout can happen when you feel like you're doing everything over and over again and not progressing (there's that plateau again!).  So choose one thing to work on - pirouettes en dehors, batterie, performance - and that can help you through the down time.

3. Reduce the number of classes you're taking.  If you're dancing every day, you may be expecting a lot from yourself.  Keep in mind that professional dancers take one day off per week! Give yourself a little more time between classes so you can adjust your expectations per class.

4. Take a complete break from dance, from ballet, or from your studio. If you feel like you've exhausted yourself and burnout is inevitable, let it happen.  Don't feel like you've let yourself or your teacher down. It's important to recharge your internal batteries and regain your perspective.  Rediscover your love of ballet when you're away from it and then return newly-energized.

Remember that ballet is different for everyone.  The reasons for keeping it in one's life are as varied as the individuals themselves.  For me, dance has always been a part of my life from the time I was a small child.  Take a moment to understand what place is has in your life before you abandon it.

Happy dancing~