You want to get more flexible for doing the splits. Getting the 180 degree line for a jete or a penche does not come naturally to many dancers. So how do they make it look right?
One of the biggest reliefs I had when I went from amateur to professional training was that hips do not have to be square in a derriere (behind you) position. Including doing the splits.
When I got into professional classes at The National Ballet School of Canada, I was elated to find I could open my working hip. The waist, upper back and shoulders had to stay square, but not the hips. I finally and instantly had a professional looking line in arabesque, attitude, etc. When I explained how I had been taught they said "no one can do that!"
Some people will never do the splits due to hip deformity, and should not over work the issue.
Doing the splits depends on overall hyper-mobility. Not only hamstrings and quads need to be extremely flexible, but your postural muscles, the iliopsoas, needs to be very flexible. Hyper-mobility of the joints (meaning longer stretchy ligaments), is an extra blessing for doing the splits, but creates a lot of problems too.
A professional ballet dancer will do whatever it takes to get a good line in a split jete or penche. Those who cannot do the splits perfectly open the hip more, and sometimes slightly bend the leg so that their foot lines up with the hip, and even though the entire leg is not lined up, the illusion of the splits is seen.
The hard and fast rules of classical ballet training are for safety - to prevent dance injuries. Getting the right line allows for accommodations that skilled teachers know how to teach.
Stretch after your ballet exercises when you are warm. Relax your muscles first. Use a rubber ball to knead out the worst tension. Then stretch gently in correctly aligned positions. You will improve your muscle flexibility, and you may end up doing the splits. But if you never do, it is not going to kill a dance career.
Here is a wonderful DVD produced by a dance expert, Deborah Vogel which will help you get more flexible. It is excellent for non-dancers too.
Showing posts with label ballet tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet tips. Show all posts
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Hyper-extended Knees - Understand Them Before You Dance In Pointe Shoes
Hyper-extended knees - I will help you learn how to build strength and how to hold the legs correctly. Understanding neutral spine, neutral leg, and understanding the support system of your core muscles is vital. Every ballet exercise requires a neutral standing leg. Dancing in pointe shoes, especially, requires a strong neutral leg and perfect alignment.
Explaining a neutral leg, in the first few classes, is as important as explaining a neutral spine, whatever words the teacher uses. (Unless there are no hyper-extended legs in the class, this is necessary).
A neutral leg is: knee above the ankle bone, pelvis above the knees. A line drawn down through a photo of you standing, taken from the side, should reveal a postural plumb line, from the center of the skull, neck, spine (through your natural curves), pelvis, through the knees and ankles, or just in front of the ankles, depending where you rested your weight.
With over-straight legs, the knees stretch back behind this line. While this curving out at the back of the knees is an admired line in a dancer's gesture leg, it causes many problems in a standing leg.
First you tackle the feeling of the legs being bent, when held in a straight position. However, in this straight position it is much easier to hold the turnout and have the pelvis in a neutral position where you can build strength in your center.
When the knees rest back in hyper-extension, the thighs turn in, and often the pelvis tucks under. Now you have compromised the safety of your low back. (In this position you may develop bulky thighs and bulky hip muscles). From here you destabilize your balance. You can compensate for this distortion in many ways in soft shoes, to a degree.
When you get into pointe shoes, all kinds of problems will show up, if they haven't already.
If you are a few years into training, it's extra work, it's reprogramming neural pathways. But most dancers do this all the time as they progress through their training and careers.
There is also a lot of talk about overdeveloping the quads or inside knee muscles, or some other deformity, because of holding the leg straight. Not so. If your pelvis is neutral, you can use your muscles properly. You don't need to grip or clench.
You want your thighs pulled up long. You want a feeling of pushing down through the center of your leg bones into the floor. And imagine a space between your hip bones and the top of your thighs. You will achieve a real lengthening by doing this, your deep lower abs will pull up and in nicely, and now your core muscles are supporting the length you want.
You will be able to hold your turnout and have a strong supporting leg. When you get into pointe shoes, you will have your body aligned well, over that tiny point on the floor.
Always remember in your ballet stretching, to relax and lengthen all your muscles. Use a soft rubber ball to knead the muscles, leaning on a wall, or use it with the floor. Deborah Vogel demonstrates this on her DVD as to how to get more flexible and release tension.
Get a guide with expert ballet tips for working with hyper-extended knees.
Explaining a neutral leg, in the first few classes, is as important as explaining a neutral spine, whatever words the teacher uses. (Unless there are no hyper-extended legs in the class, this is necessary).
A neutral leg is: knee above the ankle bone, pelvis above the knees. A line drawn down through a photo of you standing, taken from the side, should reveal a postural plumb line, from the center of the skull, neck, spine (through your natural curves), pelvis, through the knees and ankles, or just in front of the ankles, depending where you rested your weight.
With over-straight legs, the knees stretch back behind this line. While this curving out at the back of the knees is an admired line in a dancer's gesture leg, it causes many problems in a standing leg.
First you tackle the feeling of the legs being bent, when held in a straight position. However, in this straight position it is much easier to hold the turnout and have the pelvis in a neutral position where you can build strength in your center.
When the knees rest back in hyper-extension, the thighs turn in, and often the pelvis tucks under. Now you have compromised the safety of your low back. (In this position you may develop bulky thighs and bulky hip muscles). From here you destabilize your balance. You can compensate for this distortion in many ways in soft shoes, to a degree.
When you get into pointe shoes, all kinds of problems will show up, if they haven't already.
