Teaching Dance: Standing Posture

[shanmonster]

I've been working on codifying my dance style and teaching methodology. I'm planning on breaking down my dance classes and teaching style for both my own use and for the use of any teachers/students. Although some of the movements and alignments will vary between dance styles, I believe that my techniques may be adopted for a variety of belly dance styles.

I don't have pictures for everything (yet!), but I've tried to make my examples descriptive enough to visualize easily.

I gladly welcome any questions/feedback/constructive criticism.

Standing Posture

I believe posture is the keystone to good dance. If the posture is bad, the dancing will suffer. For this reason, it is the first thing I stress in my classes, and the thing I correct first in any one-on-one work.

Leg Positioning

When teaching men, I get them to stand with their feet straight down from their hips. When teaching women, they stand with their feet in from their hips. The feet point straight ahead. The difference between postures in men and women is a structural one. Women's pelvises and hips are broader, and their legs naturally angle in more sharply than do men's. So what I have my students do is stand in a way which is skeletally appropriate.

A slight bend or softness to the knees acts as a shock absorber for the body and adds fluidity to movement.

Common problems:

• Widespread feet - (Example here) Many students will stand with their legs open quite wide, a position which is aesthetically problematic. If feet are spread wider than hips, the audience's eye will be drawn to the feet. If the feet are narrower than hip width, the attention will be drawn to the hips. Since the focal point on the dance is on the torso and not the extremities, the posture should reflect this. If a student continues to stand wide-legged despite reminders, a prop may be required. Have the student hold a shoe or some other similarly-sized item between their knees during standing dance exercises. This will help them learn the proper positioning.
  
• Hyper-extended knees - (Example here) A student who hyperextends their knees is on his/her way to joint injury. Their weight should be borne by their muscles and not their joints. Have them stand with their arms hanging down relaxed at their sides. Tell them to look at the line of their elbow. It is not locked out. Their legs should have a similar amount of give. They should be standing so that they are in a constant state of readiness: ready to hop lightly in any direction.

The Line of the Back

The back should be straight with a very slight tuck of the pelvis. The torso is the focal point of this dance, so it should be lengthened in order to provide a larger working area.

Common Problems:

• "Duck Butt": (Example here) Many people stand with an over-arched back, a posture I refer to as "duck butt."
  • Injury Prevention - This backward tilt to the butt crunches down on vertebrae causing pain. This posture also often means that the abdomen is completely relaxed, making the back erector muscles doing all of the work in holding the body upright. This will add further strain to the back. If this is not corrected early, dance done with this posture will result in chronic back pain.
    
  • Kinesthetics - Duck butt limits the range of movement of the hips.
    
  • Aesthetics - The duck butt posture is the stereotypical "sexy" posture for women in western culture, and is often caused by the wearing of high-heeled shoes. Although the position certainly does emphasize the roundness of the butt, from a dance aesthetic perspective, it is problematic. Duck butt shortens the length of the back, giving a smaller working area. It also makes the lower abdomen hang loosely. During hip movements like vertical figure eights, even thin dancers will often show large creases of back fat. A longer, straighter back lets body fat be more evenly distributed, revealing the workings of the muscles beneath.

Ribcage

The ribcage should be lifted up away from the pelvis, lengthening equally through the abdomen and back. The ribcage isn't only on the front half of the body. The ribs in the back should also be raised, so that the entire ribcage sits level. Once again, this produces a lengthening effect, and makes the waist look smaller. It also engages the abdominal muscles, pulling the belly in and supporting the internal organs.

Common Problems

• Ribs Tilted Up: The ribs will certainly end up in this position during a multitude of isolation exercises (especially with backbends!). However, from a basic stance, what happens here is the upper back slides down toward the butt, pushing back fat along with it. Paired with duck butt and an unlifted chest, this will really crunch down on the lower back (example here) And here is an example of a backbend done without the chest being sufficiently lifted. Ouchies!
  
• Ribs Tipped Forwards and Down: Also known as the common slouch! Often accompanied by forward-rolled shoulders, this looks like a forward lean, and hunches the back and shortens up the length of the abdomen, making belly fat bulge outwards, trapped between the ribcage and the pelvis.

Shoulders

Shoulders should be lifted up, then rolled back and down. The end result is a longer body line.

