Common Dance Cues That Screw You Up (Part 1)
We’ve all had that teacher. The one with “superior genetics”, who made it to pro-dancer status, and as such, doesn't quite understand why you, the genetically less endowed, can’t do the things she’s (or he, though for the rest of this post I’ll use only “she”, not to be feminist or anything, just because it’s easier, and I’m lazy) asking you to do.
The truth is that the majority of professional dancers are naturally gifted with the body type (including bone structure, ligament laxity, joint mobility, muscle fiber type, muscle development patterns, cognitive ability, etc) that allows them to just “get it”. Most likely these plasticine dancers were accepted at a very young age to a professional training school, and were molded into “perfect” ballerinas. Gumby would make a great ballet dancer.
I myself auditioned for many of these professional schools, but wasn't accepted because of my inferior facility, and because I started relatively late and as such, was too old. I’ve been told that I have a perfect body for any sport other than ballet. It’s a cruel, cruel world.
Anyway, if you have one of these pro-dancers turned teachers, then you probably know what I mean when I say they tend to give cues that are at the best of times confusing, and at the worst of times, soul-crushing.
This is not to say they’re bad teachers, it’s just a communication problem. They know what things should feel like, but don’t know how to convey that feeling to you. The same cues that worked for them, might not work for you. You’ll never be able to feel things in the exact same way your dance teacher wants you to. It must be frustrating for them, not being able to feel what you feel. And likewise for you too!
That many technical skills came naturally to them is easy for a dance teacher to take for granted. I’m guilty of this too. When performing hip flexor stretching with less flexible folks, I forget that, from years of dancing, I have pretty much zero ligamentous support at the front of my pelvis (specifically, the iliofemoral ligament, which turnout kind of destroys) and hip flexor stretches are, as a result, much easier for me to perform (and ironically, less easy to do effectively). For those who still have full anterior ligament support, hip flexor stretches can be intense.
We’ve all had that teacher. The one with “superior genetics”, who made it to pro-dancer status, and as such, doesn't quite understand why you, the genetically less endowed, can’t do the things she’s (or he, though for the rest of this post I’ll use only “she”, not to be feminist or anything, just because it’s easier, and I’m lazy) asking you to do.
The truth is that the majority of professional dancers are naturally gifted with the body type (including bone structure, ligament laxity, joint mobility, muscle fiber type, muscle development patterns, cognitive ability, etc) that allows them to just “get it”. Most likely these plasticine dancers were accepted at a very young age to a professional training school, and were molded into “perfect” ballerinas. Gumby would make a great ballet dancer.
I myself auditioned for many of these professional schools, but wasn't accepted because of my inferior facility, and because I started relatively late and as such, was too old. I’ve been told that I have a perfect body for any sport other than ballet. It’s a cruel, cruel world.
Anyway, if you have one of these pro-dancers turned teachers, then you probably know what I mean when I say they tend to give cues that are at the best of times confusing, and at the worst of times, soul-crushing.
This is not to say they’re bad teachers, it’s just a communication problem. They know what things should feel like, but don’t know how to convey that feeling to you. The same cues that worked for them, might not work for you. You’ll never be able to feel things in the exact same way your dance teacher wants you to. It must be frustrating for them, not being able to feel what you feel. And likewise for you too!
That many technical skills came naturally to them is easy for a dance teacher to take for granted. I’m guilty of this too. When performing hip flexor stretching with less flexible folks, I forget that, from years of dancing, I have pretty much zero ligamentous support at the front of my pelvis (specifically, the iliofemoral ligament, which turnout kind of destroys) and hip flexor stretches are, as a result, much easier for me to perform (and ironically, less easy to do effectively). For those who still have full anterior ligament support, hip flexor stretches can be intense.
That being said, many dance clients come to me, frustrated, with questions regarding something their hardcore ballet teachers have told them- corrections, imagery, etc- about which they are very confused, not fully understanding what the teacher is trying to get them to do.
Common dance cues that might be doing more harm than goodDancers: I hope you can relate, and I hope this helps.
Dance teachers: Be careful with these cues as they do not work for all dancers, especially those who have less of a “ballet body”
Here are my top three dance cues and corrections that get lost in translation, resulting in poor execution of technique, inability to progress technically, poor alignment, and getting really, really, frustrated. Really.
