What You Mean, What You Say: Get Up On Your Leg

Correcting Teacher Corrections

As teachers, we have the challenge of framing our corrections in a way that is concise, accurate, and effective. Certain catch phrases, quibbles and mantras have been told to us by our teachers, and, as we became teachers we use them in our turn.  I’ve been thinking a lot about correcting students and how effective some of the standard dance teacher vernacular really is.  One such correction is “Get up on your leg”

“Get up on your leg”…

Teachers have a habit of saying this when students are “sinking” into their supporting leg while balanced on one leg. A lot of dancers do, in fact, demonstrate this, but is “get up on your leg” the best way to correct it?

When a dancer is supporting the body weight on one leg, either standing or en relevé, there is a tendency to release the gluteal muscles (maximus, medius and minimus) and abductors (tensor fasciae latae, piriformis, obturators, gemelli and sartorius). Whether this is due to laziness or lack of strength isn’t quite the point, but ultimately lax muscles that are meant to support the hip allow it to fall away from the midline and sink.

The big problem I have with saying “get up on your leg” is that students often overcompensate by raising their working hip.  Then you tell them to drop their hip, and they overcompensate by sinking into their supporting hip again.  Then you tell them to get up on their leg…. it’s a vicious cycle.

What To Do

Sinking in the hip is an error many student dancers (and, let’s face it, some professionals) experience that takes a while to correct, as it is likely the result of weak muscles in the ankle and hip (3) (specifically gluteus medius and minimus; tensor fascilae latae; and posterior tibialis, flexor digitorum longus, and flexor hallucis longus).

While some corrections are given due to negligence or laziness on the part of the dancer, if a student is continually being asked to get on their leg and simply can’t seem to maintain the proper alignment, try encouraging them to strengthen their abductors.  Though other muscle groups are implicated in a sinking hip, the abductors are not especially targeted by ballet technique, which makes them a likely culprit.  Working with the feet in a parallel position (by taking a jazz or modern class) can strengthen these muscles-especially exercises that extend the leg to the side in parallel.

Use a theraband wrapped around the legs, for dancers who can’t “get up on their leg”.  Although it is a trademark of dancers to walk through their daily lives in turnout, simply making it a point to walk in parallel can help keep these muscles active.  For dancers interested in Pilates, the hip abductor series is a great tool for this problem.

Related Injury

Weak hip abductors can also be implicated in a couple of common dance injuries. Runners with weak abductors experience increased knee abduction during the stance phase (which is essentially equivalent to dance positions placing the body weight on the supporting leg) (4).  In this case the femur is not stabilizing the hip and is not fully supported at the knee joint, causing abduction of the knee and the potential for the femur to rub against the patella (5). Patellofemoral stress syndrome has been also correlated with weak hip abductors as a result of this movement within the knee joint (2).

What To Say

So if “get on your leg” doesn’t work, what do you say to a dancer who sinks in her supporting hip?

As I’m sure you already know, it depends on the student.

Some students respond better to metaphors that will encourage them to activate the muscles of the hip and ankle:

“Drive your leg into the ground like you are mounted in cement…”

or to engage the gluts and lower abdominals:

“Lift the upper body and perch it on to of the legs like a bird resting on a thin branch…”

Some students might respond better to physical manipulation. Back up your adjustments with verbal cues:

“Lift the lower tummy; feel a pinch under your bottom; engage your hip and feel it wrap around to your back…”

What do YOU say to a student who sinks in her hip?

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References:

1. Calais-Gemain, B. (1993). Anatomy of Movement. Seattle: Eastland Press.
2. Dierks, T. A., Manal, K. T., Hamill, I. S. (2008). Proximal and distal influences on hip and knee kinematics in runners with patellofemoral pain during a prolonged run. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 38, 448-456.
3. Grieg, V. (1994). Inside Ballet Technique: Separating Anatomical Fact from Fiction in the Ballet Class. Hightstown, NJ: Princeton Book Company.
4. Heinert, B. L., Kernozek, T. W., Greany, J. F. & Fater, D. C. (2008). Hip abductor weakness and lower extremity kinematics during running. J Sports Rehabil 17, 243-256.
5. Schamberger, W. (2002). The malalignment syndrome. Oxford: Churchill Livingstone, 344-346.

