How to do tilts in dance
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Tips and Tricks for Dance - ~How to Improve Your Tilts/Developès~
Tips and Tricks for Dance
Non-Fiction
Assorted tips for dancers of all levels.
This book will include tips on Flexibility, turns, aerials, and much more.
#advice #ballet #contemporary #dance #hiphop #jazz #lyrical #tips #tricks
by starlitdesire
Hi everyone, it's Emmy! (Obviously)
Today's tip is all about tilts/developès.
• Having a good turnout can help in getting a 180 degree angle in you tilts/Developès. To improve your turnout, sit in frog (lay on your stomach then bend your legs up like they would be in a pliè or in butterfly, trying to get your hips, knees and feet pressed to the floor.)
• Your middle split also helps with having your tilt/Developè flat. Work on your middle split until it's flat, then add a yoga block, book or put your foot on a step to stretch your over split. This will make having your leg at the 180 degree angle easier. You could also try a wall split. Sit facing the wall in straddle, then push yourself up to the wall, you will eventually get your straddle flat, therefore making tilts/Developès easier.
*REMEMBER: Make sure you are always turning out from your hips, as turning out from the knees or feet can result in injuries.
• To get your tilts/developès higher, sit in straddle and lean over to either side, tucking your arm in front of your leg. You can also prop your leg up on a yoga block/book/step for a deeper stretch, eventually leading to an over split in your tilt.
• SQUEEZE THAT TUSH! This may sound weird, but it does help with getting your leg higher. My dance teacher told me to do this in my tilts/Developès and they improved instantly. Remember to use your abs too.
• Remember that where you raise your knee to before you Developè your leg in the tilt is where your leg is going to end up, so if you raise your knee to the corner, it is going to go to the corner, but if you raise your knee to your side, at a 180 degree angle, your leg is going to Developè there.
• And as always, NEVER GIVE UP! It took me a year to get an over split in my tilt and to get it at a (nearly) 180 degree angle, and I had two stretch classes a week and I worked on it myself at home, it all depends on you putting in the effort to work on things by yourself and not just in dance class.
THANKS FOR READING AND HAPPY EASTER!! 🐰🍫
Xx Emmy xX
~~~~
QOTC: What is your favourite trick to do in dances?
AOTC: Not really a trick, but I love to do a la secondes (spelling?) and turns.
Remember to leave tip requests or any advice that I can include in chapters/do a chapter about.
You'll also like
Ambiguous dance moves: zoukability — LiveJournal
Love 'em or Hate 'em: 6 Polarizing Dance MovesAuthor: Laura Riva
Original: http://www.
danceplace.com/grapevine/love-em-or- hate-em-6-polarizing-dance-moves/ Italics: translator's notes ;)
The original article is certainly helpful, but the advice in it seems to me quite obvious to a more or less experienced partner. Therefore, I supplemented it with my extended comments.
In any pair dance there are several movements that inevitably divide the partners into two groups: some love these movements, while others hate them. So what should a partner do? How can you tell if you've got a partner who loves cambrai or one who wants you to never, never, NEVER do it? What signs indicate a lover of rotations or their opponent?
What are these couple dance moves that girls either love very much or hate deeply?
1. Cambrai
Some partners love them - fast, deep, many times in a row. Others feel a looming fear as soon as they are led to prepare for Cambrai.
Cambrai is a beautiful and controversial dance move. Cambrai is very scary for girls who are afraid of injury, as well as for those who have already had a negative experience.
Especially frightening fast, deep or sudden Cambrai.
If you are a cambray partner, start slowly. See how your partner responds to gentle preparation and gentle tilt. If she answers well, try to go deeper. If she still answers well, and you have control and technique, you can lead to a faster cambra.
However, you must be careful and immediately stop the cambrai if the lady...
- says she doesn't want to cambrai
- grabs your shoulders
- is not being led
There may be many reasons for a lady not to do a cambrai: fear, injury, lack of confidence in technique or surroundings, the quality of your lead or connection. If she "doesn't go" further or doesn't do it at all - respect her abilities and don't try to force her to do it.
2. Lots and lots of spins
Oh, spins are my old favorite. Many partners, like me, love multiple spins (correctly executed).
But there is another side - those who get dizzy or who just don't like to spin a lot. And sometimes a bad floor makes even fans of rotations suffer.
You have gone too far if you...
- feel that the partner is resting on the dribble
- notice that she is losing balance
- see her smile disappear
- You should not force your partner into a deep plie to the floor. Not all girls have healthy knees, and not all physical training makes it easy to do this.
- I would not advise to lead a partner in cambra to the floor or too much on the back leg for the same reason: there can be a strong load on the knees, well, just not everyone has enough physical strength to do it easily and get up.