If you are a few years into training, it's extra work, it's reprogramming neural pathways. But most dancers do this all the time as they progress through their training and careers.
There is also a lot of talk about overdeveloping the quads or inside knee muscles, or some other deformity, because of holding the leg straight. Not so. If your pelvis is neutral, you can use your muscles properly. You don't need to grip or clench.
You want your thighs pulled up long. You want a feeling of pushing down through the center of your leg bones into the floor. And imagine a space between your hip bones and the top of your thighs. You will achieve a real lengthening by doing this, your deep lower abs will pull up and in nicely, and now your core muscles are supporting the length you want.
You will be able to hold your turnout and have a strong supporting leg. When you get into pointe shoes, you will have your body aligned well, over that tiny point on the floor.
Always remember in your ballet stretching, to relax and lengthen all your muscles. Use a soft rubber ball to knead the muscles, leaning on a wall, or use it with the floor. Deborah Vogel demonstrates this on her DVD as to how to get more flexible and release tension.
Get a guide with expert ballet tips for working with hyper-extended knees.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Ballet Versus Football Or A Pas De Deux Without Pointe Shoes?
Many people think that ballet is only heavily stylized dancing, and that especially male dancers are not very strong outside of their art. However, it is actually a complicated practice that involves advanced physics and mathematical principles. Although the years of ballet exercises allows the dancers to make it look effortless, it is an extremely difficult, disciplined, and enchanting art form. "American football is a sport hardly known for its grace and poise, but many players have swapped their pads for points, to do ballet."
Ballet is actually the foundation of most western dance forms, since ballet teaches good work habits, and a safe technique that enables the dancers to perform for many years with less chance of injury.
The graceful dance moves and combinations of movements in classical choreography are taught nowadays with increasing awareness of movement analysis. Correct ballet moves involve the elements of physics in terms balance, center of gravity, leverage and rotational mechanics among others.
The result of accurate ballet training is the ability to balance in a complex position, over a small area and support on the floor. Such as the tiny platform of the pointe shoe.
Physically, in ballet a condition of balance exists when a dancer retains her/his postural plumb line both in a motionless pose, or while moving on a vertical line.
"American football is a sport hardly known for its grace and poise, but many players have swapped their pads for points, to do ballet. Ballet dancers are renowned for their agility; they are able to leap, land and turn with, well... with balletic grace. This has led researchers and sports team players and coaches to experiment with ballet and other dance forms as a conditioning method. Superbowl winner and former top high-hurdler Willie Gault was one such player who believed his on-field performance and resistance to injury was enhanced by ballet. Ballet has in fact been used within American football since the 1970s."
The entire article is here: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/can-athletes-dance-their-way-to-agility.
If a dancer's or football player's center of gravity isn't in line with other equilibrium state forces, they will be unbalanced and experience an angular acceleration towards the ground, causing them to fall to one side.
Turning movements are common in all forms of dance, which also requires a great deal of physical, as well as scientific awareness that helps achieve the mastery of a perfect turn, or, pirouette. Football players rely on well-trained reflexes to dodge, spin suddenly, maintaining balance and speed. Ballet training enhances these abilities. It also breaks down many basic movements football players use, allowing them to understand how to prevent muscle and joint injuries.
"Ballet versus football" might be more correctly referred to as a pas de deux in training forms for many athletes.
If you are a football player in training and want to see some of the most strength building basic ballet exercises these ballet tips will tell you all you need to start. It is written by a physiotherapist and will train you for injury prevention.
Ballet is actually the foundation of most western dance forms, since ballet teaches good work habits, and a safe technique that enables the dancers to perform for many years with less chance of injury.
The graceful dance moves and combinations of movements in classical choreography are taught nowadays with increasing awareness of movement analysis. Correct ballet moves involve the elements of physics in terms balance, center of gravity, leverage and rotational mechanics among others.
The result of accurate ballet training is the ability to balance in a complex position, over a small area and support on the floor. Such as the tiny platform of the pointe shoe.
Physically, in ballet a condition of balance exists when a dancer retains her/his postural plumb line both in a motionless pose, or while moving on a vertical line.
"American football is a sport hardly known for its grace and poise, but many players have swapped their pads for points, to do ballet. Ballet dancers are renowned for their agility; they are able to leap, land and turn with, well... with balletic grace. This has led researchers and sports team players and coaches to experiment with ballet and other dance forms as a conditioning method. Superbowl winner and former top high-hurdler Willie Gault was one such player who believed his on-field performance and resistance to injury was enhanced by ballet. Ballet has in fact been used within American football since the 1970s."
The entire article is here: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/can-athletes-dance-their-way-to-agility.
If a dancer's or football player's center of gravity isn't in line with other equilibrium state forces, they will be unbalanced and experience an angular acceleration towards the ground, causing them to fall to one side.
Turning movements are common in all forms of dance, which also requires a great deal of physical, as well as scientific awareness that helps achieve the mastery of a perfect turn, or, pirouette. Football players rely on well-trained reflexes to dodge, spin suddenly, maintaining balance and speed. Ballet training enhances these abilities. It also breaks down many basic movements football players use, allowing them to understand how to prevent muscle and joint injuries.
"Ballet versus football" might be more correctly referred to as a pas de deux in training forms for many athletes.
If you are a football player in training and want to see some of the most strength building basic ballet exercises these ballet tips will tell you all you need to start. It is written by a physiotherapist and will train you for injury prevention.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)