Common Problems

• Shoulders Slouched Forward: (Example here) Often accompanied by a downward tilt of the ribs, this is often a result of self-confidence issues. This postural problem causes in drooping breasts and neck strain. Have student roll shoulders up, back, and down again. Tell them to pull their shoulderblades down into their back pockets.
  
• Shoulders Up By Ears: (Example here or a funny example here) This is often caused by tension, and students with this problem often look very stiff in their movements. Their necks also disappear into their shoulders, completely obfuscating any head movements. Head movements may also cause muscle pulls in the neck with this posture. As for the above scenario, have student roll shoulders up, back, and down again. Tell them to pull their shoulderblades down into their back pockets. You may also get them to imagine their neck and shoulders are to resemble the shape of a wire coat hanger.

Head

Head should be centred on spine, with chin level, and ears in line with shoulders. Have students imagine the centre of the top of their head is attached by a string to the ceiling.

Common Problems

• Double Chin: This is caused when the chin is pulled too far back along the centre line. Have student relax jaw line, resting tongue lightly behind their top front teeth. Let chin float forward slightly, enough to release the tension under the chin and along the throat.
  
• Head Shoved Forward: This position often accompanies chronic pain as the muscles in the back of the neck are forced to bear all the weight of the head. Some floor exercises may be helpful in correcting this, especially the corpse asana from yoga in which the length of the neck should be relaxed along the floor.

Arms

Arms should frame the body and not hide it. Get students to imagine there is a grapefruit in their armpits. At least this much space should reside between arm and torso. Arms should be "alive" and not flopping lifelessly.

Common Problems (I hope my names will be descriptive enough!)

• Hamster hands or Begging Puppy Paws: Results when dangle to the front while elbows are sunken in to the ribcage/chest.
  
• Dead Bird: Arms are held out to side with limp elbows close to or touching ribcage. Hands hang like dead things off the wrists.
  
• Driving the Big Bus: Looks like student is hanging onto a big, invisible steering wheel.

Hands

Learning to relax the hands while not letting them hang like dead things is often a tricky process for students. Props can once again be used to help find aesthetically-pleasing hand postures. With a soft bend to the wrist, a student can hold a coin edgewise between thumb and middle finger. This position makes the hands look long and elegant.

Common Problems

• The Fist: Some students clench their hands into fists. Paired with arm problems, this can make them look like amateur pugilists.
  
• The Talon: Many students fill their hands with enormous amounts of tension.
  
• Dead Hands: Students' hands appear to be completely devoid of nerves and strength, and flop disturbingly when the rest of the body moves.

Soon to come: Teaching basic movements....

Comments

slouchy shoulders

[elanya.livejournal.com]

As awell endowed lady, I willadd that gravity can also factor into this, but hat building core/pectoral/abdominal strenght to help support boob weight helps as well.

Re: slouchy shoulders

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely! I never meant to imply that slouching was the main reason for oranges in socks! Heh....

Re: slouchy shoulders

[elanya.livejournal.com]

*nod* My point was mostly that over the long term, other exercises might help, as well as just being aware of it. I'm having to fight with my posture a lot these days - it is tiring :p

TEACHING DANCE

[(Anonymous)]

Completely clear and concise, and elegantly written without the writing getting in the way of the message. I have been experimenting with video teaching, and find it is very effective when added to traditional methods; consider adding a DVD to your book which will make everything even more clear, and also get you an additional audience, as well as Youtube exposure.

Re: TEACHING DANCE

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

Very helpful for this BD noob-- thanks. Referred by wushi, and I've recently added you to my flist.

Hi! I'm Chris.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! And welcome. If you haven't already, check out bellydancing.

Re: Slouching shoulders

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The pictures I chose for illustration are the ones I happen to have handy. If I ever getting around to publishing the finished product, it will include my own photos of dancers of various builds. And maybe I'll even eventually get a DVD to go along with it. That'd be pretty keen, but a daunting task....

And yes, there will always be exceptions to the rule, as you mention regarding osteoporosis.

I will be sure to include a caveat in my final product. There are things I personally cannot do because of my own strange skeletal structure (my hips rotate inwards, so I have no natural turn-out), so I'm personally familiar with anatomical variations due to body structure, illness, etc.