The Physics of Ballet- 3 things you need to Achieve Balance

Balance is an important aspect of Ballet.  It is critical to the proper execution of steps and the maintenance of energy through out a performance.  Without balance, the quality of a dancer's movement is severely impaired.  To achieve balance, one must understand the concepts of Physics that govern this phenomena.

Equilibrium

In scientific parlance,  Balance is called Equilibrium.  This is defined as the absence of a net Force in the system, meaning the dancer is not moved by any force in any direction.  Expanding this further, equilibrium in the stronger form includes the absence of a net Torque (a Force acting at a distance from a point of rotation) in the system. This means the dancer is not influenced by a rotational phenomenon.

In Ballet, the issue is really in the area of rotation.  A skilled dancer is able to prevent his/her tipping sideways, forward or backward when posing on one leg.  This is also the case when executing turns, the dancer wants to execute movement along the vertical axis without any rotation in the horizontal ( aka tipping or leaning).  To achieve this, we have to gain a proper understanding of the Center of Mass.

Center of Mass

The Center of Mass is a point of a system that can represent all its equivalent mass.  This is dependent on the weight distribution and geometry of a body.  In the case of a dancer,  the Center of Mass is located at the center lower abdomen above the pubis.  If a leg is lifted to the side a la seconde the Center of Mass shifts toward the extended leg.  When lifting the leg to the back in Arabesque, the Center of Mass shifts towards the front as the leg pushes the torso forward.

While the positioning of the limbs play a big role in the position of the Center of Mass, there are other finer aspects that play important roles.  For one the stability of the internal organs influence the stability of the Center of Mass particularly during turns.  The alignment and stability of the spine also plays a very important role in balance.  To achieve this,  the dancer has to activate the Abdominal muscles particularly the Transversus Abdominis.  This requires  frequent abdominal exercise to condition the abdominals to be contracted for sustained periods. Arms and head positions also have non-negligible effects to the Center of Mass.

Center of Support

Another important concept critical to Balance is the Center of Support.  This is defined as the point which represents all the forces that hold the body up.  When standing on 2 legs with equal weight distribution, the Center of Support is half way of the distance between the 2 legs.  If the dancer leans to one leg, the center of support will move toward the leg supporting more weight.  When one leg is lifted, the center of support is entirely on the supporting leg.  Furthermore, it is confined to the area of contact with the floor.  The Center of Support decreases as one moves from a flat foot to a demi pointe and eventually to full pointe.


Alignment

To achieve Balance, the Center of Support has to be aligned with the Center of Mass.
In dance, the challenge of Balance is usually not the presence of uncontrolled force.  Instead it is the presence of unwanted Torque.    The point of rotation is the Center of Support.  The point of  action of the Gravitational Force (aka Weight) is the Center of Mass.  To eliminate torque and achieve balance, both Centers have to be completely aligned.  While some are able to Balance without complete alignment, they do so with much energy lost as they have to compensate with the excess Torque.

In the leg alone, there are 4 vulnerability points as far as alignment is concerned: 1.) The toes 2.) The ankle 3.) The knees and 4.) The hip joint.  By coaching the dancer to push out the arches of her feet, we usually achieve the alignment at the 1st 3 of the vulnerability points.  The hip joint is trained by Cambre exercises and other conditioning regimen for the hip flexors.

At the end of the of it all, Balance is something a dancer achieves by trial and error.    Learning these concepts will give a good framework to try things out more efficiently.  It does however still require experimentation to tailor fit these concepts into the unique body one has.

To learn more about Ballet join our classes:

 Breathe, Solenad 1, Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna - MWF 4:20-5:50 (ages 9 and up)
                                                                              W 3-4, Sat 11-12nn ( ages 4-8)

Life 'N Arts, Blk 33 Lot 2 Ph 1, San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa, Laguna - T, Sat 3:30- 4:30pm ( ages 4-8)
                                                                                                                      T 6-7pm/Sat 2-3:30pm ( ages 9 and up)

model : Alexandra Gabrielle Obordo, Acts Manila @ Breathe, Solenad 1 , Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna

Teaching Creativity and Improvisation to Young Dancers - Structured Mirroring with Successions

For the last three weeks I have been working with my students on Mirroring.  The goal is to introduce them to the practice of improvisation in the hopes of developing their ability to express themselves beyond mere technique of Classical vocabulary.