- Don't touch your partner's face! Never and never!!! Only a few do it, but it always infuriates! Not only my opinion. Firstly, the face is, as it were, intimate, you should not touch it without the permission of your partner.
Secondly, it is unhygienic, some people get acne after that. - The world of connection with a partner. What does it depend on? From connecting with yourself. How to feel a partner if you don't feel your own body?.
. - Control of your body: muscle tone, ability to relax, control of your body structure, general feeling and awareness of your body.
- Feeling and awareness of oneself as a whole. After all, our body and consciousness are interconnected, and the state of one is reflected in the state of the other. By acting on one, we have an effect on the other, and vice versa. Both in a positive and negative way. What a person has inside is how he moves.
enjoy spinning, visibly excited after a coolly executed move.
When in doubt, use the normal amount of rotation in a dance: no more than one sequence of rotations in a row in a relatively short amount of time. A fan of spins will not mind if there are not so many of them, but their opponent will be very outraged if there are more of them.
Be especially careful with spins with a tilted frame or with an offset axis - the partner may not be able to do them correctly and come out of them competently.
This is a complex coordinating movement. Who does not believe - forward to rotate in an inclination of 10 revolutions in each direction! And yet, many partners do not know how to properly lead to this and disstabilize the partner themselves.
3. Lifts
Any movement in which you support your partner's weight while her feet are on the floor is a lift. Combinations of supports and cambrai can be very good, but it all depends on how much weight of the partner you take on.
If you are a strong, reliable partner, some partners may like to support you. And others - no.
If you lead to support and the lady doesn't go down, it means that she doesn't like the move, or the way/where you do it doesn't seem safe to her. If the partner's smile disappears at the exit of the movement, this also means that she does not like supports. If this happens, don't do it again. A good dance does not require supports.
Lifts require good technique and can be dangerous.
If you love supports, it's important to start simple, slowly, and only with the right partners. No matter how much a novice partner loves supports, you can't do them with her. The partner may be injured - and she will blame you for this.
You also need to be sure that if something goes wrong, you have enough physical strength to safely pull your partner out of the movement.
A partner can love support and at the same time be completely unable to do it. For example, she may not know that in some lifts she must hold the press, hold a rigid frame, she may not understand her zone of control and responsibility in movement. Both of you could get hurt.
I would also like to highlight here counterbalances . because the principle is similar. Recently, counterbalances have become very fashionable, partners insert them here and there, completely not focusing on their technique of execution and the level of the girl, and many girls sin by suddenly jumping into counterbalances themselves.
For which, however, they themselves rake, because. not always the partner has time to react.
Stop. There is a lead on the counterbalance! A lead that allows you to clearly understand whether this is a counterbalance or something else. The partner must first be put on the half-fingers, lift her frame and only then lead to the counterbalance. The girl understands, prepares and then gives you her weight at the right time. If you don't do this, then you don't know how to counterbalance. Throwing a girl into counterbalance immediately without preparation is a gross mistake. If the partner does not understand, does not give you her weight when you asked, then you do not need to lead her by force or say: "This is a counterbalance, baby, give me the weight!"
4. Very sensual moves
With the rise of zouk, sensual bachata and kizomba, many dancers have come to love this very sensual trend. But some are absolutely not. For them, it feels like harassment.
Sensuality should be mutual on both sides.
This includes such manifestations as taking the partner's hand and running it over her chest or a sweaty, too close hug.
I personally hate it when my hand is run over my chest and any variations when my hand needs to touch something. I feel like I'm in a strip club. (Totally agree, it's disgusting. Sometimes they even try to run my hand over their hair or face).
If your partner's body becomes rigid or immobile when you do something sensual, then she does not like it. Never drag your partner into a close hug. You open your arms and invite the girl, and she herself comes as close as she feels comfortable.
If your partner does not reciprocate a close hug, then she does not want it. The same applies to head-to-head contact: if you notice that a girl is trying to avoid head-to-head contact and moves away, STOP! She doesn't want this!
And vice versa, if the partner responds to the invitation to close contact, then most likely she likes everything.
Manual from Bruno Gallardo:
"Enter as if you are going to kiss the girl for the first time, but are not yet sure of her readiness. Reduce the distance, but not to zero, but by 80-90 percent. If the girl wants - the rest she will make a move towards you. If not, a slight backward movement will tell you that this time is not."
5. Athletic Movements
I have a friend who is very fit and loves all kinds of physically challenging movements. But at the same time, she is pinned by the most difficult fitness workouts and crazy tricks on the pole.
