Standing on one leg? Piece of cake! Now take your hands off the barre…
Having good balance in ballet is as essential as breathing. However unlike breathing, it doesn’t just happen! Your body needs to learn specific techniques to develop a strong sense of balance that you can rely on in your ballet classes. Once you have mastered the basic principles, you will be able to put them into practice and sustain that balance you have always dreamed about!
1. Check Your Alignment
Having your body correctly aligned is the key to balancing well – like stacking blocks to build a tower.
Try creating an internal checklist for yourself. Once you have positioned your weight right over the ball of the standing foot, allow your thoughts to travel upward through your body. You should sense that all muscles are engaged and drawing towards your centre. This means that your legs muscles are pulling up, your turnout muscles are wrapping around to maintain stability and your pelvis is collecting up towards your belly button.
The top of your body should also be working towards your centre. Your shoulders are pressing down and your ribcage has a connection to your pelvis. It helps to think of your waist as the point of connection, like two plugs of an extension cord in the moment when they are pushed together. When this connection is strong and solid, bonding though the centre of the body, balance is achievable.
Lastly, focus just above eye level with the chin slightly lifted, giving your balance a regal quality.
2. Create Lines of Energy
The line of energy through your body should be overwhelmingly “up”, albeit with a strong connection to the floor. (This is not to be confused with allowing your shoulders or ribcage to rise, they should maintain strong and bonded to your core.)
This is about visualising a central line that runs directly through the body like a golden thread, pulling the crown of your head towards the ceiling and anchoring your feet down towards the floor. This continuous two-way pull helps to hold you in equilibrium, while also ensuring that we never “settle” into a balance.
3. Keep Breathing
A balance is not actually performed in stillness – it is a living, breathing position. True balance is always in flux. You need to keep breathing and moving, adapting to minuscule changes in your body and the atmosphere.
Breathe in and hold your breath, notice how your body becomes tense and perhaps heightened a sense of anxiety. As soon as you breathe out it is easier to work your body and focus your mind. Approaching a balance with a sense of calm will help keep a rational perspective and allow your muscles to work correctly rather than letting negative thoughts bring you down – literally.
Finally, learning to balance is a process that takes time and discipline. If you fall off a balance, take a moment to analyse which element may not have been applied. The best way to learn to balance is by falling off a lot of balances! As the Japanese proverb says – Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight.
Let’s keep practicing together. See you in our BalletBody studios!
Previous