Hello teachers!

Does anyone have any good barre or center exercises for getting dancers up out of their hips in pointe and ballet? Some kids in the class get it and stand out, others just think lifting their shoulders work. I need a better way of showing!

Thank you!

"Lift yourself out of your tights!"

It's more than just a visual, there are mechanical things that must happen in the body to attain proper placement.

hands on correction, floor exercises to strengthen the core, along with visuals will help. The best thing to do as far as barre work is put them back in 1st position facing the barre. Lots of very simple exercises with a strong focus on feeling and correcting placement. When the students can maintain placement through out these simple exercises you can then gradually return them to facing sideways and 5th position.

Due to lack of body flexibility (short ligaments in my hips too) I've had a problem with this. My teachers used to tell me I was "sitting" while standing at the barre. I found it useful to watch myself sideways in the mirror, and tuck under, then release. Sensing and seeing the two extremes gave me a better way to find the mid-point. I also did leg on the barre stretching. Being on pointe made me more aware too, as I activated my glutes to turn-out from the hips. I could then see my knees and feet in better alignment, by holding onto the barre with both hands, when facing the mirror.

Students who are naturally flexible (as in perfect fifth the first time) probably won't have this issue, as their body is well-aligned to begin with.

I had a teacher who had us visualize suspenders attached to our hip bones. She'd say to "pull up" on those suspenders.

I would also add that it's sometimes it's easier to teach this kind of body awareness with a student wearing flat shoes first.

I tell them to imagine balloons inflating inside their joints. Not just their hips, but starting at the ankles and going to the very top vertebrae.

^ Carabosse, I like the inflating balloons image!

A quick thought before I go to bed. This is not the whole story, but I just used this to help a student who tends to sit in her hips. The whole class got it -- a real aha moment.

If you sit in your hips on your supporting side, there is a bone which you can feel with your hand on the outside of the upper thigh. I believe it is the greater trochanter of the femur (the part that sticks out from the thigh bone). It is really prominent in 5th, but you can feel it in lots of positions. And it's just as easy to get it to disappear, by "pulling up" on that side. While it may take time to work consistently that way, grasping the feel of it is relatively easy.

To be continued... Good night!

Thanks for all the tips!

I use images, but since they only seem to be working for a few, I need a more hands on approach.

NDow, that's a great tip, I'll try that!

Keep 'em coming teachers, it's great to hear what works for others.

I do hands on, because this is a 'feel thing'. I also ask students to imagine an air pocket (like a tire tube filled with air) going around their body that separates the upper and lower body.

TappityTap wrote:

Thanks for all the tips!

I use images, but since they only seem to be working for a few, I need a more hands on approach.

NDow, that's a great tip, I'll try that!

Keep 'em coming teachers, it's great to hear what works for others.

For arms, I hold the students shoulder in place and then pull their arm away from the joint as if I'm trying to pull it off so they can feel how much they need to lengthen. You could do this and then tell them to do that in their hips as well.

I agree with the above post, it does help to have them understand how lengthening out of a join should actually feel.

I also find that many students, in tendu a la seconde for example, used to sitting in the hip will make the correction and feel some weight on the toe in seconde so they assume that is incorrect - when in fact it is a necessary alignment adjustment that will improve as they get stronger.