What You Can Do To Improve Tendu (and why it is crucial)

It seems like such a small thing, really, that little second-place movement done at barre or in center. But, no matter what type of concert dance technique you are studying (ballet, jazz, modern/contemporary), battement tendu — that’s the full name — is sure to make an appearance and with good reason!

A World Without Tendu

It is through tendu that dancers become conscious of directing and eventually expelling energy through a stretched (or pointed) foot. It is also where strength is developed in the foot for taking off and landing with cushion in jumps. Without tendu (and its partner tendu jeté or dégagé) there would be no no assemblé or grand jeté or entrechat quatre. Movements would lack the finish of a pointed foot and jumps would land awfully hard. But that’s not all that would be missing from classical or contemporary dance technique without tendu.

Though it may seem the working leg is the most important part of practicing tendu, you might be surprised to learn that the standing leg is equally critical. Tendu is a dancer’s first experience standing on one leg (at least in a technical and conscientious way). It may not be instantly recognizable, but this is where preparation begins for poses like arabesque. Jazz and modern dancers practice tendu with both turned out and parallel rotation because they balance (or center themselves over a leg) in both turned out and parallel positions.

Tendu means stretched. The leg stretches to a point and then closes (that is the battement, or beating portion of the movement). In ballet and other dance forms, this stretched action (and the way the body reacts to it) is important preparation for just about everything, including rising to pointe, lifting, throwing, or balancing on a leg.

Who knew tendu was so important?

Your teachers. Maybe they haven’t always explained it this way but all those reasons above (and more) are why this little movement shows up in plenty of your barre and center exercises. So now that you are aware of its significance, let’s talk about…

What you can do to improve tendu.

Weight Shift – Standing Leg

Do This: As the working leg leaves its home base (1st or 5th position) there is a subtle, nearly undetectable shift of weight to one leg. During this shift…

1. Maintain the turnout of your leg. If you feel strain and the need to decrease turnout in the standing leg as you shift your weight, reevaluate your turnout while standing on both legs, you may be over-rotating or forcing turnout.
2. Balance your weight equally over the three points of the foot.
3. Keep all 5 toes on the floor and be careful not to pronate or roll-in.
4. When closing the tendu (especially when repeating), be aware of your weight. If you are lingering or leaning over the standing leg, you may be lifting your working hip and/or not properly creating resistance between the foot and floor in your tendu (more on that in a moment).

Imagine This: Imagine pouring your weight like sand into the standing leg, rather than dumping it all at once. Imagine your standing leg as a barbershop pole with stripes moving upward and wrapping outward to keep the rotation in your leg.  And I like this one, courtesy Eric Franklin’s Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance — Imagine having a third “ghost leg” that remains in its standing position even while your working leg moves away.

Weight Shift – Disengaging the Working Leg

Do This: Create resistance between the foot and the floor. This is less forceful than a press but does require some directed energy through the leg and foot. Articulate (or “work through”) the foot – peeling off the heel, ball, and finally stretching through the toes (also articulating in the reverse). Keep the toes long, there is no weight on the toe and you should be able to lift the leg from here without further shifting onto the standing leg.

Imagine This: Imagine the relatively light/easy press and bend of a paint brush that allows the painter to evenly distribute paint but still glide the brush smoothly. Imagine a layer of velvet or velour beneath your foot and enjoy the feeling of your foot moving through the plush carpet, leaving a trail in the fibers as the foot moves outward and returns. Imagine light or streaming air radiating from the hip and out through the toe, as well as upward and out through the top of the head.

The Hip Joint

Do This: Maintain rotation in both legs and keep the hips level and “quiet” with no extraneous movement.

Imagine This: Imagine a horizontal line between the sitz bones that stays level, as well as lines dangling from the sitz bones straight into the floor. Imagine that your flesh and muscles have disappeared and your skeleton is doing a tendu — picture the femur moving easily forward, back, or side in the acetabulum (socket). Imagine the ball joint of a pen holder – the holder portion (the leg) has freedom to move all over but the socket (the hip) is still.

For additional thoughts, check out Dianne’s blow-by-blow of battement tendu at Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes.

