 the male dancer
written by David H.               on 28.03. at 19:03:11 - as answer to: Re: I Took The T-Shirt Off by DancingDoc>It really is important for your ballet teacher to see your body fully. In addition, it will become self-evident to any serious dancer that the dancer himself needs to see his body and how it moves as he attempts to advance his skills.>I'm always surprised by guys in ballet classes who have these long t-shits that cover their pelvis. Sure it hides the parts that we were told never should be exposed to others, but it also hides the pelvis and its placement, and the way we carry our weight. I cannot possible know if my upper body weight, a huge part of my weight load, is properly placed over the supporting legs. If you tilt the pelvis too much one way or the other, you're out of balance and off your center. In an attitude, you have to be sure of your pelvis placement, with the weight properly centered, to maintain the position.>I had some medical/surgical problems a few years ago, and my physicians and surgeons told me I'd never be able to dance ballet again. They wanted me to learn how to operate a wheelchair by a straw in my mouth.>Today I try to take as many ballet classes a week as I can...as many as six a week. I know my center is still off, and may never come back. But if I couldn't see my body in the mirror and constantly check its position, I would not be happy. I wear white or grey deancewear, despite the fact that I still need to loose about 10 (OK 20) pounds, just so there's better contrast of my muscles and my placement.>In short, I have to tell any of my fellow danseurs that you should never hide the body, but wear as form-fitting dancewear as possible, so you can see how you are placed, centered, etc. Any serious dancewr in your class will understand this need. >Keep dancing! DancingDoc>>>Yester day in my dance class I took the plunge and removed the t-shirt so that all I was wearing was a pair of tights and a leotard. I have always worn the tights but I had never taken the t-shirt off. Although scary and very revealing, it really helped me to see what I needed to fix and what I was doing right. Thanks for all the positive advice! >DancingDoc I agree with you completely about wearing form-fitting clothes. I think it helps tremendously. I'm sure you have much more knowledge in the dancing feild than I do, but when I read your advice I got the impression that you should depend on the mirror to "see" your placement rather than by feeling your center, which personally I think is innaccurate. Obviously you have to start somewhere and that somewhere usually is the mirror, but it sems that you should try and find your center and correct placement w/out the mirror. If you fall out of a pirouette, then you know you weren't center. When you nail a perfect tripple, you should be able to memorize that exact position so you can hit it every single time. I think if you rely to much on the mirror it will often decieve you. Is this correct or am I way off-base?~David Answers to this message: |
