Body Alignment
Body Alignment
In the context of dance, alignment means proper posture, and it is the foundation of good technique. With proper alignment, the head, torso, arms and legs work together as a whole, moving and posing gracefully.
If one of the elements of the body is out of proper alignment, the others will overcompensate, eventually leading to injury, and also making the whole presentation less appealing visually. As a beginner, you must really focus on alignment, above all else. That said, be gentle with yourself and do not expect to get this perfectly right away.
To find alignment, begin by standing in parallel (both feet with toes facing forward and heels facing back), then turn your feet out to first position (keep heels touching and rotate the toes out to the shape of a V). Feel and check in the mirror for:
- Head centered on top of the spine
- Eyes front, looking slightly up
- Neck naturally stretches up
- Shoulders push down
- Chest is straight, slightly pushing out
- Abdominals engage and push towards spine
- Hips are squared and level to each other
- Legs rotate out from the hip socket
- Pelvis is centered
- Tailbone drops down slightly
- Knees are lifted by the quads, which are muscularly engaged, not hyperextended at the knee
- Ankles are engaged and lifted
- All toes are firmly on the floor and extended fully, not bunched up
- The weight of the body is distributed throughout the foot
- Arms hang down in front in a controlled manner
- Elbows lift outwards and up
- The hands are relaxed and gracefully posed
As you will see, this posture makes you appear taller, confident and in control of your body, but also looks effortless. this should also include a serene, intelligent facial expression. Do not let any nervousness or doubt show on your face.
All of this this a lot to remember, and do not expect to get all of it right, right away. If you did not study ballet as a child, this level of connection with every part of your body might seem overwhelming at the least, but trust me, once you get it, it becomes part of you.
A good way to ease into it is to start from top to bottom, and make sure you get one part right during a class, then two the next class, and so on and so forth. For example, during your very first class, keep your awareness on your head and neck; make sure your head is properly centered and your neck is elongated. Also, since your face is on your head, work on maintaining a neutral expression on your face, one that is devoid of any grimace of effort. Don't worry, later you can work on character, but at the beginning, the most important thing to learn is to not show any distress, doubt, or unease. This will be incredibly helpful to you, once you learn it, outside of the ballet classroom and in real life. Keeping this level of poise while doing the challenging moves in ballet class, will make it easier for you to translate that into situations outside the classroom and remained composed and elegant in presentation.
As an adult, remember that your turnout (the ability to rotate the leg outward from the hips) will be less than perfect. it is ok to feel a slight pull in the hips when you stand in first position, but if it is too uncomfortable and you can hold it, turn in a bit until you feel more at ease. You should be able to move in the first position, so do not over-force that turn out.
Special thanks to Brenna from Opelika Ballet Academy for giving me the "drawstrings" analogy during a lesson to describe the bracing of the core. I have found it extremely useful! Watch my description in the video!