Fun Friday: Elevators and Belly Buttons
Engaging the abdominal muscles is critical for everything in ballet technique, but particularly when rising to the demi-pointe. If a dancer thinks “pull up”, often the shoulders go back, the spine arches, and the posture is completely compromised. If the abdominals are engaged, however, it is almost impossible for the back to arch.
Rather than constantly saying “use your abdominals”, I encourage my students to imagine that their belly button is an elevator button. It is marked “up”, or marked with an “up” arrow. When they want to go up (i.e. relevé), they need to press the button in and hold it.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #1m:
“Imagine the navel (belly button) is an elevator “up” button. Press in it and hold it when you want to go up.”
Link of the Day:
Quote of the Day:
“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
-Miranda Kerr
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