When partners make physically difficult movements with her on the dance floor, she is happy. She likes fizuha, it turns her on.
On the contrary, many people do not like this kind of movement. If anyone else likes them at all.
If a person dances at his physical limit, then trying to take him beyond the limits is useless and this can cause injury. Well, many simply do not want a dance that looks like physical education, they want a soft, neat connection.
One can easily determine which category a partner falls into by how she reacts to complex movements. If she does not complete the movement, interrupts it, or looks tense during the movement, she clearly does not like what is happening. Reduce the level of physical activity in the dance.
Often the partner can still lose connection if you put too much energy into the dance. You may notice that they slow down or slip out of your hands.
And those who like it harder will enjoy the dance, move comfortably and enjoy the moment with you.
What are physically complex movements?
First, you need to consider the level of the partner. If she is a beginner or intermediate, then Cambrai can be difficult for her. Deep cambrai or too harsh. Off-axis rotations, etc. If the partner has been dancing confidently and for a long time, then the complexity is added by the speed and sharpness of any movements.
Physically complex movements that need to be trained for a long time and have good physical training for them: rotations in plie on one leg, acrobatics in the air, deep cambra, where you need to keep yourself well with the abs and buttocks.
Any acrobatics where you lift a partner into the air is inappropriate: 1. without proper training both dancers; 2. at a party.
Acrobatics requires knowledge of safety and performance rules from both! But for some reason, there is always a category of self-confident partners who believe that if they know how to do support, but the girl does not, then this is normal, nothing is required of her there. This is a stupid and dangerous delusion. There are especially many such partners in the hustle...
Acrobatics is mainly used in the show, after careful training, and on an empty dance floor where you definitely won't hit anyone. A social party is a bad place to perform acrobatics, the risk of injuring the partner and the people around is too great. And we are still not very good at looking around.
6. Optional: endurance test
This is not a specific movement, but rather a general dance style.
Some partners enjoy a complex dance that tests their technique from start to finish.
However, these are in the minority.
Most girls enjoy a well-balanced dance that doesn't wear them out. There must be room for relaxation, musicality and some play in the dance.
If you feel your partner is lagging behind, making a harder connection, or breathing heavily, slow down. Give her a break and change her set of movements. It will most likely make her happier.
An endurance test is to take the movements from points 1, 2, 3 and 5 and fill the entire dance with them, without pauses.
Pinball partner - related article.
For those who are unsure
If you are a partner and have difficulty reading body language, there are several "safe" options for you. First, you can ask ahead of time about things like cambra and supports. This will give you an open answer about whether your partner likes what you are doing or not.
Second, be careful. If you are not sure what their reaction means, if they do not like something, do not make this movement.
It certainly won't hurt anyone. Or, if you need confirmation, try again to do this thing, but more carefully and more slowly.
If after two attempts you are still unsure, I would refrain from trying again until you know for sure whether your partner likes it or not.
There are a few more things that a partner should not do in the dance:
Polish your technique and be sensitive to each other!
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Announcements of all new articles in group Zoukability
Dive into the depths of the dance. Muscles: zoukability — LiveJournal
Author: Murasheva NadezhdaFriends, I am starting a block of articles about the "underwater" part of the dance. We will explore the topic in more depth, how to learn to move beautifully and plastically and hear your partner. If you don't go to some third-party classes and master classes outside of social dances, then these topics are almost not covered in the lessons. In good classes, the correct work of the muscles is sorted out, but this still does not add up to a comprehensive picture.
In one of my previous articles, I likened dance to a big iceberg, the main part of which is hidden under water and opens up to us as we delve into the knowledge of dance, movement, and our body.
When a non-dancing person looks at the dance from the side, he sees the tip of the iceberg - its external manifestation. A beginner dancer continues to see only this top for a long time (and sometimes it ends with this), because the dance for him still remains a set of movements - an external form. Even if these are movements from an advanced lesson. Beautiful, cool, complex, spectacular. "I want that too." Growing dancers begin to master all these complex movements, go into narcissism and show off through figures. When I look at dancers at parties it's 90% of the time I see exactly this - chasing the outer form. Sometimes tops dance like that. Dancers think in figures. But this is only the surface ABOVE the water! All the most interesting is deeper.
And what is there, in the depths, "under water"?
..
So, today we will begin to consider the level closest to the surface of the iceberg - muscle control . It is also the easiest to understand and use. When you better understand what muscles are performing movements, what to follow, your movements will become clearer, cleaner, more conscious. The movements that you learned by visually copying after the teacher will become clear from the inside: what works, why and what you need to make it even better.
