Giving students, teachers, and parents an edge in dance education
The way that a dancer carries his/her head, the length of the neck, and the position of the chin, are pivotal to the overall appearance of grace and poise so necessary in dance. Understand the cervical spine and how it functions to project self-confidence, and improve common mistakes in cambré and carriage of the head.
While the image of a rubber band is useful in demonstrating the elastic nature of muscles in the stretch reflex, it’s not always as simple as the stretch/recoil and stretch-farther/less-recoil that we gain from thinking of muscles simply as rubber bands.
“As dancers we face our reflection so much that you would think we know what we look like. We spend hours every day in front of a mirror in nothing more than skin tight clothing and a skirt if we are lucky. But I have found that the opposite is true. Most of us have a distorted idea of our image.”
Since dance is the art of motion, in order to become a proficient dancer one must understand how the body moves from the inside; how the muscles and bones work to leap, turn, kick, stretch and fold. A pretty sophisticated idea for a young dancer. Since learning is a layered experience, introducing the concepts of anatomy now will allow them to build upon this foundation in the future.
If you are stretching with the goal of long-term changes in your flexibility (for example, you can’t do the splits and would like to), save your stretching routine for after class or between barre and center when your muscles are “warm.” Generally speaking, both of the stretching techniques above have acute (short-lasting) effects on your range of motion before activity, but don’t really increase your overall flexibility.
“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. How can you correct a sinking hip and what are some ways to rephrase this common dance teacher-ism.
When I received Amy’s question about pain in developpé below, my instinct was to help yet, I was not confident that I was fully equipped to assess what might be happening with Amy. So, I did what I would have for any student who had a problem I could not work out – I took her question to someone more knowledgeable than I – Deb Vogel, a neuromuscular educator and movement analyst who has been working with dancers for years.
When it comes to stretching and splits some dancers place intense emphasis on achieving the ideal static position, forgetting that this type of flexibility is only part of the picture. They compromise the health of their instrument – the body – as they push to extremes to get results, and get results fast.
The iliopsoas is the only muscle (well, technically group of muscles) that attaches to the spine, pelvis, and femur (or, thigh). The three muscles which make up the iliopsoas are deep, running very near the spine and beneath other major muscle groups. Therefore, awareness of the iliopsoas must come through visualization.
Links, Links, Links! Dance articles and sites you don’t want to miss!
Dancers of all disciplines struggle with body image. It is a reality that is sometimes exploited or aggrandized in the media yet ignored or aggravated by those that have a direct impact in the lives of dancers. Elena Ciccotelli is a new blogger but long-time dancer. In addition to her experience as a personal trainer [...]
two women from opposite sides of the world who have a similar vision and purpose- that is to educate dancers and teachers, arming them with information to improve the quality of health and understanding of the body in dance education and practice.