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In concert dance technique (ballet, jazz, modern) some of the most important movements are found at the start of the class or ballet barre. They help to warm up the body, yes, but these are also the base upon which all other movements are built. Tendu and plié are two movements we often take for granted as we learn them so early in our dancing life. The above suggestions are certainly not ALL of the things to be considered in battement tendu but they are more than enough to think about right now.

What corrections do you typically receive from your teacher during battement tendu?

Can you share any images or advice that have helped you master this important movement?

Guest Post: Watching Versus Doing in Dance Education

Today’s guest post is by Lauren Warnecke, a fellow blogger and dance teacher. With a BA in Dance and an MS in Kinesiology, Lauren is a unique voice in the online dance community. Her website, Art Intercepts is “bridging the gap between experience and evidence” with a look into how science overlaps, meets, influences, compares, and even contrasts with dance training. With the goals of improving dance education, teaching practices, and overall health and wellness, Lauren is providing a reliable resource for dancers and dance teachers.

Dance is a craft that is largely passed down from teacher to student. This is something that I personally find to be a both blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s an indescribable feeling to know that as a teacher, I play a small part in creating the rich history of dance and sit on a teacher-pupil lineage leading back to the greatest of ballet masters. However, it is a history comprised largely of anecdotal and subjective information passed down through an oral tradition that is rarely corroborated by members of the scientific community.

Most teachers likely agree that demonstration and practice are critical to the success of dance students, but to what extent should the instructor encourage doing over watching or vice-versa?

Watching

Two research studies (5, 12) involving young children learning complex dance movements support every dance teacher’s belief that modeling as an instructional tool is especially important in learning motor skills, especially with younger children. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to demonstrate as fully as possible, especially with beginners and young children, if you want them to get the most out of your demonstration (13). Kids have a natural tendency to imitate anyway (6), so what better way to get them to learn the basics of dance then to give them something (that is, you) to follow!?

So what happens when I get old and can’t demonstrate? An instructor who can no longer demonstrate may find it helpful to bring an assistant into the class who can model the exercises full out. The use of a model appears to be especially important in mastering the qualitative form of movement, which is of obvious important in dance education.

What about pre-professional and professional dancers? As the students grow older and their movement vocabularies grow broader, accurate demonstrations are not nearly as essential to higher-level dance students. Indeed, most dancers have stories about their old, strict instructors who sit in an armchair barking out exercises and pounding out the beat on the floor with a cane….. I digress. Because more experienced dancers have already programmed the necessary vocabulary, it is simply a matter of rearranging them in different patterns (1). Instruction in the case of older or more advanced students can therefore be accomplished through vocal instructions and “marked” exercises. It’s important to note once again, however, that demonstrations are the best way to communicate the qualitative aspects of movement, so marking should not be a casual or sloppy endeavor. You should mark it how you want it to look!

Doing

Young dancers can watch you all day long, but in the end, they must be given the opportunity to practice. Watching a demonstration before practicing a motor skill may be most beneficial for long-term learning (5, 12). Furthermore, children require more practice than adults to master a skill (10).

Should you be saying anything to them while they practice? Should they? To really maximize the effects of practice, it can be very helpful to ask your students to “say and do” a skill at the same time, in other words, using self-instruction. In one study, three to five year old dance students learned a gross motor pattern more quickly through modeling, praise and self-instruction than by modeling and praise alone (11). However, it should be noted that in this study the use self-instruction tended to drop over time. So eventually the incessant “tombe, pas de bouree, glissade, saut de chats” that your kids say over, and over, and over, should eventually (and thankfully) internalize!

When in doubt, call on our old friend the metaphor. Another tool all dance teachers are intimately familiar with is imagery. Imagery has been shown to enhance dance performance and, likewise, previous dance experience and familiarity with a skill facilitates the dancer’s ability to accurately picture the movement in their minds (2). Using metaphors and imagery are invaluable tools to utilize both during practice and in corrections.

