Technique On A Tuesday; Stabilizing The "Standing" Hip {and a really good hip warm-up}.

So instead of Technique Tuesdays I'm adopting the name "Technique On A Tuesday" due to the fact that I seem to manage every other Tuesday, or so. Perhaps if I can manage to get a post up more consistently I'll go back to the former and drop the latter. But for now, I like it.

On to today's post.

 Stabilizing The Standing Hip. First, a quick and basic primer on what parts of the glutes do. The gluteus maximus gives us that booty popping shape (when trained to do so) and it works to bring the torso back into an erect position (coming from stooping or leaning forward). The gluteus medius has a hand in the outward rotation of the hip (turn-out). The glutes, in all their parts, are much more complex. But that is a basic overview.

In this photo I am letting the hip of the "working" or "gesture" leg (the one lifted in passe), namely the gluteus maximus, do most of the lifting. This causes the hip of the "standing" or support leg to essentially disengage, or not fire up in a way to stay stable. I can certainly hang out and find some semblance of balancing. But if I were to add any type of challenge, rising onto the ball of the standing foot, a jump, pivot of the heel or a turn, I would most likely fall out of the position.

In this picture I have engaged the supporting hip. The difference is subtle but vital. Here I have "quieted" the gluteus maximus of the passe leg and fired up the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius of the support leg. The gluteus medius of the passe leg is also more engaged than in the previous photo. Of course, all the muscles of the both legs are working. Each doing their specific job.

Some of the ways I have described this is to think of the hips as a type writer roller (yeah, I know not all age groups will know what I'm talking about). If your type writer roller is at an angle then your type writer is busted. To fix it it you must keep your roll level.

I have also jokingly asked what a student would do with their glutes on their supporting side if they knew I was coming in with a punch right to that area. That usually increases the engagement of the muscles.

A couple of good exercises to practice this, and some great hip warm-ups;

Here are a couple of exercises that emphasize pinning and stabilizing the supporting hip as well as the supporting side of the body.

I use these when I teach mat Pilates as a warm-up for both the hips and the concept of firing up the supporting side.

Passe Hip Circles.


Start with legs parallel, knees facing ceiling and toes pointed. Arms are alongside the body.

Engage the core as you draw the right knee up.

Pin the supporting side, or base side, of the body to the floor or mat. This requires an effort along the entire side of the supporting side of the body, especially in the core region (I like to call this area "nipple to kneecap").

Then lengthen the leg to its start position.

Do about 5 sets. Inhale as you draw the knee up and out. Exhale as you lengthen.

Do 5 sets in reverse.

Inhale as the knee draws to passe. Exhale as the leg lengthens.

Be sure to do the other side in equal amounts.

Table-Top Leg, Across and Side.


Bring the right leg to a table-top position.

Inhale as the leg crosses the mid-line of the body. Keep the back of the pelvis pinned to the mat. Don't loose control and fall over to the left.

Exhale as the leg opens to the right side. Keep the left, or base side, of the body pinned to the floor or mat. Don't let the body fall with the leg.

Do about 5 sets. Be sure and do the other side in equal amounts.

I love these exercise as they illustrated the importance of the supporting side, and they are great warm-ups for the hips.



Let's hear it for my crack-shot photographer! ( My 12 year old son, Neil).

Thank for hanging out! If you like what you see, subscribe at the top!

Enjoy the dance that is life!

~ Erin

That's A Wrap! Post Show Reflections.

Yesterday was the final performance of Kinetics Academy of Dance's 2013 show, "Rose Red". A fairytale ballet It followed the classic Grimm tale Snow-White and Rose-Red. Not to be confused with the dwarf wrangler of Disney, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Although there is a very mean and grumpy dwarf in Rose Red.

 KAD's show encompasses pretty much all the classes offered at the dance studio, 2 yr. olds to 16 yr. olds, as well as all the styles- ballet, tap, hip hop and lyrical. We've done a storybook ballet format before, having a narration of parts of a story as a voiceover mixed with music. But this year we went bigger and bolder. We had more solos for our dancers on pointe and more elaborate dramatic sequences, bringing in a young male actor who submitted to being in a big bear suit (who then got to show that a handsome prince dwelled within the whole time!), and a young lady to play the part of the angry dwarf. She got the joy of wearing a long fake beard. Our actors used their bodies to tell the story, our dancers brought out their acting skills.

It took a lot of extra time and effort to pull this larger than previous years endeavor. But worth every second. I had forgotten how much I loved working on the dramatic sequences of ballets. Of course, I loved working on the ensemble pieces as well.

As for working on all the solos for the pointe girls, I really enjoyed the transitions between choreographer and dance/ performance coaching. Trying to pull the best out of each dancer and their given roles was an educating experience. Since no two dancers are alike, corrections, suggestions, challenges and the like must, at times, be custom fitted. They stepped up to the challenge. Each one grew. And the ones who had the extra challenges of acting grew in that aspect as well. I feel like we can do anything!

Here are some of the things I worked on the most;

Work those arms from the middle of your back! Don't work them from just the shoulders, but imagine that they are actually attached in the mid back. That way the muscles of the back help support the movements of the arms and give that strength + grace quality of movement (I sense a tutorial on that concept!).

