Body Placement: Its Alignment and Dynamics
The Body as a Whole
You might have noticed that when you correct a student’s placement a number of things can happen:
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The correction throws another area out of placement;
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Within a short time the student acts like you never said anything to them;
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They interpret your instructions incorrectly.
This is a common occurrence for most teachers. What is usually missing is knowing what to correct when, and what not to correct. Yes, I said "not to correct". By this I mean there are certain dynamics to body placement and alignment that cannot be achieved through a direct approach, but must grow through the student’s development in other areas. Teachers usually do not like this approach because they do not have direct control over this type of work. With any true organic maturation there will be many things that seem to happen naturally, though when you look closely you will see that this growth has come about through an indirect approach. (We will discuss what not to correct in another article in the near future).
When a student is having a difficult time mastering body placement, it usually comes from a disorganized set of rules that they have come by through a hit or miss strategy. Now this could be the way they understand the teacher’s instruction, the way the teacher delivered their instructions, or, more probable, the foundation which was laid in the beginning of their training does not adequately support future technical advances.
What we will look at in this month’s issue is how to enable students to build superb body placement. But before we can begin we must develop between us a common terminology so that the information below can be used effectively. After you briefly review the terminology we will begin with the basic structure and dynamics that will make all other body placement much simpler and easy to accomplish.
The Terminology
I have found it easier to teach body placement by grouping parts of the body into three major areas: The Upper Torso, The Lower Torso, and The Legs. Here is what I include in each of these areas (the Latin terminology is provided in case you (or I) need to refer to more specific areas):
The Upper Torso consists of the upper back (trapezius, spine of VII cervical vertebra -neck), the lower back (sacrospinalis), the shoulder blades (teres major, latissimus dorsi), the arms (biceps, triceps, deltoid, extensors & flexors of the forearm), the upper rib cage (serratus magnus) and the stomach (external oblique, rectus abdominis).
The Lower Torso consists of the lower stomach (rectus abdominis, aponeurosis of external oblique), the hips (gluteus medius), the buttocks (gluteus maximus, trochanter major), the inner buttocks (abductor magnus).
The Legs consists of the outer thigh (vastus externus, ilio-tibial band, rectus femoris), the inner thigh (semitendinosus, semimembranosus, abductor longus, satorius, gracilis), the knee (ligamentum patellae, head of fibula, popliteal fossa, tibia and femur lateral condyle), the calf (gastrocnemius), the achilles (tendon achilles), the inner foot (sole pad, abductor hallusis), the ankle (or top of foot) (tendon - tibialis anterior & extensor digitorium, extensor hallicus brevis), the outer foot (abductor digiti quinti).
The Basics: First Things First
The first consideration when beginning to establish a firm foundation for the dancer’s body placement is how the upper torso, buttocks, inner thigh and inner foot interlace and connect to make the body strong and supple.
First, the inner foot must be lifted off the floor by pressing down the large toe. This should shift the weight of the body more towards the outside of the foot and distribute the weight equally across the sole pad. As the student gains strength they should be encouraged to slightly shift their weight from their heel to the ball of the foot. This technique will take some time for the student to accomplish. Its accomplishment, though, needs to become automatic…that is, they must become unaware that they are doing it. Without this basic and difficult control of the foot, all other body placement will suffer.
If the foot and ankle wobble, or roll in, the dancer’s hips and inner thighs will have no stable support to push against and turn-out will suffer. A solid turning out of the legs is crucial for all technical achievement. Without the strength to turn-out, the upper torso will have to take much of the burden of balance and will never gain the aplomb the dancer is trying to achieve.
Second, the inner thigh must press forward and outward. This is done by pressing the large toe against the floor, lifting the inner foot off the floor, and squeezing the buttocks in towards each other by a rotation movement. Deep within the lower part of the buttocks and upper inner thighs there is a muscle called the abductor longus. The dancer needs to press forward and together this muscle on both legs to enable the inner thighs to pull forward. This takes some skill to accomplish and but imperative for any step that requires the dancer to leave the floor, such as large allegro movements.