In A Nutshell

Given the dualistic nature of dance, in which both accuracy and aesthetic quality are both essential to success, watching and doing appear to play equally important roles. A former teacher of mine once wrote, “A strict tradition governs the structure of a ballet class. It is a tradition based on logic, trial and error, and natural evolution” (7). Indeed, dance is steeped in traditions passed down from student to teacher. Modeling, verbal feedback, and practice are essential components of an effective dance education, but it is not always understood why they work or in what combination they should be used. Here are some general suggestions to beef up your teaching skills and maximize the potential of your students:

1. Demonstrate, and demonstrate correctly especially with young students.

2. If you mark, they’ll mark, so bring in an assistant if necessary to provide full-out demonstration. Marking is okay for advanced students, but be sure to maintain the correct qualitative components of the music in your demonstration

3. Practice. Give your kids enough dedicated time for them to practice and master the skill!

4. Use self-instruction, metaphor and imagery. Have the dancers say the steps while they are doing them, and give them enough mental images and metaphors so they know exactly how to perform the steps correctly.

Lauren Warnecke trained at Barat College and holds a BA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago and an MS in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois-Chicago. She has more than ten years of teaching experience, and is currently seeking a teacher’s certification through the Cecchetti Council of America. She is the Performing Arts Coordinator at the Menomonee Club. For more of Lauren’s work, visit Art Intercepts.

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References

1. Calvo-Merino, B., Glaser, D. E., Grezes, J., Passingham, R. E., & Haggard, P. (2005). Action observation and acquired motor skills: An FMRI study with expert dancers. Cereb Cortex, 15, 1243-1249.
2. Cross, E. S., Hamilton, A. F. de C. & Grafton, S. T. (2005). Building a motor simulation de novo: observation of dance by dancers. NeuroImage 31, 1257-1267.
3. Fox, P.W., Hershberger, S. L. & Bouchard, T. J. Jr. (1996) .Genetic and environmental contributions to the acquisition of a motor skill. Nature 384, 356-358.
4. Hagendoorn, I. (2004). Some speculative hypothesis about the nature and perception of dance and choreography. Journal of Consciousness Studies 11, 79-110.
5. McCullagh, P., Stiehl, J. & Weiss, M. R. (1990). Developmental modeling effects on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of motor performance. Res Q Exerc Sport 61, 344-350.
6. Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1977). Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science, 198, 75-78.
7. Paskevska, A. (1992). Both sides of the mirror: the science and art of ballet (rev. ed.). Hightstown, NJ: Princeton Book Company.
8. Pineda, J. A. (2008). Sensorimotor cortex as a critical component of an ‘extended’ mirror neuron system: does it solve the development, correspondence, and control problems in mirroring? Behavioral and Brain Functions 4, 47-63.
9. Stevens, C., & McKechnie, S. (2005). Thinking in action: thought made visible in contemporary dance. Cogn Process 6, 243-252.
10. Sullivan, K. J., Kantak, S. S. & Burtner, P. A. (2008). Motor learning in children: feedback effects on skill acquisition. Physical Therapy 88, 720-732.
11. Vintere, P., Hemmes, N. S., Brown, B. L. & Poulson, C. L. (2004). Gross-motor skill acquisition by preschool dance students under self-instruction procedures. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 305-322.
12. Weiss, M. R., Ebbeck, V. & Rose, D. J. (1992). “Show and tell” in the gymnasium revisited: developmental differences in modeling and verbal rehearsal on motor skill learning and performance. Res Q Exerc Sport 63, 292-301.
13. Williamson, R. A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Markman, E. M. (2008). Prior experiences and perceived efficacy influence 3-year-olds’ imitation. Developmental Psychology, 44, 275-285.

Vertically Challenged: Improving Your Jumps

Jumping is a large part of a dancer’s training and students are constantly searching for the secret recipe that will improve their skills in this area. However, for the most part the secret to jumping is not so secret, it is the same hard work that goes into most everything in dance: proper alignment, solid technique, and practice, practice, practice! Not what you wanted to hear? Sorry, but never fear, I can give you some pointers that will help you as you practice those jumps. I’m going to focus mainly on vertical jumping (sauté) in this post, although many of these principles can also be applied to traveling jumps or leaps. I will focus more specifically on leaps in a future post.

Foundations

Proper alignment, as I stated before, is key in quality jumping. (Here is a helpful video on finding good alignment in the spine.) In vertical jumping, especially, it helps to imagine stacking your body parts (the head, the torso, the pelvis, the knees, the feet) on top of one another like stacking stones. When one stone is out of place, a horizontal element is added to an otherwise vertical force. This slows the jump and reduces its height. What keeps the stones in alignment is a strong core. This does not mean you should be stiff like a pogo stick when you jump. The center is strong and active so that the rest of the body can stay connected without added tension.