Why is this level closest to the surface? Because muscle ownership determines how your movements will look (but not only from this), because your balance, rotations, cambrai and much more depend on muscle tone.
And it is the simplest because it is much easier to pump up muscles than to learn isolation, relaxation and finer sensations. Muscle training is just a physical activity, albeit hard sometimes. Any dancer can pump up the press, which, however, will not teach him plasticity and connection with a partner.
Muscles not only help us perform movements correctly and beautifully, but also protect us from injuries, which is why it is so important to develop our physical form.
One of my favorite themes is that if you just go to the gym and pump something there, it doesn't help you dance properly at all. In addition to having a pumped up muscle, you must learn how to use it in dance movements, keep it in good shape on the machine, without flying out of your attention from the dance and connection, otherwise your work in the gym is useless. This is a characteristic feature of the dance. In the gym, we learn to tense our muscles strongly and relax 10-50 times. We leave the room and forget about them.
In dancing, you need to constantly keep in good shape and control many different muscles at once. This is a lot less tension than in the gym, but getting used to this state of constant soft tone can be very difficult. The dancer must have good control over his entire body in dynamics and statics, must be able to control tension and relaxation (stability and plasticity), feel his individual muscles (isolation), must have acquired the skill of holding passive attention at several points at once (back, abs, feet as minimum), which should not distract from the dance itself, connection, music and the surrounding space.
Note: The article does not take into account physical limitations due to injuries, hernia, protrusions, etc.
PRESS
Upper, lower and oblique abdominal muscles.
From an anatomical point of view, the abdominal muscles give stability to our spine (in fact, this is somewhere around 50% of success). - Balance, rotation, stability, yes, yes
Using the press greatly reduces the load on the back when bending and tilting, helps to build the axis on rotations. And therefore, a non-working press creates an overload of the lower back and other parts of the spine, which is fraught with muscle and nerve clamps, displacement of the spinal discs, hernia and chronic back pain, especially among zuckers. And with a broken press, you will be chatting on all rotations.
The oblique muscles of the abdomen give us plasticity, beautiful tilts to the sides, light soft work of the body in a circle and, of course, additional stability in difficult positions of the body.
If we talk about the zouk, we actively use the press in all movements with body inclinations (cambrai, headworks, bones, etc.), on rotations, on counterbalances. Wherever we need stability, a strong body, a straight back (in particular, the lower back). The press is collected on all supports and "falls" on a plank-type partner so that the body does not fall through. Sometimes, for even greater stability and inclusion of the press, it is necessary to twist the pelvis forward even more (a la Michael Jackson) to fix the body even more strongly. I use it on cambra preps, bone necks, long spins. But you need to understand that the press does not tense up in the dance with an impenetrable shield as before the opponent's blow (then the dance would be too hard and exhausting). The work of the press is rather similar to what happens in Pilates: the navel is pulled up to the spine and remains there in a passive tone always. If necessary, the lower or upper press is additionally strengthened.
Interestingly, a number of common movements in zouk require isolated possession of the upper and lower abs. So, for example, when working with the chest (headworks, etc.), we weaken the upper press, but firmly hold the lower one - for stability, balance, so as not to fall apart.
Alas, even with trained abs, many dancers don't use them. They make movements with a relaxed stomach, which is why they fall apart, lose structure in the body. Using the abdominal muscles should be a habit. Spent, automatic. However, like all other muscles, which will be discussed further. In order not to think every time about all the muscles that need to be included.
It is common to see dancers in a position of constant arching in the lower back, even just standing still. This is an indicator that they do not use the press at all;) In the position of the lumbar deflection, it is possible to draw in the stomach a little, but it is impossible to fully use the press. Which is logical, because when in one place there is contraction, tension (in the lower back), then on the other side there is stretching and relaxation.
Another common mistake is the constant deflection under the shoulder blades, which is what they say "remove the ribs" in ballet lessons. This is a deflection above the waist, which means that in this case the upper press does not turn on and, as a rule, the back muscles in the thoracic region and sometimes between the shoulder blades are strongly clamped. It is very difficult to get rid of this habit. Usually combined with a lumbar deflection. Ribs stick out in front, buttocks in the back, and somewhere in the middle in a bend, a poor, clamped spine.
Basicly everyone knows how to pump the upper and lower press. There are a lot of options. I will only add that, firstly, you should not put your hands on your neck and try to lift yourself with a jerk of your arms or head - this is technically incorrect and dangerous, hypertension is created in the neck, and in fact you lift yourself with your neck, not with a press. It is better to keep your hands on your chest or on your stomach.