To assist the inner thighs, the buttocks should press together with moderate strength. This has a two fold effect. The upper section of the buttocks place a firm pressure around the sacrum (the section of bones at the base of the spine), which gives the dancer a solid connection between the torso and legs. The lower section of the buttocks, the closest near the abductor longus, assist the inner thighs in their forward rotation movement. This action is usually referred to as ‘turn-out’. (Below I will give you my short definition of the term ‘turn-out).
Third, the lower torso must be held erect from the hips to just below the sternum, and the upper torso arches slightly up and backwards. If this position is new to a dancer, they may complain that it feels as if they are falling or leaning backwards. Of course it will seem as if they are falling backward. For most people the alignment desired for walking, or even sitting, is to lean the shoulders forward. This may be O.K. for normal movement, but for a dancer who requires great physical control over their movements it is inadequate.
The upper body and upper back are where much of the dancer’s movement control will come from. This is especially true for both female and male engaged in partnering. The upper back, more specifically the teres major and latissimus dorsi must expand away from each other, the trapezius flatten and press downward, and the teres major must roll underneath the shoulders. When doing this the VII cervical vertebrae should press back and upwards. At the same time the rib cage must compress downwards and together. This action is simulated by the action of exhaling air from your lungs. All these movements combine to give the upper body a slightly arched effect, as if the chest was seemingly facing the ceiling. During all of this, the lower back must stay erect and flat without any arching. In fact, the arching I describe should start no lower than where the shoulder blades are.
Dance movements are primarily isometric in nature. The floor can be used to push against and to steady the body. But when a dancer is in the air there is nothing external to push against -- the stability must come from within the dancer's own body. This becomes more apparent when large allegro movements are introduced. Thus, the three main body areas discussed above, with proper strength and conditioning, will be the foundation from which the dancer builds all their future technical strength and grace.
For the beginning dancer it is enough if they first learn how to lift their inner foot and squeeze their buttocks together. Concentration on the upper torso can be tackled only after they have acquire enough mastery and strength to stand comfortably on one foot. Once a beginner can stand on one foot easily they have reached a point where the teacher can start to apply more details in the upper body work. Until then, their upper body strength can be built by giving exercises using all the épaulement positions - croisé, effacé, and écarté, (in the pose - pointe tendue), both en arrière and en avant.
Turn-out: Verb or Noun
Students, dancers and teachers often speak of a dancer being ‘turned-out’as if the position was static (or otherwise refer to it as a noun). By this I am sure they are referring to the action of the legs being rotated outwards. I have also heard a great many dancers complain about how much turn-out is needed, and that some dancers have an easier time with this difficult aspect of dancing. I consider turn-out to be more of a verb, by that I mean an action as opposed to a static position. This view places emphasis on the active engagement of the muscles to achieve leg rotation rather than on the actual degree of rotation achieved.
What a dancer is trying to achieve with turn-out, beyond the aesthetics of the art, is the stability this provides (especially when executing turns or jumps). What is important, though, is not the degree of turn-out, but the strength required to keep the action of turning out a constant one. I have known dancers who have extraordinary turn-out but cannot execute turns or jumps with the same level of extraordinariness. Why is that? It could be that since they have great turn-out they do not feel the need to be engaging the muscles needed to turn out the leg. When a dancer is not constantly turning out the legs, they lose the tensile strength needed to control the hip area, and thereby lose mastery of the upper torso where all movement control resides.
Some dancers do have a hip structure that allows a generous amount of leg rotation, whereas other dancers, especially males, have much less rotation. The key is how well one uses the turn-out available to them. When I demonstrate this by doing 6 to 8 pirouettes ( they can see how very little natural turn-out I have) my students begin to understand this point. Not only do they begin to understand, but one more ‘I-am-not-good-enough’ conversation is eliminated and they begin to develop powerful body dynamics.
Remember - it is not how much turn-out you have, but how you use what you have. Turn-out is a constant action that must be instilled throughout a dancer’s technical training.