Ballet Technique and Your Dancing Body

GOALTO DEVELOP A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF

HOW TO IMPROVE ALIGNMENT IN YOUR DANCE TRAINING THROUGH KNOWING ANATOMY

WHAT IS TECHNIQUE IN BALLET?

TECHNIQUE IS HOW YOU CREATE THE PROPER LINES OF THE BODY BY PLACING YOU ARMS, LEGS, TORSO, HEAD, NECK, SHOULDERS, ANKLES, FEET AND EVEN HANDS.

THERE ARE MANY POSITIONS OF THE ARMS AND LEGS IN BALLET. HOW YOU PLACE YOURSELF INTO THESE POSITIONS IS WHERE YOU WORK ON YOUR TECHNIQUE

12 Body Placement Rules for Ballet Technique

1. Head erect straight on top of spine, ears over shoulders chin up

2. Diaphragm lifted (breathing muscles in rib cage

3. Spine held straight up and lengthened

4. Shoulders squarely over hip

5. Eyes forward and focused

6. Pelvis centered with the hips placed directly over the feet

7. Abdomen (lower abdominal muscles) tightened and lifted

8.Gluteal muscles contracted to pull down tailbone

9. Thighs (quadriceps and hamstrings) pulled up with knees straight

10. Feet must bear weight primarily over the metatarsals (long thin bones in the foot).

11. Turn out from hip joints (ball and socket joint)

12. SMILE

FIVE POSITIONSLOOK AT PAGE 24 IN THE BALLET DICTIONARY

BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THESE FOR THE TEST

LET’S TRY IT OUT!

WHAT IS A BODY JOINT?WHAT IS SYNOVIAL FLUID?

WHAT TWO JOINTS DO WE USE TO CREATE THESE SHAPES?

Joints are areas where bones are linked together. They have varying degrees of mobility.

Synovial Fluid lubricates the joint and provides nutrients to the joint tissues.

Shoulder Joint: Ball and Socket which has great mobility in all directions.

Elbow Joint: Hinge which has limited mobility basically flexion and extension (up and down).

Activity

Take a moment and stand up. Move all the parts of your body.

Make a list of where you think all of your joints are and name them on a sheet of paper.

Share you thoughts….

5 Positions of the Feet

Refer to page 139 in your ballet dictionary.

Do you recognize these positions?

Where do you know them from.

What major joint of the body do we use to create these positions?

The Hip

Ball and Socket Joint: has great mobility and is key in being able to extend your legs up for battements, Grande jetes and arabesque.

Illiopsoas muscle is attached from your lumbar spine around the hip socket and is a key muscle in these dance movements as well.