The Elusive Arabesque

Dancing Smart Newsletter
July 21, 2006

Announcements

Drum roll, please! The first level of FUNctional Anatomy for Dancers has only a few tweaks with printing before it will be ready to purchase. A separate announcement with more detailed information on this very special teacher's guide will be coming your way within a few days! I should be back to the every other week schedule with the newsletters now that it is done.

I'd like to start this newsletter with a reader's response.

Driana had written a few weeks ago and shared the impact of the newsletter on her body. I asked her if I might share it with the other readers and she said yes – so here it is!

There are times when my body demands a psoas stretch! I loved reading your article in the newsletter a few issues back on pregnancy. The pinky ball rules and I use it regularly.

I have also found that YogaToes have really helped me. I did not start dancing until about 8 or 9 years ago. About 5 years ago I developed plantar fasciitis, which specific exercises and stretching given to me by my podiatrist helped. But it was not until I severely sprained my ankle (which was misdiagnosed as a break and treated incorrectly at first causing more issues) and went to physical therapy that I discovered how weak the intrinsic muscles of my feet are, just how badly collapsed my arches are, and how I swing my feet when I walk (I wore leg braces for severe pigeon toes feet as a kid).

The doctor said there was nothing I could do about it beyond healing the sprain.

I didn't accept that and have been continuing to see improvement with constant work. Throughout my day I work on my overall body posture and making my arches support me by not letting them collapse. I continue to do physical therapy exercises for strengthening my feet and ankles. I continue to educate myself by reading your newsletters and studying anatomy. The pinky ball is invaluable for keeping me pain free when I travel and am on my feet for days. While dancing I constantly pay attention to my posture, starting with my feet. YogaToes have really helped, since I started using them, I don't get toe-curling cramps in my feet or calves anymore.

When I read in your newsletter about pointing the feet while elongating the toes and not letting them crunch or curl, I began to point and flex my feet while wearing the YogaToes so my toes cannot crunch together or curl under like they used to want to. I can now point and flex and maintain better control of my toes when not wearing the YogaToes. If you have any other exercises or stretches to suggest, I would love to add them to my repertoire.

Between the YogaToes and the pinky ball and continued informed diligence in daily life as well as stretching and exercise, I can now look forward to not just being able to walk pain free as I age but also continuing to dance! Driana

Deb's comment: I love how you are using the yoga toes while working on pointing. I'm going to try that myself! Thanks for your feedback!

Now onto a question from Lorna..

Question of the Week

Deb's Answer

Delicious question, Lorna! There are so many myths about attaining the perfect arabesque. The first anatomy fact I'd like to throw out is the average hip joint has 30 degrees of extension. That means when you are standing in first position the leg is at zero degree of extension. If the arabesque leg is parallel to the floor that's 90 degrees of extension. Forty-five degrees is halfway in between those 2 points, and 30 degrees is closer to the floor from 45.

If pure extension for most dancers on average is 30 degrees, then it means some compensation MUST occur in order to lift the leg higher into arabesque. For most dancers it is a combination of allowing the pelvis to rotate towards the arabesque leg while allowing it to tip forward. You want to be careful not to allow the weight to drop into the heel of the standing leg when you do this. Maintain as much core stability as possible as you lift the leg. Your thoracic (upper back) area will work in tandem with the abdominals to maintain that upright line. The line of the arms and ease of the neck and head go a long way in giving the illusion of 'lift'.

It is a common compensation to take the arabesque to the side, which does allow you to raise it more easily. How far is okay is more to the aesthetics of the teacher or style. The Balanchine arabesque does not keep the leg square behind the hip. If you look closely at pictures of arabesque you will almost always see the pelvis has rotated. The upright look has a lot to do with the flexibility of the hip flexors on the standing leg as well as the height of the back leg.

I suggest to my students they begin in first position and tendu to the back with the leg opening slightly to the side. This maximizes the potential for keeping the pelvis upright. If you try to keep the foot in an exact line, you will be over crossing slightly, which immediately rotates the pelvis – it must. (This is also why I only ask students to work from an open 4th position – heels in line with each other rather than heel to toe.) It is from this slightly open tendu position they lift into arabesque, monitoring their feet to make sure they aren't rolling in on the standing leg.

In the first level of Functional Anatomy for Dancers that Anneliese Burns Wilson and I are just finishing, we explore this very issue in Lesson 14. The focus is on moving into arabesque slowly enough that you feel the sequence of compensations. Once you can identify what your pattern is then you can begin to address it more specifically. (Levels 2-4 will do this in more detail)

If the challenge is in keeping your torso upright, then perhaps hanging over a huge physioball in a bridge or backbend position will begin to move the upper spine into more extension. If the pelvis tips too quickly on the standing leg – more iliopsoas stretching could be in order. If the pelvis rotates immediately – perhaps more attention to spinal rotation is in order.

With arabesques being so complicated in their skeletal and muscular patterning, I don't know for sure without watching you move, which direction to point you in. I would suggest watching other dancers moving into arabesque with an eye towards analyzing their compensations. This may help you figure out your own more easily. You'll know you are in the right position from the weight on your feet staying balanced. Often dancers learn what right, from first becoming aware of what 'not right' feels like. It is usually a relief to know that not all compensations are bad – improving your arabesque means understanding and working with your unique sequence of compensations.

Thanks for writing, and I'll be in touch as soon as Functional Anatomy for Dancers is ready for purchase!

Warm regards,

Deborah

"Education is the key to injury prevention"

Copyright ©2003-2006 The Body Series. All Rights Reserved.

Deborah Vogel is a dancer, author, and master teacher who conducts workshops across the U.S. for both student and professional dancers. Her numerous articles on dance technique and injury prevention have appeared in Dance Spirit and Dance Teacher magazines. She is the Director of the Institute for Performance Studies and a faculty member at Oberlin College and the OC Conservatory of Music. During her years in NYC she co- founded the Center for Dance Medicine. Deborah makes her home in Oberlin, Ohio.