The first week we did our mirroring, I had my students find a  movement phrase by exploring  a door frame with their extremities.  They then rehearsed these phrases and used these as the basis of their phrase when leading the mirroring exercise.  On the second week, I had them start our in a similar fashion looking for a movement phrase from a door frame.  When we did our mirroring exercise, I introduced the concept of variation. I had the leader repeat a phrase 3 times and instructed the follower to vary segments of the phrase according to height, direction,etc.

This week, I had the dancers create their phrases as they were doing the mirror.  The movement they had was completely unrehearsed.  As they got the hang of it,  the concept of succession was introduced.  The leader was instructed to do a segment of a phrase in sharp sudden movement followed by a pause.  The follower then followed the phrase segment to the best of his/her ability.
 
After  a few tries, I introduced my dancers to structured innovation.  I instructed them to start mirroring from one side of the room moving across to the opposite side.  At a certain point, the dancers were to do mirroring with variations and at another point the mirroring with successions.  Below is a video of their first stab at structured improvisation.

Ballet Steps for the Young Dancer - The Five Basic Positions of the Feet

Ballet has a rich tradition spanning more than 400 years.  Over the course of it's history,  it has gone through constant innovation and experimentation that has resulted in tried and true practices for the art of dance.  The techniques codified in Ballet syllabi around the world reflect the most effective means of executing dance steps in the context of the syllabus' development.  While one cannot deny that all Ballet has its roots in Italy by way of France, it cannot also be denied that tried and true principles are retained by the different syllabi regardless of its origin.

Today we deal with the basic foot positions in Classical Ballet.  These are the positions from which we start all other gestures and movements.  There are 5 positions universally accepted by all Ballet syllabi from which turned out feet can move.


First Position

1st Position

!st Position Top View

 

This position is aptly called the first position because it is the very first position with turned out feet that is taught to young dancers.  To achieve this, the dancer is taught to line up her feet together toes pointing forward then have her open these up into the widest letter "V" she can form.  The heels remain together and the knees are straight.  Some teachers, like myself,  refer to this as "smiling feet". I even go to the point of having the children smile and wave at their feet.  Some dancers push themselves to form a straight line from the toes of one foot to the other.  This causes unnecessary strain on the knees in terms on torsion and is hard to balance with. Others lift their little toes putting pressure on the big toes.  All toes must be on the floor to avoid any distortions of the toes due to bad habits.   The wide "V" with all toes on the floor is the safest way of executing this position.

Improper 1st Position - Lifted little toe

Second Position

2nd Position

This position retains the same  orientation of the feet in first position with the exception that the feet as 1 -1.5 shoe sizes apart.  Anything wider or narrower than that spacing may result in injury or a diminished quality of dance step execution. Second position is normally used to transition into big jumps or turns. It is also used by male dancers to support or transition into lifts.

2nd Position Top View

Third Position

3rd Position

Third position is not commonly used in Classical Ballet choreography.  It is often used as a transition step to train the young dancer to overlap one foot in front of the other.  It retains the same feet orientation as First position but this time, the heel of one foot is right in front of the middle of the instep of the other foot.

3rd Position Top View

Fifth Position

5th Position

I move straight to Fifth position as I am following the way I teach the feet positions to my students.  When the young dancer becomes comfortable with putting her feet in a proper third position, it is time to introduce Fifth position.  The general concept is for one foot to entirely cover the other foot, the heel of one foot connected to the toes of the other.  This is to be done while keeping the knees straight and all toes on the floor.  It is permissible to have a gap between the little toe of the front foot  and the heel of the back foot if the dancer is unable to keep the little toe pressed down on the floor.  This is an indication that there is significant torsion on the lower leg which may result to injuries on the foot (bunions)  or the knees (ligament tears, etc.). The photo below shows the dancer is still working on turning out her leg properly.  Fifth position is probably the most utilized among the basic positions in Classical Ballet choreography.

5th Position Top View

Fourth Position

4th Position

The last position is Fourth position.  It is very similar to Fourth position, with the exception that there is a 1 shoe size gap between the front foot and back foot.  A variant of this is an Open Fourth which is more of a Third position with a 1 shoe size separation between the feet. Fourth is best known as the preparation position for Pirouettes.

4th Position Side View

4th Position Top View

In general, the proper execution of these position will result in unnecessary torsion and stress on the foot and knees which are very critical areas in a Dancer's physique.  By putting forth these concepts, I do how the young dancers and their parents get a better picture of how to correct themselves when doing these positions.