Stay off your heels! Most of ballet work is done on the front to mid part of the foot, even if the dancer is not on releve (perched up and balanced on the ball of the foot or feet). The heels work more as an assisting stabilizer to the rest of the foot. This is true whether you are executing a dance step, walking or running. Even in jumps, while the heels should make contact with the floor to ensure lengthening through the lower leg, ankles and feet, the weight of the body should not sink into the heels. Rather, a lengthening of the lower leg should happen while simultaneously the rest of the body lengthens away from the floor.

Dance past the mirror. The people in the back row spent good money on their tickets too! Plus, as a dancer, it is a wonderful feeling to project your soul into the atmosphere of the universe.

Flirt with your audience. Don't dance at them. Take them on a journey that you have designed (or rather, your choreographer has designed).

Don't dance as if you are anticipating failure. Make success your expected reality. Every dancer has come upon steps they struggle with. And while one of the joys of solo work is that things can be customized to a dancer's strengths, not everything can be made easier. It's just not the dancer way! It's the struggles that we overcome that help us to grow. This doesn't mean that you must become the best turner if turns are something you struggle with. Improving from where you started is where the gold is.

Smile! Smile! Smile! Or at least maintain a pleasant expression if that is in line with your character.

Okay, and I may have said "Ribbon ends and bows are the nipples of ballet slippers and pointe shoes. Best to keep them out of sight!". Hey, bold statements get remembered!

The one down side to the whole production, the whole dance year really, was...


Having to say good-bye to this beautiful young lady.

Helene is a foreign exchange student from Germany, who stayed with one of our dancers family. She wanted to continue her dance studies and it fit perfectly for her join her host "sister's" classes.

She started pointe with us...

...look at those beautiful feet! Helene loved her little bows! They are pretty cute. But tuck them in we must!

I'm so grateful for Facebook.

I love these girls!! I am also so grateful to be able to do what I do! I'm also happy to say that they have some amazing moms and dads, who not only show their kids love and support, but they give us, their dance teachers, plenty as well!

Now what to focus on for summer...

Enjoy the dance that is life!

~Erin

Stuff I've Been Working On.

Here's a video of a dance I've been working on in my Teen/Adult Lyrical class.

As soon as I heard Katy Perry's "Wide Awake" I fell in love with it and knew I had to use it for something.

Each week I try to add a bit more choreography while also cleaning up and trouble shooting steps I've already set.

Its a fun process. That is, when I don't have a deadline, like an upcoming performance date.

Ballet-Fit is another class that I teach. It is designed for the beginning teen or adult dance student, while also providing challenges for participants with previous dance training. I've always loved teaching beginning adult dancers. Over the last year or so I've been trying to really hone a class format that combines some classical ballet technique with a more action/fitness oriented movement vocabulary. For the last couple of months this is how I've been structuring it;

A little bit of pilates

A fair amount of Balletone: Sole Synthesis

Some classical ballet barre technique

Stretching and core

Because some people want "this" and others want "that" and others are fine with "this or that" and I want people who are going to be delighted to show up each week, I've had a few  hair-pulling moments trying pin down an exact format. While I don't want to lock myself into one style or vocabulary, I do want something that will have some consistency and familiarity (not reinventing the wheel every other week) that will also keep things exciting and effective.

I had posted a query on facebook a month or so ago in hopes of feedback;

Dancers, dance and fitness enthusiasts and anyone whose ever had an interest in ballet training, or not, really an interest in any kind of dance. I would love to get some feedback and opinions on something. For years I have taught various adult ballet classes. Over the last year or so I have brought in more strength training concepts into my dance instruction as well as of more recently the Ballet...

one format. Balletone combines fitness, ballet training techniques, pilates and yoga.
Okay, here's where I need feedback;
I would like to get a feel for what people are generally more interested in when looking for an intro to ballet technique training and concepts as a form of exercise.

A). More traditional ballet format; barre, centre, diag. across the floor work.
or
B). A more mid-intensity dance-fitness related program (like Balletone). Basically a less traditional approach than classical technique. No barre, everything done in the center.

Along with facebook, I've been asking colleagues and friends as well as current students. I've gotten some great feedback. The conversations always lead to revelations as well, which are always beneficial.

 

The last couple of weeks I have really focused on combining core elements from pilates, classical ballet barre techniques (not to toot my horn, but I've got some killer barre routines!) and some center combos related to Balletone to "test-drive" what was worked on at the barre.

 

The class I taught last night felt like the first step to really honing in on what I envision.

 

I started off with some pilates mat work that focused on alignment principles.

Then I used a few ballet barre combinations that related to those principles.

The final portion of the class was using some Balletone segments to challenge what we had worked on, but at a slightly faster pace. Sometimes the body just needs to move!

 

I was fortunate enough to have a great conversation with my participants afterwards. I talked a bit about the methods to my madness, and they gave me some great feedback.

 

We all agreed that nobody wants to be in "tendu hell" (the practice of only focusing on the technique of one step, for a really long time, until the students' eyes glaze over and their will to live is considerably diminished).

 

They shared with me what they felt was challenging and also where they felt they had improved from previous classes. Very valuable information to me!

 

So, I'm still knocking around in my ol' brain pan exactly how I want to structure my Ballet-Fit class. This I do know; it will never bore me, and the challenge will always keep me striving for newer and better ways to make the principles of dance training accessible, effective and fun. I love that!

 

Thanks for reading. I would love to get feedback on any of the subjects above. Leave a comment or visit my DanceFitErin facebook page. Be sure to click on the "like" button while you're there!

 

Enjoy the dance that is life!