If the press is weak, then it will be more difficult, yes. But now you do not deceive yourself. And secondly, if you swing the lower press by raising your legs, then there should be no deflection in the lower back. If the lower back sags, it means that you do not have enough strength and abs and back, and instead of the lower press, you again overload your back. Press your back completely to the floor and bend your knees - this will be better. And yet, given the peculiarities of the dance work of the muscles, it is better to do all exercises slowly. No need to chase the number of movements. Let them be only 10, but each stretched into 10 accounts, for example.
The oblique abdominal muscles are trained with various twists and side bends. Twisting should be smooth, on the muscles, not jerky. Turns are carried out from the waist, the hips should not turn anywhere - this is important and a common mistake. So that the hips do not exactly spin, you can do twists while sitting on the priest (and at the same time keep a straight back).
More side bends - both fast (strength training) and slow (stretching, endurance). On tilts to the side, both of your shoulders should look into the mirror, and not at the floor - otherwise you train other muscles, and the obliques remain undeveloped. The chin on the side slopes also looks into the mirror, and not at the floor.
I would like to draw attention to the following points in the photo:
Look at how straight she holds her neck. The head does not move forward and does not throw back. That's right, that's the way it should be.
This position can be made easier by bending your knees and rounding your back a little (the press still works, it will be easier). But the option in the photo with a straight back is more complicated and better because the back muscles will also work this way. And the legs extended at the knees are heavier, more difficult to hold them.
BUTTOCKS
There are a lot of gluteal muscles, and they will work differently depending on the movements.
Therefore, the expression "swing ass" is somewhat abstract. But if you dance only social dances, then you should be primarily interested in the gluteus maximus muscle and the ability, if necessary, to keep (!) It in suspense during dance movements.
The effect of using the gluteal muscle is about the same as that of the press - stabilization of the core. Here it is only necessary to understand that the press directly stabilizes our top (spine), and the buttocks stabilize the pelvis, that is, the bottom (legs, hips, lower back). A retracted buttock limits the mobility and rotation of the hip joint, and the position of the hip joint affects the position of the lower back as well - everything is interconnected. By pulling your butt in, you limit the stride length available to you, this helps to fight drifts in the dance, especially on turns and spins.
What do you need to remember? The fact that if you pumped up a big beautiful ass in the gym, and in the dance she is always relaxed, then there is zero sense in her! Amen.
To dance, you just need to be able to pull it in strongly, "squeeze a coin" between the buttocks. Well, to maintain this position for a while - it's easier here than with the press.
Regular squats won't do very well here, they just increase the volume of the buttocks and thighs. Much better are leg raises while lying on your stomach, and even better are real bodily tasks in dance: ballet exercises in which you always need to keep your butt. For example, ballet plies with toned buttocks, tandu and all other happiness. The bar is still very good, if done correctly, retract and twist the pelvis forward.
But this is the wrong plank! There should not be such a bend in the lower back, the pelvis needs to be scrolled forward more.
Correct bar . Compare body lines.
LONG BACK MUSCLES
In fact, this is a whole group of closely spaced muscles. It doesn't matter to us now. If you put your thumbs on your spine and step back a little, you will feel such powerful thick seals from the lower back and along the entire spine, passing into the muscles of the neck. It's them.
Muscles are potentially very strong and useful, and therefore sad if they are not working. You have no idea how much you are missing if you don't own them! And often they are non-working and at the same time they are still heavily clogged with incorrect operation of the case in principle. Then they have overstressed painful areas that you do not know how to control, you cannot relax them and strain them at will. Then it's even more difficult, but it's fixable.
The long back muscles pull the spine up and help keep it in a straight, straight position. Just as the abs keep the spine stable on one side, the long back muscles support it on the other side. When the teacher says "we stretch the top of the head up", then the activation of these particular muscles is meant. When you feel and control them, you feel a real physical upward pull. These same muscles keep the spine in good shape and when tilting the body, they also greatly affect your posture and body structure in the dance, the pattern of relaxation and tension, and this affects how absolutely all your movements look and feel.
An ordinary untrained person does not feel these muscles and does not understand what it means to reach up. "How to stretch, what?". Or maybe these muscles are even pumped up by boats, but it's still not clear how to reach up. This is fine. If you are working on yourself, then it is very important to learn how to master them. The technique of your rotations, centering, an even, stable exit from any rotations, without blockages, distortions, even with poor partner guidance, will depend on this, and in general your well-being and health will be better. When female partners fall heavily on their side in slopes and fall in turns - they do not work, there is nothing to build an axis with.
Learning to control the long back muscles is more difficult than mastering the abs or booty. First you need to remove the interference of posture, which prevent these muscles from being included in the work. Namely, you need to tighten your stomach, remove the deflections in the lower back and under the shoulder blades, remove the ribs sticking out forward.
