Technical Tuesday Ab and Add

Technical Tuesday Ab and Add

Two anatomical terms that are used to describe movement are abduction and adduction. They are handy little words to know.

Abduction is any movement that goes away from the midline of the body.

For example, a port de bras where the arms go from fifth en bas (low fifth) upward to second, would be abduction. Moving the legs from sixth position to first position would also be abduction.

Adduction is movement of a body part toward the body’s midline.

For example, if the arms are in second and they are brought to first, this would be adduction. Another, less intuitive example: if a dancer’s fingers are spread apart and then brought together it would also be adduction.  In other words, I like to like of adduction as “adding” to the center of the body.

Now you know!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Anatomical Secret # 56

“Abduction goes away from the body’s midline, adduction goes toward it.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDMY_bpGeyA

Quote of the Day:

“We see in order to move; we move in order to see.” 
― William Gibson

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