Dance: End-of-Class Adjustments
Dance is a wonderful holistic discipline -- we engage our bodies physically, mentally and emotionally, and find joy in our movement. But while dance technique (speaking specifically about ballet, modern and jazz techniques) has many health benefits, some of the specific technical requirements (ballet’s turnout or constant abdominal tension, for example) do not align with what our bodies need to function optimally. It would be okay if we could turn our “dance bodies” ON when we enter class and then turn them OFF at the end, but in reality, much of what we do in class tends to carry over into our daily lives. Ever see dancers walking with their feet turned out? Anyone?
Yes . . . I have. I do it myself . . . but I’m working on it, really! I promise!
What we need is a reminder of how to use our “non-dance bodies” when we’re not in class. A reminder that many of our muscles can relax. A reminder that the rest of our lives are not about “presenting” ourselves to an audience (hopefully).
So, with that in mind, I’ve created a short sequence of movements to reset your body after a technique class. You can use this sequence at the end of every class you take, or every day for more benefit. These reminders and exercises do not have to occur in the order I have presented them, so if all you have time to do during the day is think about dropping your ribs, please do so! And if you are a teacher, consider using this as a cool-down at the end of your classes. The video is about fifteen minutes, but that's because I talk a lot, so once you're familiar with the movement and correct alignment, you could do the whole thing in about ten minutes.
Enjoy!
**A couple of clarifications:
In the video, when I ask you to drop the front of your rib cage, what you are really doing is aligning the fronts of the bottom ribs so that they are directly on top of (not in front of or behind) your hip bones (ASISs for you anatomy/kinesiology fans). When you do this, you may find yourself "slouching" in the chest and shoulders -- that is okay. This is a more complex issue that we won't address here, but just know that realigning the rib cage is super important!
When you align the outside edges of the feet straight forward, you may feel like you are "turned in" or just awkward in the hips. Again, there is more going on here, but we need to get the feet realigned first before we make major adjustments to the hips. So in other words, it will just feel weird!
p.s. Thanks to Sam for being my willing volunteer and demonstrator!