Eye Focus
It is important for a dancer to understand where the eye focus should be directed. It varies according to the step or position being executed, but the general rule that applies when a dancer is simply standing at the barre is this: The eye focus is slightly above eye level. The focus is a distant one, like looking outward toward a mountaintop. This distance concept can be harder to achieve at the barre, when standing behind another dancer. I tell my students to imagine looking through the person in front of them. This upwardly directed eye focus was mentioned briefly in a previous post on “polite arrogance”.
An upward, distant eye focus is particularly important because many students have the habit of looking down at the floor, especially when they are concentrating. If the eye focus is down, the head is down and the posture becomes completely compromised – the seat will go out to counterbalance the head being down. The body is now balanced, but hardly aligned in the right place!
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #1f:
“The eye focus is slightly above eye level.”
Link of the Day:
Quote of the Day:
“There is a road from the eye to heart that does not go through the intellect.”
- G.K. Chesterton
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