Alignment: Developing a Strong Foundation

"When you find that your life is out of alignment with your grandest idea of yourself, seek to change it." -Neale Donald Walsch

         A contractor would never try to build on an unstable infrastructure, yet each day dancers attempt multiple pirouettes and complicated combinations upon misaligned bodies that provide a shaky foundation.

         Correct body alignment allows for efficient muscle use, encourages a less bound and more relaxed approach to movement, reduces the risk of injury, and contributes to ease of movement.

         Whenever a dancer has difficulty with balance or executing a step, which he or she should be strong enough to do, it is important to first observe his or her body alignment.  Just as a building will weaken if there is a crack in the foundation, the body is weakened by misalignment.

         Before each class a dancer needs to re-establish a strong base by being certain that all five toes are flat on the floor.  Body weight should be equally distributed on each foot in a triangular pattern formed by the base of the big toe, the heel, and the base of the pinky toe.  The ankle should be lifted so that the base of the tibia is not rolling forward and causing the foot to pronate, or roll inward.  Subsequently, the knee joint should be centered over the ankle, and the hip joint should be centered over the knee.  The base of the ribcage should be in line with the pelvis while the sternum is lifted and the shoulders rest on the body, similar to how frosting rests upon a cake.  The neck should be lengthened with the head lifting as if it were a helium-filled balloon.

         Dancers are often told to “pull up their centers” which often causes a disconnect between the upper and lower halves and the front and back halves of the body. When a dancer “pulls up” the stomach, the tendency is to “sit” or relax into the back of the hips and open the ribcage, resulting in a swayed back.  Dancers engage their abdominal muscles, tuck the pelvis, and hyperextend their legs and believe they are properly aligned.

         This ideology results in gripping muscles instead of lengthening them, stressing ligaments instead of strengthening muscles, and skeletal misalignment.

         Instead, dancers need to think of the ankle being lifted by the patella, or kneecap, and the leg being lengthened by the pelvis lifting and lengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings.  Dancers also need to remember to lengthen the back of the torso as well as the front as if the entire upper body were being sucked up through a straw.  Additionally, it is important for dancers to lengthen through the front and back of the neck equally to avoid the turtling of the head that often occurs.

         Simply thinking about dance posture differently will help align the body, engage the muscles in a different way, and produce a lengthening of the body which will increase the efficiency of movement, improve mechanics and balance, and lead to healthy dancing.

        

Cooling Down After Class - Does It Serve Any Purpose?

"If you don't take care of your body, where will you live?" - Author Unknown

        The broad music begins, the grand allegro has been shown, and dancers begin soaring through the air performing saute de chats, grand pas de chats, and tour jetés.  After traveling across the floor, they return to line to perform the combination once more.  The breathing is audible, and the dancers’ faces are flushed.  Their hearts are beating quicker, they are breathing harder and faster, the increased frequency of heart contractions have pumped blood faster through their arteries, and their blood pressures have risen.

            All too often, class time runs out and movement draws to a complete stop.  The teacher dismisses the class, the students bow, clap, and quickly exit the studio to make room for the next class. 

            In order to stay healthy and minimize the stress on the body, it is important for all dancers to learn about the benefits of a cool-down.  Just as the warm-up prepares the body for what is to come, the cool-down slowly returns the body to the pre-exercise, resting state.

            A cool-down is a gradual decrease in activity that allows the heart rate and the breathing, or respiratory, rate to gradually slow down and return to normal.  As this slowing occurs, blood circulation also gradually slows.  Without this gradual decrease in activity, a quick drop in heart rate will decrease the pressure in the arteries rapidly.  This sudden drop in blood pressure can cause dizziness and fainting.

            A simple exercise performed at the end of class, similar to a reverence, that incorporates a gradual slowing down of the body is all that is needed.  The exercise might include grand pliés in second position, slow head circles, slow reaches or circles with arms and stretching.  A cool-down is an ideal time for dancers to work on flexibility and range of motion.  The muscles are now completely warm and will not be required to perform any more explosive activities, providing the perfect time for static stretches to be held for 20-30 seconds.  While stretching, the internal temperature of the muscles gradually decreases and, therefore, reduces the chances that muscles will cramp or go into spasm upon leaving the studio.  Muscle cramping becomes a bigger concern during cold, winter months when warm bodies move out into the cold air.  Muscles, like everything else, contract when cooled and will do so quicker when moving from one extreme temperature to another.

            The cool-down takes no longer than 5 minutes at the end of class and provides the benefits of decreasing some of the stress exercise puts on the body, avoids dizziness or fainting, assists in developing range of motion, and helps decrease muscle spasms and cramping after class. 

            If time does not allow for a cool-down in class, each dancer should take responsibility for the health of his or her body and perform an individual cool-down, including stretching.  It will take only a few minutes out of the day, but will keep you dancing healthier, and your body will thank you for it!