Alignment and placement has to be one of the most frustrating things in a ballet class, yet one of the most fundamental things. It seems that one minute it's there and the next time you attempt the same movement it's gone. Throughout my ballet training placement is one of the main things I have to actively focus on because everything originates from proper placement. Although, it also happens to be one of the most rewarding feelings when you successfully find the placement and can support movement properly.
Every day I enter a ballet class I discover many successes and also many failures. However, I view these failures as a learning experience. If I pique into an arabesque and fall backwards I have learned my placement is not far enough forward. I keep testing this and pushing farther and farther out until I find the exact spot to sustain my pique. The only tricky thing with alignment and placement is that it is hardly ever consistent in a persons body, like Kelly's blog mentioned. Every day you have to adjust to your body's needs. Learning your own body's needs takes alot of time and practice. My goal each and every day in ballet class is to have less failures and more successes then the class before. Its a slow and tedious process, sometimes even aggrevating, but I gain knowledge about my muscular structure and it keeps me open to the advice from others. This holds true especially when it comes to quicker movement. While you may discover the alignment while doing more adagio based movement once it picks up you have to engage a whole new type of bodily awareness to keep the proper placement, which is my personal struggle.
Placement, although it seems like an easy concept, takes years to learn and even longer to perfect. You can't fully understand how your placement works until you can understand the anatomy of the body and physically feel the support in your body.
I definitely agree with the statement, "It seems that one minute it's there and the next time you attempt the same movement it's gone." Whenever i am at the barre doing exercises I seem to have pretty good alignment and placement. The pace is moderate which gives me time to think about where my body is placed and I can easily correct myself. The problem starts during petit allegro, turns, or going across the floor. I get so caught up in thinking or anticipating the next movement that I totally forget about my body placement. This something I'm working hard to conquer.
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