The quality of your jump is only as good as the plié that proceeds it. And, a quality plié is defined by not only the action of the legs but also by its supporting base (the feet). The ankles (or, more correctly the tarsus) should not roll in or sickle before or during lift off and there should be a feeling of widening and lengthening through the feet and toes so that the whole foot (including the heel) is used for optimum leverage. For height and power, it may be helpful to imagine your legs in plié as a coiled spring ready to release straight into the air.

Lift Off

As the legs lengthen and the body is leaving the ground, it is important to remember that the feet play a very important role in any jump. Vertical height is greatly increased when the feet roll sharply through to pointed toes beneath the pelvis. In the book, Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance, Eric Franklin encourages you to imagine your feet extending and piercing the sand beneath your toes as you jump into the air. Strengthening the muscles of the feet, therefore, are very important for jumps. Practicing good foot articulation (like articulating syllables in a word, you want to articulate each action of the foot when “rolling through”) in tendu, dégagé (tendu jeté), other battement, and relevé will strengthen the feet for both taking off and landing in a jump. Further resistance training with exercise bands can also be done as homework outside of class.

A mistake many dancers make is bringing tension into the shoulders, arms, and neck as they leave the ground. This tension is not effective in getting good height so, as a teacher, I try to re-direct my students’ focus to other parts of the body. To aid you in your sauté, I’m now going to pretend you are my students…

1. When a rock wall climber is harnessed and attached to ropes and pulleys in order to get him/her off the ground, what part of the body is the harness supporting?
2. Why do you suppose that is? (go ahead, think about it!)
3. So, in order to get yourself off the ground let’s try to imagine a harness supporting and lifting the pelvis from underneath. The harness supports the pelvic floor. That is the web of muscle and tendons at the base of the pelvis between your sitz bones (ischial tuberosity), tailbone (coccyx), and pubic bone. (see here for a glossary and some pics)
4. Try jumping with this image in mind. Does it make a difference? (If imaginations aren’t enough, I have been known to have students lace their hands between their legs, one arm back and one arm front, and actually give themselves a lift as they jump. Sounds embarrassing? Maybe, but they don’t forget the image!)

I also like the image of attaching rocket boosters to your sitz bones. This gives a nice idea of the downward force needed to shoot your body up into the air and, like the harness image, encourages the feeling of lift from beneath the pelvis. Try these images and see what works for you!

Landing

As I mentioned before, articulating the feet is vitally important in landing a jump. I’m sure your teachers have all cried out “Toe, ball, heel!” at least once during a jumping exercise. However, the whole leg is involved and should arrive at the floor extended, rather than bent to provide the most cushioning. Alignment should also stay in tact on the landing. Many student dancers seem to crumple as they land (making it harder to rebound into another jump if necessary). Maintain the alignment by feeling a reach through the top of the head (not the chin) through the entire jump.

Breath and Musicality

I also recommend that you practice breathing during jumps (particularly if you are doing a series of sauté). You can decide which works best for you: exhaling on the jump or on the landing. Awareness of your breath will improve your height and help release excess tension.

Also, listen while you’re jumping to the timing and tempo of the music or rhythm accompanying your movement. Try clapping in time with some music, making circles with the arms as your hands rebound and come back together. A beat is not just a “one” and an “and” but a whole space to be filled. Imagine filling that space with your jump and land and rebound on the downbeat just as your hands did.

What are some other tips or images that have helped you with vertical jumps?

Sickling and Rolling In

The terms sickling and rolling in are often used in dance classes to define issues with ankle alignment. However, I have found that many students do not have a clear understanding of the actions of the ankle and foot and, therefore, do not know how to correct these issues when asked. I hope this post will help clear up any confusion and assist students in working to correct poor ankle alignment.