If your ribs stick out, then you a priori cannot use your back muscles normally. They are chronically tight and shortened. Stand up to the wall and try to press against the wall with your whole back as much as possible, hold the position without the wall. And strive to press the lower back, even if it doesn’t work out completely.
The strength of the long back muscles is well trained by boats and tilt-ups with a straight back, but this does not teach you to reach up. For training the stretch itself, I have not yet come across anything more effective than ballet exercises in the middle of the hall. When you balance on one foot without the support of the barre, your body finds this stretch on its own, it gives stability. That's exactly what happened to me, and pretty quickly.
NECK
I wrote an article about headwork rules. You need to know these rules!
Headworks are not done with the neck muscles. But the muscles of the neck must be in a passive tone so that the cervical vertebrae are safe, so that they are not subjected to sudden traumatic movements, are not clamped or overextended.
The exercises are very simple: tilt the head up and down, turn left and right, tilt the ear to the shoulder. Exercises are best done slowly and with effort. It is also very useful to work with an isometric load: press your head through the resistance of your hands. All this at the same time is the prevention of cervical osteochondrosis, strengthens muscles and promotes the health of our cervical discs.
Typical mistakes of the zouk : throwing the head back, throwing the head back on a relaxed neck, headwork through the neck muscles, asymmetrical position of the head relative to the work of the body (the head falls forward or back and outweighs).
But besides this, there is a posture error that few people talk about, and it is inherent in many. This error is chin up. We know to reach up with the top of our head. That's just the muscles of the top of the head physically can not pull us up and have completely different functions. The crown is a purely visual landmark (just not everyone is aware).
But we don’t even know where the top of our head is and how it should feel. And so we raise our chin and stretch our foreheads up. In this position, the front muscles of the neck stretch upward, and the back muscles, which should work, are compressed. This is exactly the opposite of what the teacher wants from you. In addition to the physiological harm to your neck, this also prevents you from dancing: the stable position of the head is disturbed, the head begins to outweigh and fills you back. This is especially problematic on spins.
It is better to correct the position of the head at the mirror and through the same exercises, carefully monitoring the position of the head. The simplest and most effective: put your hands on the back of your head. Feel for two bones at the base of the skull with your thumbs and grab them as well. Press your head on your hands and your hands on your head. Holding these bones and maintaining pressure, stretch your head with your hands a couple of centimeters up.
LOIN
Dancers! The lower back in the dance should be straight! (Well, almost straight, - for the most meticulous) No deflections just like that in every movement. Deflection is not styling! Chronic backbend is a lump of tension that you live with, and hit it even more in all amplitude movements. Then it can turn into a hernia of the lumbar and pinched nerve endings.
As I wrote above, you need to pump more lower abs, and activate the abdominal muscles to align the lower back and hip joint. In addition to this, it is very necessary to learn how to sit on the sitting bones with a flat back. This is generally a mandatory minimum for the normal posture of any non-dancing person. When you can just sit straight, then we go into the fold to the legs, be sure to stretch the lower back. It will be very gross. This is not a leg stretch, no need to dive head first. It is important to start folding towards the legs from the hip, trying to put the stomach and ribs on the legs.
At the same time, you can stretch your arms forward, this helps to stretch yourself.
The muscles of the lower back are also trained in different inclinations with a straight back. Also, be sure to keep your lower back pressed to the floor in all pumping exercises when you are lying on your back. Especially when it comes to abdominal exercises. And standing against the wall, we press the lower back against the wall! Out of habit, it will seem that you are hunched over, but in fact, sleeping muscles just turn on, and your back becomes straighter. Try to maintain this position yourself by checking yourself in the mirror.
serratus anterior
Depressor of the scapula. If your shoulders often rise, it means that she is not in good shape, and at the same time, the muscles of the neck and trapezium are probably clamped. If this muscle does not work, the female partners do not understand the lead well, and the partners do not know how to frame and twitch their arms a lot.
If the serratus anterior muscle is not in good shape, then the shoulder and shoulder blade are not the connecting link between the body and arms. The body moves by itself, and the arms and shoulders move by themselves, without coordination with the body. Connection without anterior dentate is snotty and twitchy (because with hands).
In the dance, you literally need to weld the shoulder blade to the ribs and leave it there forever. Difficult? Possibly)
You can come up with quite a few exercises to strengthen the anterior serratus. Mandatory condition: through "I can not" lower the shoulder blades. You can slowly raise and lower straight arms with a small weight, do rotations in the shoulder joint, you can stretch the elastic in different positions. The slats also pump the front gear well, just do not forget to press the shoulder blades down. All sorts of positions are good with an emphasis on the floor with your hands (I want to relax my shoulder, and then it will climb into my ear).