( Video will be up as soon as I fix issues with it....Apologies)

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Dancers in photos: Angel Grace Baesa, Ma. Clare Assumpta Sison
Dancers in videos: Francesca Faith Walde, Precious Marian Gabrielle Macali, Serafina Claire Villar

Join my classes

Breathe, Solenad 1, Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna
   Mon, Wed, Fri - 4:20 -5:50pm (ages 9 and up)
   Wed 3-4pm/Sat 11-12nn (ages 4-8)

Life 'n Arts, Blk 33 Lot 2 Ph1, San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa, Laguna
   Tues, Sat 3:30 - 4:30pm (ages 4-8)
   Tues 6-7, Sat 2-3:30pm (ages 9 and up)

Teaching Creativity and mprovisation to Young Dancers - Mirroring with Variation

Mirroring is one of the most basic ways of exploring what your body can do in terms of movement. It trains dancers to be sensitive to movement quality, pace and direction.  Internally, mirroring also enables the performer to be sensitive to how the body wants to move.  In  a mirroring activity, two dancers face each other, one is the leader while the other is the follower. The leader initiates motion in a slow, sustained manner while the follower replicates the movement similar to a mirror image.  At some point in time, the roles switch as the leader now becomes the follower and vice versa.  As they gain more experience in mirroring, the concept of variation is introduced.  It is at this time they are taught to vary a gesture with respect to direction, level, etc.

Teaching mirroring to young dancers can be quite challenging.  When I first tried to this exercise, I realized that my students did not feel comfortable moving any which way they feel. I guess the years of disciplined training in classical Ballet under me made them so conscious of their technical "correctness".  So when I told them to move in any which way, they were stuck.  Normally the dancers would just move spontaneously,  but in the case of my students, they would just stand there not know what to do or just keep repeating certain steps we learned in class.  These were the very things, Agnes Locsin, former Artistic Director of Ballet Philippines, would be upset about in the classes she taught,  as she wanted to see dancers create movement.

To help my students do mirroring better, I first had them do one dancer exercises for them to create movement on their own.  For one of my nine year old students, I had her write her name on the floor in big letters. After this I had her write on the wall with the same size of letters.  Finally I had her write her name on an imaginary wall at the center of the room.  As you see in the video below, she is already beginning to dance.

For my older students, I wanted something more dramatic than writing their name. So I had them stand by the door frame and told them to find movement and poses related to the door.  Technically, what I had them do is a form of Structural Movement Analysis which I will tackle in a future post (thus no videos yet).  As soon as they found their movement phrase, I had them recreate it at the center away from the door frame.  When they were comfortable with their movement phrases, I had them to the mirroring exercise. ( I have to admit the their movement in the video is a bit faster than in typical mirror exercises.  )

 Ordinary Mirroring = Leader ( Lavender leotard) and Follower ( Red leotard ) have the same leg extended

 Mirroring with Variation = Leader ( Lavender leotard) extends leg forward while Follower ( Red leotard ) extends backward  

For the mirror exercises,  I had the leaders do 3 repetitions of their movement phrases.  As the 2nd and 3rd repetitions, the followers are allowed to vary any segment of the phrase in terms of directions and other parameters.  After completing the 3rd repetition, the role of leader is passed on to the follower with the passive dancer becoming the next follower and the former leader becoming observer.

The dancers really got the concept of variation.  The next step I have for them is to repeat the exercise using spontaneous movement generated.  I will also be introducing the concept of successions in the next session.

Ballet Steps for the Young Dancer : Battement Tendu

 One of the first things a young ballet dancer learns is the Battement Tendu.  This step is defined as the stretching of the whole leg from the hip socket to the tip of the toe. Specifically, a dancer is to  required stretch 4 things to properly execute a Tendu: 1.) the instep  2.) the top arch of the foot 3.) the toes and 4.) the back of the knee.  By directing the dancer to push the arches out as much as they can, they also stretch the toes and back of the knee as consequence.

   To prepare the young dancer for the Tendu, she is first taught how to flex and point her feet while seated on the floor.  To emphasize the desired result of elongating the leg, we call the pointed foot "good toes" and the flexed foot "bad toes".  This trains them to push the arches out and stretch their toes.  To ensure the stretching of the instep, dancers are instructed to put their little toes on the floor.  This exercise is usually done with the legs together in front and the feet in a letter V. In Graham Modern Dance, this exercise is also taught a la seconde ( legs straddled on the sides)  but may be difficult for young dancers as this variation requires  good control of the pelvis.  As an alternative, we do Cambres (torso reaches ) towards side extended legs while the feet are pointed with little toes on the floor. Training for Tendus to the back is accomplished by backward leg raises with heel together in rest position.

