Are you doing your grand plie correctly? Are you sure?

When beginning dancers first learn to do a grand plie, teachers try to guide them with three main alignment corrections (it's always 3, isn't it?):

1. Keep your spine straight - don't tuck or stick out your derriere.

2. Send your knees out over the toes - don't allow them to roll in front of the big toe.

3. Let your heels come off the floor gradually - don't pop them up and force the arch.

As I watch dancers advance and learn to incorporate more alignment corrections, I've noticed that the 3rd correction about the heels seems to be the last one that can be applied properly. In terms of the sequence of understanding, it appears that the first two are easier to comprehend and apply to our bodies. After all, we can see in our mirrored reflection whether our spines are straight and if the knees are rolling forward of our toes.

But the feeling of heels lifting too soon (or being popped up) is a challenging one for dancers to find. Remember that lifting the heels too soon can have major repercussions, including:
*shortening the tendons and weakening them
*constant engagement of calves resulting in pulled calf muscles
*crossover to lifted heel before pirouette

 DO NOT

 

Try this next time you're at the barre for plies in first position:
--find your balance evenly on both feet but test whether you are "sitting" back by gently lifting the heels off the floor and setting them back down.
--imagine a weight at the base of your spine pulling you straight down to the floor.
--begin to open the plie at the top of the legs - don't initiate in the knees; they come later.
--allow the thighs to part and the knees to open and extend beyond the center part of the foot and the middle toes.
--feel the calves and Achilles tendons lengthening as the knees open.
--keep your spine straight and feel the lower belly engage as you get closer to the floor.
--the knees will naturally pull off the floor - allow them to do that - but instead of bringing the heels closer to your pelvis, bring the pelvis closer to your heels.
--let me repeat that: instead of bringing the heels closer to your pelvis, bring the pelvis closer to your heels.
--to come back to standing from the grand plie, put your heels down first, feel the Achilles and calves engage, and then initiate the return by pulling in your inner thighs, not your knees.

DO

Hope this helps! Happy and healthy dancing~

The Attraction of Opposites

In movement studies, there are always opposing forces at work. Whether you're talking about ballet or baseball, the body needs to access different forces in order to propel itself in space or on the field, against another body or ball, one limb or the entire torso.

Today I want to talk about the opposing forces required for plie and releve.

Generally speaking, in plie, we go up to go down and in releve, we go down to go up. Confusing? Of course it is! It's ballet and everything is backward.

Plie:

From the very first moments at the barre when we do a demi-plie in first position, we need to visualize our spines and head rising, rather than sinking.

Most students are taught to bend their knees to initiate a plie, but that is the last place the plie takes hold. Instead, the plie begins at the top of the leg, just under the derriere, starting with the rotation (turnout). Regardless of the extent of your turnout, that is where you initiate the fondu or bend of the plie. From there, the rotation opens the hips and continues down into the knees, which must bend in order to accommodate the increased rotation of the legs.

When you tell your body to "bend the knees" in order to start the plie, you are merely dropping your weight to the ground. There is no control and there is no hip rotation. In other words, it's not an active force but a passive one - allowing gravity to do all the work. Usually the legs will turn in, especially in grand plie, and then recovery involves gripping your quads and derriere muscles to return to a standing position.

Next time you perform a demi-plie, concentrate on the spine and head lifting up toward the ceiling while you simultaneously rotate your legs from the back under your derriere. Then, rather than letting gravity take you to the ground, relax the derriere muscles and control the descent with your inner thigh muscles until just before the tops of your legs and knees turn in. To recover to standing, engage the derriere muscles to pull you back up and resist the urge to grip your quads.

This will result in a much smoother and ultimately more useful plie.

Releve:

Conversely, in releve, we want to visualize pressing the floor away from us with our feet and toes in order to lift ourselves higher.

Most students are taught to releve by lifting their heels, "go up on your toes!" But this is not the most stable position to maintain, especially when you want to do pirouettes or adagio. When told to do this, students will hop up to releve, rather than stretch themselves. They wobble all over the place!

A proper releve begins by pushing down. With your feet firmly on the floor, weight evenly distributed across the soles, start with your plie, then as you recover continue to push the floor away from you until your heels lift off the floor and your weight is now over all 10 of your toes.

Remember: a releve begins with a fondu (plie) while an eleve begins with straight legs and knees (think elevator).

If you think of your core initiating the releve rather than the feet lifting, you will find your releve much more stable. The entire body must lift, not just your feet. Core and calf strength, in addition to ankle strength, will help you maintain your balance while you are suspended off the ground. And if you can think about trying to keep all of your toes on the floor, including your tiny pinky toes, you will give yourself more surface area upon which to balance.

Hope these tips help you! Happy dancing~