Rhomboid muscle
Muscle that brings the shoulder blades to the center. It affects the spread of the shoulders and the tone of the frame as well.
It is important that the muscle is in good shape, but not overstressed (!). Attempts to dance with the shoulder blades constantly gathered towards the center will kill all the plasticity in the thoracic region, and at the same time you will no longer feel the physical connection with the partner (where it is clamped, energy and subtle sensations do not pass there).
Actively activated by spreading the arms to the sides with the institution far behind the back, you can use weights, you can lie on your stomach. On your stomach, simply spread your straight arms to the sides and tear them off the floor as high as possible. If you wish, you can find many more options on the Internet.
When training the rhomboid muscle, watch the ribs, do not bend in the chest. It can be difficult)
LEGS
The fact that any dancer needs strong, trained legs is obvious.
And it would be strange to single out some individual muscles and say that they are the most necessary for social dances. All the muscles of the legs are somehow involved in performing various movements and maintaining balance. Everything is important here. Legs need to be trained in a complex and varied way. The health of your joints, especially your knees, depends on the condition of your legs (strength and stretching of the muscles). About them a little further.
It usually happens that dancers perform some kind of monotonous set of exercises that does not fully load their legs. This is not good, as you will be left with undeveloped places, the weakness of which will affect the quality of your movements and may even negatively affect the condition of your joints. For example, the most common leg exercises (lunges, squats, swings, half-toes, etc. - the basic set) usually do not pump the inner thigh muscles in any way. Ballet exercises, on the contrary, perfectly pump the back muscle group and adductors of the thigh, but load the muscles of the front and outer sides a little.
Pilates works very complex with the muscles of the legs (and the whole body).
Conclusion: you need to train your legs in a complex way.
Do not ignore any "heavy" unusual exercises, because "in dance I don't need it." Use both the non-reversible position of the feet in the exercises (feet parallel) and the reversible position (heels together, toes apart, knee joint over the toes, between the thighs "clamped piece of paper"). Stand on your toes and on your heels. Remember that you need to evenly pump muscles and stretch. Pumped, unstretched legs are stiff, clogged, prone to accidental sprains. Poorly pumped, but well stretched - very weak, prone to joint injuries, dislocations.
THIGH MUSCLES
The anterior and posterior thigh muscles are usually more or less trained even just in dance, without any additional effort. Although it is better, of course, to attach them and practice more. And if you often do some sports, then most likely they are already well developed in you.
Typical weaknesses of an ill-trained dancer are the muscles of the inner and outer sides of the thigh. And in vain, they perform important functions.
Adductors of the thigh - a bundle of internal muscles that bring the legs to the center. The tension of these muscles allows us to maintain balance very well, literally grow to a point in the floor. They help with balance even in tilted postures when the pelvis is turned back and it can be difficult to keep the tension in the gluteal muscles. And the legs in such positions continue to hold us, if they are strongly reduced to the center (at the same time, it is not at all necessary that the legs should stand close to each other). The adductors are best pumped with ballet and scissor exercises. At the same time, different internal muscles work in the reversible / non-reversible positions.
It's also very ugly when girls have a non-closing hole between their thighs.
About the outer surface of the thigh I would like to say that if you are not going to permanently raise your legs to the sides (it is not necessary in the soush), then their main purpose is to keep the knee joint in a stable position.
What's the matter here? If the thigh muscles are weak, then the knee joint can fall inward (X legs), and over time, from this position, you will have big problems with the knee ligaments. If in the neutral position your legs are straight, not an X, then this is good, but not enough.
I just wrote that the hip adductors help us balance. If two legs stand together, and through effort we press them against each other, then everything is fine, there should be no mistakes here. What if your feet are a little wider? This is the most common position for female partners when performing boneques and other things. Bring them together here, don't bring them together, all the same, 8 out of 10 girls' knees will come together to the center. This happens because the external thigh muscles are turned off, and there is also no habit and understanding. In fact, when we stand with our legs parallel, we need to carefully monitor the position of the knee. If we bring the adductors to the center to better hold ourselves, then the outer group of muscles should remain in good shape and “push” the knees a little to the sides.
This is necessary so that the knee remains exactly above the foot and does not fall inward.
That's what I'm talking about. Not a very bright example, but my own))) Feet at a distance, knees together.
It is very important, when performing any squat (plié) in any position of the legs, to ensure that the knee is clearly above the foot and does not fall either in or out.
SHIN MUSCLES
Shank = caviar, caviar = shank, strengthen the shins = pump calves? No, nifiga) This is a very limited perception.