“Sickling,” also called supination, is an action of the tarsus (a group of bones in the foot that allow a person to “roll” their ankle in circles). Without getting technical, when one is sickling, they are standing on the outsides of their feet, their pointed foot is “flagging,” or in relevé their outer ankle bone is pulled into misalignment away from the mid-line of the body. “Rolling in” refers to an action called pronation which is essentially the opposite of supination. When standing, someone that is pronating is allowing their arch to drop toward the floor. When the foot is pointed and pronating, the inner heel is pushed forward (sometimes referred to as “winging” the foot). In relevé the anles tilt toward the mid-line of the body. Although these actions are often stated to occur at the ankle, the ankle joint only points and flexes. It is the tarsus that creates any additional motion.

Mostly, dance teachers see pronation (or rolling in) of the tarsus when students are standing. Because the bones on the inside of the foot are larger/heavier than those on the outside, gravity has a tendency to pull the foot into pronation if the muscles used to lift the arch are not trained to do so. Supination is more common when dancers are pointing their feet or standing in relevé (en pointe or demi-pointe) because there is more flexibility in the muscles and tendons on the outside of the foot. When attempting to rise to demi-pointe, some dancers who have a limited range of motion will push beyond their limit, causing the foot to sickle (see picture at right). Supination or sickling when the leg is lifted is very common in young or beginning dancers because they do not possess the strength or muscle memory to maintain proper alignment.

Correcting Alignment Issues

Dancers slowly correct ankle alignment when it is addressed in class. As early as age 7 or 8, you may see improvement in this area if the students are, 1) taught how to feel the difference between a sickled/pronated foot and the correct, neutral alignment and, 2) consistently reminded.  Older students need this same encouragement and reminding until maintaining neutral alignment becomes habit. This takes time, diligence, and mindful dancing. Some dancers point their foot so hard that it forces their foot into a sickled position. The teacher can have the student relax the leg muscles and gently reposition their foot in the proper placement. Keep in mind that dancers going through puberty can sometimes seem to backslide in their strength or flexibility because of growth spurts and rapid changes in their bodies), exercise bands may help strengthen the muscles involved in pronation and supination. If a student is showing weakness in rélevé, a good cure is more rélevé! Perform them in a slow and steady manner, with focus on rising straight up with weight over the second and third toe.

For young dancers that need a reminder not to pronate while standing, I will offer an image frequently used in my dance classes growing up: Imagine a little mouse family all snug in their beds under your arch. Allow the foot to roll in and the little mice will be awfully squished and have to wriggle out! At any age or level, the practice of using and maintaining proper alignment in class will be enough to build the strength and muscle memory needed to correct most problems with pronation and supination. Occasionally a student may have a muscular or skeletal issue that is affecting the tarsus area, the best thing to do is have a doctor or physical therapist check it out if you think this may be the case.

Excessive Turnout and Ankle Alignment

It is important to point out that sickling and rolling in have nothing to do with turnout. Although, some dancers and teachers seem to focus on the angle which the feet make in turnout, please note that turnout occurs from the hips only. Occasionally when dancers “force” their turnout they are straining the tendons in their knees for a little extra rotation at a joint that is only supposed to bend and straighten, which in turn usually results in pronation (rolling in) as well. This only gives the appearance of a wider “V,” but a trained eye knows that this is not turnout. Forcing turnout can lead to injury and possibly surgery down the road.

Maintaining proper alignment in the foot while dancing is very important. Problems in the lower body have a way of working their way up, causing issues and even injury in the knees, hips, back, etc. Dancers must move with awareness of what their body is doing, and a big part of that is understanding the function and terminology of certain bones and muscles. Hopefully I’ve helped you to understand supination and pronation a bit better. Here are some great resources for gaining understanding of how the body works as it relates to dance.

The Body Series
Dance Kinesiology
Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery

Has sickling or rolling in been a problem for you? Have you ever heard the terms supination or pronation used in a dance class before?

Battement

I’m sure that students reading this blog have used or heard the term battement before. If grand battement immediately comes to mind, I’m not surprised, as the word battement is commonly dropped from the name of other familiar terms.

A mother, father, brothers, grandparents, uncles, all share a family name. In a similar way battement is a family of movements.

From the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet: Battement [bat-MAHN] — Beating. A beating action of the extended or bent leg. There are two types of battements, grands battements and petits battements. The petis battements are: Battements tendus, dégagés, frappés and tendus relevés: stretched, disengaged, struck and stretched-and-lifted. In this must-have reference Gail Grant devotes no less than 7 pages to the battement family which also includes members such as fondu developpé, balançoire, retiré or raccourci, soutenu, battu/serré, and more.