1) “Use your hamstring to lift your leg from underneath, not your quads!”
Oh man. First of all, yes, many dancers tend to overuse their quads. Dance teachers love to harp on those of us who have a more mesomorphic body-type (being able to build muscle easily), that our quads are too big, and it’s because we over use them, causing them to get bulky.
In reality, almost all dancers, bulky quads or no, overuse their quads. It’s the nature of the sport. The difference between those with “bulky thighs” and those with slimmer legs generally comes down to genetics, and other sports you may have participated in growing up, especially before puberty.
Genetically, pro-ballerinas just tend not to build muscle as easily as me or maybe you, so their quads don’t develop that “bulk”. Geez.
They also tend to have superior ability to rotate their leg out in the socket, which causes their muscle development to look different due to the different angle at which they’re capable of working.
Second, I should point out that you kind of HAVE to use your quads to help lift your leg to the front and side (arabesque is a different story). The quadriceps, all 4 of em’, straighten the knee, and rectus femoris also helps to flex the hip, aka lift your leg. To not use your quads is impossible. The hamstrings aid in hip flexion by providing stability but they do not actually flex the hip.
Common dance cues that might be doing more harm than goodDancers: I hope you can relate, and I hope this helps.
Dance teachers: Be careful with these cues as they do not work for all dancers, especially those who have less of a “ballet body”
Here are my top three dance cues and corrections that get lost in translation, resulting in poor execution of technique, inability to progress technically, poor alignment, and getting really, really, frustrated. Really.
1) “Use your hamstring to lift your leg from underneath, not your quads!”
Oh man. First of all, yes, many dancers tend to overuse their quads. Dance teachers love to harp on those of us who have a more mesomorphic body-type (being able to build muscle easily), that our quads are too big, and it’s because we over use them, causing them to get bulky.
In reality, almost all dancers, bulky quads or no, overuse their quads. It’s the nature of the sport. The difference between those with “bulky thighs” and those with slimmer legs generally comes down to genetics, and other sports you may have participated in growing up, especially before puberty.
Genetically, pro-ballerinas just tend not to build muscle as easily as me or maybe you, so their quads don’t develop that “bulk”. Geez.
They also tend to have superior ability to rotate their leg out in the socket, which causes their muscle development to look different due to the different angle at which they’re capable of working.
Second, I should point out that you kind of HAVE to use your quads to help lift your leg to the front and side (arabesque is a different story). The quadriceps, all 4 of em’, straighten the knee, and rectus femoris also helps to flex the hip, aka lift your leg. To not use your quads is impossible. The hamstrings aid in hip flexion by providing stability but they do not actually flex the hip.
So if you’re very confused when teachers tell you to lift your leg from underneath, using the hamstring and not your quads, well that’s just impossible, so don’t worry about it. Just nod your head and smile obediently.
The reason I believe teachers give this cue is to try to convey to you an imagery that helps you maintain a tall neutral alignment, and to not hike up the hip of the leg that is lifting.
Knowing that, a better cue for me, for example, was to think about lengthening my spine and pushing down into the floor through my supporting leg while doing something like a developpe or grand battement front, rather than trying to contract a muscle that is physically impossible to contract for that specific action.
Not to mention this cue can also be highly negative to hear as it leads the dancer to believe she has chunky legs, and needs to diet. Just one of the many ways language used in dance class can screw us up in the head. But more on that later.
Part 2 will come next week !
Article BY DTP
The reason I believe teachers give this cue is to try to convey to you an imagery that helps you maintain a tall neutral alignment, and to not hike up the hip of the leg that is lifting.
Knowing that, a better cue for me, for example, was to think about lengthening my spine and pushing down into the floor through my supporting leg while doing something like a developpe or grand battement front, rather than trying to contract a muscle that is physically impossible to contract for that specific action.
Not to mention this cue can also be highly negative to hear as it leads the dancer to believe she has chunky legs, and needs to diet. Just one of the many ways language used in dance class can screw us up in the head. But more on that later.
Part 2 will come next week !
Article BY DTP