Analyzing Arabesque

Dancing Smart Newsletter
September 15, 2006

Announcements

Greetings!

There was a wonderful article in the Times about eating disorders. Go to New York Times to view it. I consider dancers elite athletes, so this article definitely pertains to our field.

First a few responses from the last newsletter on neuromas.

I wanted to share my experience with a Morton's Neuroma with the dancer who is suffering. While I am more of a modern dancer than a pointe dancer, I have been through the same pain. Your suggestions are great and I hope she can find relief from them.

The cause of my neuroma was not determined, but it was definitely there and not from tight shoes. So odds are anatomically my feet were predestined to have problems. I dealt for several months, many days my toes would go numb while I was dancing, and kept on going until one day it hurt to stand up. I couldn't be bare foot at all and when I walked it felt like there was a marble in my foot. My podiatrist (who is wonderful) did the cortisone injection and it worked for a few weeks. When I was back in his office about 2 months later he said he could continue to do the injections and ultrasound or the surgery. He encouraged the surgery as it has a quick recovery and would provide more relief than any other options. I put it off until the timing worked out for me as I was working 2 jobs and a full-time college student and continued the ultrasound-therapy. While my recovery took longer than we had anticipated (I walked far too much in the week following the surgery) I was in a tennis shoe in just a couple of days and dancing within two weeks. It took a little while for my nerves to go back to normal, a lot of tingly "asleep-like" feeling in my toes, and I had to make sure not to wear narrow shoes for a couple months. I don't know how this would affect a pointe dancer, but was not a problem for me as a modern/jazz dancer.

I understand that the dancer with the neuroma doesn't have easy access to a good podiatrist, but I strongly suggest she take the time, and the drive, to find one. Also, a PT may be able to help, I saw the personal trainers at my school on a regular basis for it and they did much of the ultrasound-therapy. However, she must be in a smaller town and I don't know that she would have access to this either. Taping my foot in any number of ways never did me any good so I don't know that it will help her. I also had orthotics that my podiatrist had made me before the problem arose and he did a little tweaking to the area near the neuroma which brought a little relief for a short period of time, but not enough to put off any other options.

I don't know if you can pass along this information or not, but I would be interested in hearing others' suggestions as well as what this dancer decides to do.
Thanks,
Andrea

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I too suffered from Morton's neuroma. I went the podiatrist route, and realized very quickly that I needed to see someone who understood the nature of my job.

My foot was operated on probably 10 years ago and has not had a problem since and continues to teach with no pain. I may have been off my feet for about 2 weeks, and it was worth it.

I live about 30 minutes from Boston, so I was lucky enough to have had access to a specialist.

Good luck to Donna - hope she finds relief.
Denise

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Next a question from Lorna about arabesque…

Question of the Week

Deb's Answer

This is an excellent question! Perhaps at some point in the future I'll write a whole article on analyzing the arabesque, but let me see if I can give you a few points to ponder.

Let's start with the tendu derriere. First you want to look at the line at the front of both hips. As we all know we want to maintain the pelvis as upright as possible. If your student is having trouble keeping the pelvis lifted in a tendu or degage to the back, you can suspect some iliopsoas (hip flexor) tightness on the standing leg. If this is the case, then extra lunge stretches are in order. It goes without saying that if the tendu leg doesn't have a nice line, stretching is also in order for that side.

Lifting the leg into arabesque requires the hamstrings and hip extensors to lift the leg, while the abdominal muscles support the pelvis and keep the weight from dropping into the lower back. You could have weak hamstring muscles, in which case, you would focus on strengthening the hip extensors. You might also have weak abdominals, especially the deeper layers, which could use some attention. Interestingly, when you have some abdominal engagement it helps to bring the weight (and pelvis) over the foot as you described in your question.

There is another major area to look at, and that is the strength and flexibility of the mid to upper back area. If the student tends to have a slumped posture, with rounded shoulders and upper spine, they certainly will have trouble keeping the spine and chest in a lifted position.

One more element to the arabesque to consider is the spiral rotation of the spine. If you are taking the left leg back into arabesque, the lower spine is rotating left, while the middle, upper spine is rotating right. The head and arms square the arabesque off, making the spine appear straight. (But we know better and know it has a spiral rotation.)

Any one of these areas could promote a dropping back into the heel of the standing leg, and letting the pelvis pitch forward. The amount of forward shift of the pelvis will depend on each person's individual strength and flexibility in the areas I mentioned above. I was just experimenting with practicing arabesques, focusing each time on a different area. For example, one time I was very aware of the spinal rotation that is necessary. Then another time I focused on abdominal support as I lifted the leg. Another time, the engagement of the gluteal and hamstring muscles while lengthening the foot away from the hip. Finally, I imagined myself doing a beautiful, elegant arabesque without strain, before doing it one more time. I don't have a video to prove my arabesque improved, but it sure felt better.

A process similar to this might be useful to you. It's good to break down movement and understand its pieces and parts and then to shift your focus back into wholebody movement, trusting the nervous system and muscles know how to create themovement, without you micro managing the process. You need to have an image ofwhat you want in your mind's eye, in order to have the nervous system guide thisprocess. If you are thinking of what you don't want, or can't yet do well yet – guesswhat – that is the information you are giving to the nervous system. Whenyou are thinking 'don't sit back on my heel' the nervous system hears "sitback on my heel". It doesn't know how to not do. Instead make your correctionsto yourself and to your students about what you want. You've got a far betterchance of achieving it!

On with the dance!

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.