Caviar needed. Calves help to confidently rise to the half-toes and stand on them for a long time, help to run, jump and land. But you won't get far with them.
Other muscles also influence the position of the foot, the names of which the ordinary dancer does not know and has never heard of. The position of your ankle will depend on the state of all the muscles of the lower leg, the balance both on the half-toes and on the full foot.
And the health of your knees will also depend on the position of your ankle. If the foot is turned inward or outward, or collapses on the outer or inner rib, and the knee is not above the foot (a typical social worker mistake: toes apart - knees forward), the cruciate ligaments of the knee joint will suffer, then pain will appear. By the way, the weakness of the calf muscles is the reason why the feet of the dancers in motion accidentally come into a clubfoot position.
Therefore, it is necessary to additionally strengthen the stabilizing muscles. located in the lower part of the lower leg and affecting the position and stability of the foot. Stretch and shorten the foot, rotate the feet in a circle, roll the feet on the inner and outer ribs, stand on the toes and on the heels (no one allowed me to stand on the heels in class, and by the way, this is quite difficult and includes the front of the lower leg), through resistance to turning the foot in and out. There are many exercises, they are all simple and just require method and perseverance.
A very effective exercise for the muscles from the foot to the thigh is to stand on one leg for a long time, just on a full foot. 5 minutes or more. At the same time, try not to sag on your hip and not substitute your free leg. It also helps a lot to stand on one leg on a balance circle (a round disk that staggers).
Mandatory rule for standing on half toes : the weight must be over the big and forefinger of the foot and in no case should it fall on the little toes. It also depends on the stabilizing muscles of the lower leg.
FOOT
The structure of the foot is very similar to that of the palm. She can be just as sensitive and mobile. Some professional dancers achieve this. An ordinary person hardly uses the muscles of the foot. Then the brain begins to perceive the muscles of the foot as one whole, the foot becomes like an iron shovel, rigid and inactive.
Due to the undeveloped feet, the position of the ankle is disturbed, the softness of movements is lost (the knees also suffer from this, yes), other muscles begin to clog, which try to compensate for the weakness of the feet (usually calves, thighs).
Feet are the foundation on which our whole building stands. If something is wrong with the foundation, it will inevitably cause distortions in other parts of the body: in the knees, hips, back, it can even affect the position of the head. And therefore it is important to develop the feet, increase their mobility, strength, plasticity and sensitivity.
Dancers' feet are often very clogged, especially those dancing in heels. Attempts to maintain balance on poorly trained legs lead to the fact that the dancers try to “grab the floor” with their feet - they overstrain the muscles of the foot, squeeze their fingers. From this foot can reduce. This is especially evident in the training exercises of ballet and jazz-modern: we get so used to straining our feet that where they need to be relaxed, we generally forget to do it, and our feet start to feel pain right in the exercises. On the one hand, this comes from the wrong technique of the foot, on the other hand, from the underdeveloped muscles.
Developed feet do not reduce. Well, the reasons may also be the lack of some microelements, etc. In social dance, a vivid example of tightness of the feet is when girls constantly dance on half-toes (in any shoes), practically without lowering their heels, and at the same time on bent knees. Looks ugly. This is how I dance here, it is very clearly visible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzpFeYB8nHc
Foot development exercises are far more than calf raises. It is necessary to move the fingers up, down and to the sides in isolation, lift the napkin with the toes of the foot, stretch the outer and inner surfaces. Foot massage is very useful, and for this purpose I really like a massage ball with spikes (it should be elastic, a wooden massage roller will also work). At first, I roll the ball lightly, until I feel a pleasant tickle and tingle from contact with the skin. This relaxes the tissues of the foot and stimulates blood circulation, relieving chronic tension. When the foot relaxes a little, the sensations are dulled, I start pushing the ball through the foot in different places in order to act on a deeper level.
So you can find especially painful areas and suppress them longer. After such a foot massage, the balance becomes better and the legs become softer.
Here is an example of how to wake up dormant foot muscles. I made up my own mind based on what I read. I was not given this in any class. Someone will not succeed at all, someone will feel new sensations in a couple of minutes.
That's all for this article. This is a review article. Train, study your body, ask questions.
On VK you can send me your dance video for analysis, I will make a storyboard with errors and detailed comments, where you have technical errors in the sound, and where there are crookedness and obliqueness associated with the work of your body. I'll tell you what to do, how to work. I can record a detailed video answer with exercises for you. I wrote about it here: https://vk.com/wall599099_11435
I wrote this article for a very long time. I got a lot of different classes, I began to conduct thematic seminars about the work of the body in dance.