Acts Manila Ballet Class at Breathe,  Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna doing "Good Toes...Bad Toes"

The first barre exercises for Tendus are done from first position.  Tendus are done  de cote (towards the sides) to give the dancer the feel of turn out before moving on to devant (front) and derriere (back). The movement of the tendu is initiated by the pushing of the arch of the feet out whilst pulling the knee back, pushing the heel  and keeping the toes on the floor as far as possible, As the toes reach their limit, they are pulled to fully point the foot up to the tip of the toes.  

( Updating the video, apologies)

Acts Manila Ballet Class at Life 'n Arts, San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa, Laguna doing Tendus

As the dancer advances, she is trained to do more complicated Tendus at the barre to develop stability for the combinations at the center of the class.

( Updating the video, apologies )

Acts Manila Intermediate Ballet Class at Life 'n Arts, San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa, Laguna doing Tendus

Join our Ballet Classes at 

Breathe, Solenad 1, Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna

    Mon, Wed, Fri 4:20 -5:50 ( ages 9 and up )
   Wed 3-4pm/Sat 11-12nn    ( ages 4-8 )


Life 'n Arts, Blk 33 Lot 2 Ph1 San Lorenzo South, Malitlit, Sta. Rosa, Laguna

   Tues, Sat  3:30 - 4:30pm     (ages 4-8 )
   Tues 6-7pm/ Sat 2-3:30pm ( ages 9 and up)

also check out www.actsmanila.com

Stretches for the Young Ballet Dancer

I was 19 when I started Ballet decades ago.  Coming from other dance genres, I had to cope with how the Ballet discipline took stretching seriously.  I remember doing an improper stretch at led to a slight injury to my inner thigh that made it difficult to give my best during an intensive class.


Ballet requires body preparation appropriate for it's movement vocabulary. It is very demanding in terms of technical precision and physical abilities. As such, a young dancer needs to go through a routine to properly mobilize his/her joints and stretch muscles to be engaged.  Proper stretching needs to gradual according to the level of blood circulation occuring in your muscles.  Serious stretching is done on warm muscles.

In my Ballet classes for kids ages 4-8, I start with a gentle stretch to open the hip socket and stretch the Sartorius muscles.  The children cross their legs like a pretzel and then try to touch the floor with their heads.  They do this for about 2 mins and repeat with switched legs.

After doing exercises to ensure proper blood circulation throughout the leg, I let my students do a series of straddle stretches on the floor, to enable the most efficient rotation of the legs towards the body.  The series starts with one leg extended to the side and the body pressing sideways over it. Care should be done so that the legs are straight, the little toes are on the floor and the pelvic bone presses over the leg. This is repeated with the other leg and eventually with both legs extended.   Proper carriage of the arms and alignment of the spine are also key to the correct execution of this step.  

The next stretch focuses on stretching the Hip Flexors and the Quadriceps which are more often than not the antagonist muscles in Ballet exercises.  By having the dancer reach back to touch her toes with the head,  she not only works her Erector Spinae muscles, she also presses down and stretches here Hip Flexors and Quads.  

The final stretch done in my beginners class is a stretch to the side with the leg extended off the floor.  This starts with one leg stretched at a time and ends with both legs stretched together.  Gravity gives additional tension during the stretch of the leg enabling good tension behind the dancer's knees.  A balance with both legs extended develops abdominal control necessary for standing balances.

   

As the dancer continuously does these stretches, she will be able to do harder stretches like standing stretches and splits. Once we get stretches out of the way, the dancers are now ready to do Barre and Center exercises which require a higher degree of control and precision than floor exercises.  

If you wish to observe my classes, you may do so at the following locations:

1. Acts Manila @ Breathe, Solenad 1 Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines

        Wed 3-4pm and Sat 11am-12nn ( ages 4-8 )

         Mon/Wed/Fri 4:30 - 5:50pm ( ages 9 and up )

2. Acts Manila @ Life 'N Arts, San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines

         Tues/Sat 3:30 - 4:30pm ( ages 4-8)

          Tues 6-7pm and Sat 4:30 - 5:30pm ( ages 9 and up )

Check out www.actsmanila.com 

#ActsManila #BalletBreatheNuvali #BalletLifeNArtsStaRosa