Why We Practice Them

Battements, as they are practiced at the barre and in centre, are the foundation of many other movements in ballet (jumps and travelling steps such as assemblé, tour jeté, grand jeté, and so many more) and in other dance forms. It is necessary to have a solid grasp on the simplest forms in order to perform the others correctly. Often battement are separated into two categories: petite and grand. However, one might also divide battements according to whether or not they interact with the floor.

Articulation

Tendus, dégagés, frappés, grand battements (balançoire, en cloche, fouetté, etc), soutenu, and retiré, are all battement that brush or press away from the floor. In each of these movements, it is important to remember the role of the feet. I have encountered many beginning dancers that neglect “working through” the foot as the working/gesture leg is disengaged from it’s standing position. Think of the foot as a paintbrush creating a brush stroke on the floor, using the intrinsic muscles of the arch and finally, the toes. This small action will strengthen the foot for jumping and relevé, and helps to “ground” the movement, providing stability, particularly in centre. Stability can also be increased by imagining the standing leg rooted deep into the earth as the working leg moves outward and/or skyward from the midline. The foot also articulates in battements that lift the knee upward, as in retiré/raccourci. Think of this as a one-legged jump, requiring the same roll-thru of the feet. This is great strengthening practice for jumps to come. Similarly in grand battements, I like to remind my students that power and height of the working leg is achieved through sending force into the floor. Much like a rocket ship which propels itself into space by sending heat and energy downward, a dancer must send energy into the floor through the leg and foot to create “lift-off” in grand battements.

This video by Lisa Howell is a useful and clearly explained demonstration of the articulation necessary in tendu.

Isolation and Sustaining the Leg

Battements that do not interact with the floor are a much smaller branch of the family. Still they are an illustrious group. Petites battement sur-le-cou-de-pied and battu reflect the more literal “beating” action of battements. In barre work these movements introduce agility and speed. They require that the knee be lifted away from the body for a sustained period (a preparation for things to come) while also isolating the rapidly moving lower leg from the upper leg. This isolation is important later for all jumps with beats because it encourages stillness or “quiet” in the pelvis and stability in the core while all that fast action is going on below.

A Word on Turnout

In all battement, maintaining turn-out is crucial. Many students struggle with this and it can take years to develop the strength to utilize and maintain turn-out with consistency. One way to “find” or create awareness of turnout in battements is to place the fingertips on the greater trochanter. This is the portion of bone at the outside of the hip joint that you’ll probably feel pressing into the floor when lying on your side. With the fingertips on this protrusion, execute a battement tendu. When properly utilizing your turn-out you will feel the trochanter slip backward but not dip lower or lift higher as you disengage the leg. This exercise may be used as an alternative or supplement to the more commonly taught concept of allowing the heal to lead in tendu.

Each movement within the battement family deserves its own post. Writer Dianne Buxton has added a breakdown of the basics at her Ballet and Pointe Shoes blog:

• Battement tendu
• Grand battement
• Battement frappe
• Battement degage
• Battement fondu

Don’t forget to pick up a good ballet dictionary. It will prove helpful in your study of ballet (and other dance forms) to understand and utilize proper ballet terminology. Once again, I highly recommend the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet.

What are some images that have helped you (or your students) in executing movements in the battement family?

Are there other ways you might categorize or breakdown the various types of battements?

Are there additional resources you’d recommend?

Improving Pirouettes

I was recently asked about some tips on how to improve at multiple pirouettes. I know that lots of students are wanting to know the same thing, so here is my answer:

1. Engaging your abdominal/core muscles is necessary for maintaining good alignment during the turn.
2. Every turn is a balance, so work on balancing in the position in which you want to turn (retiré, a la seconde, etc.)
3. Spot and keep your eyes off the floor (or that’s where you’ll end up).
4. Use only enough push to get around – sometimes a dance student’s biggest downfall in pirouettes is pushing so hard that they throw the turn off.
5. Connect your arms to your back – you should feel width between the shoulder blades and the arms should maintain their position (don’t “wind-up” for a turn)
6. Take off from a properly placed and wide plié for power in the turn.
7. Strengthen your ankles supporting the relevé – if you are wobbly, sickled, or pronated, this will ruin your turn.
8. Make a choice to come down from the turn, don’t let gravity make the choice for you.
9. Visualize yourself doing a beautiful, clean pirouette – it really does help!

