I am always very aware of my alignment in ballet as having the precision of holding the body is what gives you stability, improves agility and is a healthier way of carrying the body, helping improve performance from the inside out. I can identify in my body when I am properly aligned as it feels easier to execute movement more efficiently and enjoyabley. When performing pirouettes for example, if my body is correctly aligned with the back lengthened, shoulders held into the back, knees turned out over the toes in preparation to turn, I can feel confident that I can excecute single, double or even triple turns easily but even more impressively I can feel as I go around the sensations of the body working as one.
I found an article listing the seven deadly sins of ballet technique, Poon, Kina. "The seven deadly technique sins." Dance Magazine Jan. 2008: 86+. This has given me a definitive list of her opinion of what not do in balley and why not to, it has been an interesting read while recognising traits of them in myself, or not as the case may be. She explores in extensive detail the negatives of these sins and how to better yourself by solving them, I decided to go through and give my interpretation of her sins and explore how my body handles these faults.
- Rolling in - The rolling in of the knees and feet to increase turnout can have devastating effects in terms of injury. The knee joint is not designed to rotate so forcing creates stress on the joint leading to cartilegde being worn away giving long term damage and a great deal of pain. Turn out is an active posistion and it is when you relax into a posistion that problems occur. Personally this has never been an issue in my learning, however I am constantly pushing my turnout outward from the inner thighs muscles, hamstrings and hip area to avoid twisting and rolling. Wotrking in ths way also increases the muscle strength in these parts of the legs, strengthening my inner thighs was one of my goals for the term and by focusing this practice I can feel that they are stronger and working more effectively as I can control them and sense their place more than in September.
- Misaligning the spine - This can be a weak point for me as I have a bad habit of lifting the base of the spine upwards creating an arch in the back by splaying the ribs forward, especially when excetuing plies and ron de jons at the barre. I have to really concentrating on lengthening through the lumbar of the spine and tailbone while thinking of lifting through the top to create the extended, lengthened spine we come to associate with ballet, I have found that doing sit ups before class helps me to be connected with my centre so that when it comes to execution I already have a focused energy on that area making it easier to lift the naval and control the upper and lower body connection. Misalignment of the spine can cause to back pain especially in the lower back as this is a place that usually overcompensates for other parts of the spines lacking, a common problem is people have a tendancy to slouch the shoulders forward putting pressure on the thoracic part of the spines vertebrae. In dance misalignment of the spine can lead to a higher risk of injury as you cannot support the limbs that hang around the spine effectively, in ballet the spine is paramount in emphasising a dancers long lines throughout the body and provides an image of grace and ellagance.
- Clenching the toes - In ballet a foundation for the movement is the precise articulation of the feet, they are the base of movement providing stability, working with the ankles and knees to ground the body to floor performing series of plies, releves and jumps in space. By clenching the toes the transversal arch becomes disconnected from the floor creating instabilty meaning the ankle muscles attempt to stabilise, however, as with overcompensation in any part of the body this leads to injury in the muscles, tendons and joints in the ankle and knee. I used to have problems with this when I first came to university but over time I have trained myself out of this technical sin, at times where my concentration lapses or my body is tired I can sometimes slip back into this habit but I am constantly pushing to the lengthen through the toes to allow for longer lines through the leg.
- Hyperextension - I have what are known as "sway-back" knees, this is where my knees hyperextend backwards past the line of the hips and ankles, it is only slight but leaves me prone to knee pain due to the pulling of tendons in the front of the knee and twisted knees. Some ballet schools actually prefer students to have hyperextended legs as it appears to flatter the arch of the foot in arabesque posistions and tondus. It must be carefully monitored to prevent injury as dancers with this condition are likely to have weak outside rotation muscles, this is definitely true to myself, which can negatively impact a dancers alignment of the legs. Even in basic moves such as a roll down to the floor with straight legs I have to conciously not lock my knees to their full capacity otherwise it puts strain on the back of the knees, assuring my weight is forward over the toes is also crucial in preventing injury.
- Unnecessary tension - Tension in the body makes it more prone to injury and unnessarily tightens the muscles in the arms, regular focused breathing through the body can relax the muscles and give the body a full free range of movement. Relaxing the body also helps give movement a ground, natural, free flowing quality. Tension can be a natural reaction to being asked to balance and a way of trying to force stability in the body when in fact it has the opposite effect making the body work harder to create stability. Generally I find this not to be a problem in technique and if I have an tension
- Pinching the shoulderblades - Pinching the shoulder blades has never really been an issue as I have little flexibilty in my shoulder muscles and to pinch them at back would take a great deal of effort and would cause the ribs to extend forward very uncomfortably, in comparison I have more of an issue with relaxing the shoulder blades down the back as opposed to directing them inward. This deadly sin can sometimes be advised by teachers as a method of opening the chest and presenting the collar bones forward, however, repeatedly practicing in this way firstly restricts the movement available in the back as the upper and middle spine are locked into holding the shoulders in posistion and can cause the serratus anterior to over develop and stretch too far causing them restricted movement in the rib cage also.
- Losing the drive - There are so many different ways of exploring the body whether that be in dance technique, yoga, shiatzu or other experimental movement therapys variety is the spice of life and each technique can offer some new information about that can help you develop the body and help you learn more about your bodys sensations, limits and offerings. I hope that I never lose the drive to explore and better myself, I know right now that I find every class in any style thoroughly interesting as I discover new patterns within myself, approaching each day with an open mind and open heart, that is what drives me to keep learning whether it's through technique class or reading, the more information the better.
All pictures from
Poon, Kina. "The seven deadly technique sins." Dance Magazine Jan. 2008: 86+. Infotrac Collection of Full Text E-Journals. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