Pirouettes are not an easy movement. Anyone can whip themselves around but it takes years of practice (plus a good deal of strength) to perform a proper pirouette. Work hard at the barre and in centre on the fundamentals (plié, relevé, etc.) And, work on getting a good, clean single pirouette first (with a strong grasp on the elements above), then progress to multiples. Don’t give up! If you are working hard, applying your teacher’s corrections, and not letting self-doubt psych you out, you will be able to do multiple pirouettes.

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence.

What are some other tips that you can offer or have been given to you? What do you find most difficult about pirouettes?

What Is My Core or Center?

What is my centre?

An article called Dancing from the Centre, talks about this sometimes confusing term and offers several tips for “finding” your center. This bit that gives some insight about what a teacher usually means when he/she talks of the centre.

I have discovered there are several terms used to talk about this mysterious ‘centre’. Amongst them are: ‘the core’, ‘centre of gravity’ and ‘centre of weight’. When teachers talk about ‘the core’ or ‘the centre’ it has been my finding that they are after an engagement of the abdominal muscles in their students; a muscular engagement that is evidenced both visually and aesthetically in their students’ dancing.

So when your teacher wants you to use your core or center, he/she often means for you to engage your abdominal muscles.”

But what exactly does it mean to engage your abdominals? I’ve used the phrase many times with my own students only to receive blank stares, so let’s talk about it.

How the abdominals engage

Deborah Vogel from The Body Series explains that when you engage the core (or “pull up” another way you might be asked to engage your abdominals in class), your abdominals contract isometrically. This means that rather than a shortening or lengthening contraction of the muscles, the muscles contract but stay the same length.

Like Deb, I use the idea of “lacing up” the abdominals with my own students because it is an image that clicked for me the first time I heard it. Go ahead, try this image now… Really imagine it, use your minds eye to feel the laces crossed over your torso and slowly cinch them inward (not too tight, you should be able to breathe), bringing the abdomen and organs closer to your spine which runs down the center of your body. It may take some practice but eventually this activation of the muscles can become second nature.

By the way, Deborah has some other great resources at her site – check out the Core Stability DVD, and Deborah’s Dancing Smart ebook for more exercises, technique and tips.

How to strengthen the core

The abdominal muscles are very important in dance. More than just the abdominal muscles is involved in truly strengthening “the core” for dance though.

A brief description of the muscle groups (left) that, from an anatomical perspective, form the core can be found here. All of these muscles must be strengthened to enhance your dance technique. Special equipment is not necessarily required, but an understanding of how the body works is key to working more intelligently while you’re in class. The regular use of these muscles during your dance practice should strengthen and train these muscles.

But it doesn’t hurt to work outside of class on this very important muscle group.

• Practice engaging your abdominals as you do daily activities to strengthen and form a habit of supporting movement using your core. Then you can focus on other things as you dance.
• Try these suggestions from Dianne at Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes for core exercise. Make sure your retiré position is properly turned-out and aligned as you do this work (have a teacher check it out if you’re not sure).
• Condition with Pilates. The focus of this method is very much on the core which is why you’ll find dancers of all levels in Pilates classes.

Why is engaging my center or core so important?

What’s the big deal about this magical part of the body? Why is it so important to my dancing? The answer is freedom. Freedom in the arms and legs, the spine, and torso is created when a dancer has control of the space where all of these extremities attach – the center of the body. Freedom comes from strengthening, engaging, and stabilizing the core.

Amber is a blogger and swing dance teacher that recently provided an image to explain the freedom that comes with a strong core, which you might want to think about. I encourage you to read her post for yourself (don’t miss the spaghetti and brick imagery), but she points out that a feather has a solid core which allows it’s feathery arms to move with ease as it glides through space. This isn’t a perfect image (a feather’s core can be a bit stiff), but it does reinforce the idea that your arms, legs, shoulders, hips, neck, and head all have the freedom to do what you will as long as your core is solid. Once you’ve discovered this freedom, your technique will soar.

What do you do to strengthen your core?

What are some other images that helped you find your centre?